# A readable donut in Power BI: total in the center, tidy labels

> Get started with Pie Plume: prepare a sales table, insert the donut, show the total in the center, arrange labels in columns and make a slice stand out.

- Language: English
- Web page: https://plumevisuals.com/en/tutorials/pie-plume-prise-en-main
- Published: 2026-10-21
- Visual: Pie Plume, technical reference: https://plumevisuals.com/ai/visuals/pie-chart.md
- If an option name in this tutorial differs from the technical reference, the reference is right (it is generated from the visual's code).

## In short

**What is a pie chart?** A circle cut into slices: each slice shows how much a category weighs in the total. A slice that takes a quarter of the circle is worth 25% of the total. The **donut** is the same circle with a hole in the middle: the eye compares arc lengths rather than angles, and the hole holds a key figure.

Mini example. A shop sells $100,000: $55,000 in store, $35,000 on the web, $10,000 by phone. The donut shows three slices of 55%, 35% and 10%, and "$100K" in the center.

- **What the visual does.** Pie Plume draws a donut, a full pie or a Nightingale rose, writes the total (or a measure, or your text) in the center, arranges labels in two columns linked to the slices by leader lines so they never overlap, sorts the slices, splits each slice by a second field and compares years in small multiples. In premium (★), it animates the slices from one year to the next, groups small slices into "Others", details a slice in a second chart, draws half donuts and compares with the previous period.
- **When to use it.** To show how a total is split into a few parts (2 to 8): revenue by channel, budget by item, customers by segment, answers to a question.
- **When to prefer something else.** Many categories to rank, or values to compare precisely: Bar Plume. A change over time: Line Plume.
- **What you will be able to do.** Prepare a table, create a measure, insert the visual, read the total in the center, set the labels, sort, split the slices with the Details field.
- **What you need:** Power BI Desktop, the Pie Plume visual installed (see [the common basics](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume)), a table with a category and an amount. The **PlumePieChart-Sample-EN** sample report, in your ["Downloads"](/en/account/downloads) area, shows the donut of regions, the pie of channels and the donut split by category (page 1), small multiples and the play axis (page 2) and the ★ features (page 3).

## The data to provide

**The shape.** One row per sale (or per category already totaled): one column for the category (the future slice), one amount column. A second category column (product, segment) will be used to split the slices.

| Region | Channel | Category | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| North West | Store | Lighting | 41,200 |
| North West | Web | Furniture | 38,600 |
| East Midlands | Store | Home linen | 12,400 |
| East Midlands | Web | Lighting | 9,800 |
| East of England | Phone | Furniture | 6,300 |
| East of England | Store | Decor | 21,900 |
| Scotland | Web | Storage | 5,100 |
| Scotland | Store | Furniture | 14,700 |

To try without a file: **Modeling › New table**, then paste:

```dax
Sales =
DATATABLE (
    "Region", STRING, "Channel", STRING, "Category", STRING, "Revenue", DOUBLE,
    {
        { "North West", "Store", "Lighting", 41200 },
        { "North West", "Web", "Furniture", 38600 },
        { "East Midlands", "Store", "Home linen", 12400 },
        { "East Midlands", "Web", "Lighting", 9800 },
        { "East of England", "Phone", "Furniture", 6300 },
        { "East of England", "Store", "Decor", 21900 },
        { "Scotland", "Web", "Storage", 5100 },
        { "Scotland", "Store", "Furniture", 14700 }
    }
)
```

**The measure.** The **Values** well expects a **measure** (a calculation Power BI redoes for the current filters, written in DAX; see the [glossary](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume#glossary)):

```dax
Total revenue = SUM ( Sales[Revenue] )   -- adds up the revenue of the rows of each slice
```

**Pitfalls.**
- **Negative or zero values** have no place in a circle: they are not drawn (a message says so in edit mode). For a balance, prefer Waterfall Plume.
- A numeric column dropped as is into Values is summed by Power BI: often what you want, but an explicit measure is safer.
- More than 8 slices become hard to read: sort them, or group the small ones into "Others" ★.

## Step by step

1. In the **Visualizations** pane, click the **Pie Plume** icon: an empty frame appears with "Add fields to get started".
2. Drop `Sales[Region]` into **Legend (categories)**, then the `Total revenue` measure into **Values**. A donut appears, sorted from the largest slice to the smallest, with the total in the center and the title "Total revenue by Region".
3. Hover a slice: the Power BI tooltip gives its name, value and share of the total. Click it: it pops out of the donut and filters the other visuals of the page. Click an empty area to reset everything.
4. Open **Format › Data labels › Content** and choose *Category, value and %*: each label keeps its place in its column, with no overlap.
5. In **Format › Donut center › Caption under the value**, type `2025 revenue, all regions`: the text shows under the total.
6. In **Format › Layout › Inner radius (% of radius)**, try 75 for a thin ring, then go back to 58. Choose **Shape** = *Full pie* to see the version without a hole, then go back to *Donut (ring)*.
7. Drop `Sales[Category]` into **Details (sub-category)**: each region is cut into sub-parts, in shades of its color. Hover a sub-part: the tooltip gives its share of the region.
8. Open **Format › Sort › Slice order** and choose *Name (A → Z)*, then set *Value descending* back.
9. Remove `Sales[Category]` from Details and drop `Sales[Channel]` into **Legend** instead of the region: the donut of channels shows at once.

## Troubleshooting

| What you see | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| "No positive value to draw" | All values are empty, zero or negative | Check the measure in a Power BI card; a pie chart only shows positive slices |
| "2 negative or zero value(s) not drawn" in edit mode | Some categories have a negative or zero total | Expected: they have no place in the circle; filter them out or use Waterfall Plume |
| A small slice has no label | The label column is full: the smallest slices give up their place | Enlarge the visual, reduce **Data labels › Size**, or group small slices into "Others" ★ |
| Automatic title mixing languages ("Revenue 2025 par Region") | Power BI builds the automatic title in the language of Desktop with the names of your model | Normal in Power BI: type your own title in **Title › Text** (or use a measure with the fx button) |
| The center is empty | Shape = *Full pie*, or **Donut center › Show** is off | Choose *Donut (ring)* and turn the center on |
| The center total does not match the card next to it | A category has a negative value (not drawn, so not in the total) | The center adds up the drawn slices; use **Value** = *“Center value” field* for an exact measure |
| Colors change from one page to another | Categories do not arrive in the same order | **Format › Data colors**: set the color of each category |
| The legend does not show | It is hidden by default | **Format › Legend › Show** |

## Key takeaways

- A category in **Legend**, a measure in **Values**: the donut, the center total and the labels are ready.
- Outside labels are arranged in columns: never overlapping text.
- **Details** splits every slice by a second field.
- Hovering a slice opens the tooltip; clicking pops it out and filters the page.
- ★ features work without a license, with a watermark.

**Learn more:** [use cases](/en/tutorials/pie-plume-cas-pratiques) · [every field and setting](/en/tutorials/pie-plume-champs-et-reglages) · [the common basics of Plume visuals](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume) · [Pie Plume page](/en/visuals/pie-chart) · [support](/en/support)