Few times we have mentioned in our posts what we appreciate most about Tableau and especially why. The first thing that comes to mind when we think of data analytics with Tableau is the visual approach to how to identify the information we need. The concept of visual analytics is no stranger to Tableau users. This is one of Tableau’s strengths because it plays a key role in data exploration and visualization process. That’s why we chose to discuss in today’s post how can we build in Tableau a custom color palette that could improve the visual impact of our analysis.
Although in terms of colors, Tableau offers a rich palette, it is very likely that in our daily work we need certain shades of color. Most organizations prefer that the visual impact of their analysis consider the colors of their brands. Moreover, colors also transmit certain emotions that visually make a difference. But let’s see how we can build a custom color palette in Tableau.
Tableau includes a set of color palettes that can be used successfully in our analyzes. These sets are categorical, sequential, and diverging. Categorical color palettes consist of a set of distinct colors that can be used to show dimensions. Sequential color palettes consist of a single color whose intensity varies. These sets are often used to highlight the evolution of measures. The last type of color palette set is the diverging one. It practically displays two colors and their intensity in order to highlight the magnitude of the analyzed measures and the interval in which the measures are located. For each of these three types of color palettes, Tableau allows you to add custom color palettes so that the visual experience conveys exactly what we want.
Custom color palettes are easy to create and are a good option to highlight the information we need. Also, custom color palettes represent an option of personalizing our analyzes considering the brand of our organization. Last but not least, they offer a visual experience as close as possible to what for the end user is a routine.
The advantage of building custom color palettes is given by the flexibility with which we can customize visual analysis. At the same time, they improve the experience with which users explore data and highlight the most important information. Basically, custom color palettes help to create a story around our data.
To create a custom color palette please follow the steps below:
→ In Tableau Desktop, connect to Tableau: Sample-Superstore
→ Between the 2 syntaxes of <Preferences> and </Preferences> add the new code for color palette (<color-palette name = “example” type = “regular/ordered-sequential/ordered-diverging” and make sure you close it with </color-palette> once you have added all the color codes
→ Next find the colors you want to add in the palette and copy and paste their Hex codes below the above code by following the next syntax <color> #B3533E</color>
→ Save the file
→ Reopen Tableau if already open
→ Add a new measure or dimension onto color marks and check the last palette for your newly added one
By Andrei Stan
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