# A Power BI radar chart that compares profiles, each axis on its scale

> Get started with Radar Plume: prepare the data, drop several measures or a category, one series per player, read the scales and filter the page with a click.

- Language: English
- Web page: https://plumevisuals.com/en/tutorials/radar-plume-prise-en-main
- Published: 2026-10-21
- Visual: Radar Plume, technical reference: https://plumevisuals.com/ai/visuals/radar.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 radar chart?** A radar (or spider) chart places several criteria in a star around a center: one **axis** per criterion. Each item you compare (a player, a product, a team) becomes a **polygon** joining its values on every axis. The further the polygon reaches toward the edge of an axis, the better the item on that criterion; its shape shows its strengths and weaknesses at a glance.

A tiny example. Léa runs at 31.5 km/h, has a stamina rating of 88 out of 100 and completes 86% of her passes; Marc runs at 33.8 km/h, has 72 stamina and completes 78% of his passes. On a three-axis radar, Marc's polygon points toward speed, Léa's toward stamina and passes.

- **What the visual does.** Radar Plume draws these polygons from **several measures** (one axis per measure, each with its own scale: km/h, score out of 100, %) or from **a category** (one axis per skill, criterion or month). A Series field gives one polygon per player, product or team from a single measure. With premium (★), it adds the play axis (polygons morph from one year to the next), the normalized scale, axes ordered by value or in a custom order, a target, a benchmark, a ▲▼ gap under each axis, an overall score, the polar rose and small multiples.
- **When to use it.** Comparing 2 to 8 profiles across 3 to 12 criteria: player statistics, skills assessments, product sheets, satisfaction by store, seasonality over 12 months.
- **When to prefer something else.** A single criterion, or dozens of items to rank: a bar chart (Bar Plume) reads better. Two values per item (before / after): Dumbbell Plume.
- **What you will be able to do.** Prepare a table, create the measures, insert the visual, choose the right mode (measures or category), read the scales, filter the page with a click.
- **What you need:** Power BI Desktop, the Radar Plume visual installed (see [the shared basics](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume)), a data table. The sample report **PlumeRadar-Sample-EN**, in your ["Downloads"](/en/account/downloads) area, shows the profiles of 8 players and the skills of 3 teams (page 1), a brand image animated from 2019 to 2025 and sales seasonality (page 2), then the ★ features (page 3).

## The data to provide

The visual accepts two data shapes.

**Shape 1: one measure per criterion** (the most common case). One row per compared item, one column per criterion.

| Player | Speed km/h | Stamina score | Passes | Shots | Goals scored | Annual salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Léa | 31.5 | 88 | 0.86 | 2.4 | 14 | 120,000 |
| Marc | 33.8 | 72 | 0.78 | 3.6 | 19 | 210,000 |
| Inès | 29.4 | 94 | 0.91 | 1.2 | 6 | 95,000 |
| Hugo | 30.2 | 81 | 0.82 | 2.0 | 11 | 150,000 |
| Sarah | 32.6 | 77 | 0.88 | 2.9 | 16 | 180,000 |

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

```dax
Players =
DATATABLE (
    "Player", STRING, "Speed km/h", DOUBLE, "Stamina score", INTEGER, "Passes", DOUBLE, "Shots", DOUBLE, "Goals scored", INTEGER, "Annual salary", INTEGER,
    {
        { "Léa", 31.5, 88, 0.86, 2.4, 14, 120000 },
        { "Marc", 33.8, 72, 0.78, 3.6, 19, 210000 },
        { "Inès", 29.4, 94, 0.91, 1.2, 6, 95000 },
        { "Hugo", 30.2, 81, 0.82, 2.0, 11, 150000 },
        { "Sarah", 32.6, 77, 0.88, 2.9, 16, 180000 }
    }
)
```

**The measures.** Each axis is a **measure** (a calculation Power BI redoes depending on the filters, written in DAX; see the [glossary](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume#glossary)). Choose the aggregation that makes sense for each criterion:

```dax
Speed = AVERAGE ( Players[Speed km/h] )           -- an average: speeds do not add up
Stamina = AVERAGE ( Players[Stamina score] )
Passes completed = AVERAGE ( Players[Passes] )    -- Percentage format in the Measure tools tab
Shots per game = AVERAGE ( Players[Shots] )
Goals = SUM ( Players[Goals scored] )             -- a sum: goals add up
Salary = AVERAGE ( Players[Annual salary] )
-- A measure cannot have the name of a column of its own table: hence "Speed km/h" for the column and "Speed" for the measure
```

**Shape 2: one row per item and per criterion** ("long" format: an assessment, a survey). The criterion is then a column, which you will drop in **Axes**, and a single measure is enough.

| Team | Skill | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| North team | Communication | 4.2 |
| North team | Technical skills | 3.1 |
| South team | Communication | 3.0 |
| South team | Technical skills | 4.6 |

```dax
Average rating = AVERAGE ( Assessments[Rating] )
```

**Pitfalls.**
- Give each measure a **format** (km/h, %, $) in the **Measure tools** tab: the visual uses it under each axis name and in tooltips.
- For an average, use `AVERAGE`, not `SUM`: with several rows per player, a sum would inflate the values.
- Power BI sorts a text category alphabetically: for months, select the `Month` column, then **Column tools › Sort by column › Month number**; the visual follows the model order (see the [use cases](/en/tutorials/radar-plume-cas-pratiques)).

## Step by step: your first radar in 10 minutes

1. In the **Visualizations** pane, click the **Radar Plume** icon. An empty frame appears with a landing page listing the fields to drop; enlarge it.
2. Drop the measures `Speed`, `Stamina`, `Passes completed`, `Shots per game`, `Goals` and `Salary` in **Values**. A polygon appears, with one axis per measure.
3. Drop the `Player` column in **Series**: one polygon per player, one color each, and the legend at the top. The title becomes "Profile by Player".
4. Read the scales: under each axis name, the visual writes the scale of that axis, for example "0.0 km/h – 40.0 km/h" for speed or "0 – 100" for stamina. Since the measures have different units, the scale is **one per axis** (*Automatic* setting of **Format › Scale**).
5. Hover a point: the tooltip gives the player, the measure, the value and the position on the axis scale. Hover a polygon: the other players fade.
6. Click Marc's polygon: the other visuals of the page filter on Marc (cross-filtering, see the [glossary](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume#glossary)). Ctrl + click to add a player; click an empty area of the visual to clear.
7. Open **Format › Radar**: lower **Fill opacity (%)** to 8 if polygons overlap too much, or set **Marker shape** to *One shape per series* to tell players apart without color.
8. Open **Format › Layout › Grid shape** and choose *Circular* for a round web; go back to *Polygonal*.
9. Add a second radar: drop `Skill` in **Axes**, `Team` in **Series** and `Average rating` in **Values**. Here the axes come from the category: the scale is **common** (from 0 to 5 for ratings out of 5) and its values are written along the grid.
10. Click an axis name, for example "Technical skills": the page filters on that skill.

**Expected result:** two readable radars, one with a scale per axis written under each name, the other with a common scale from 0 to 5; a click on a point, a polygon or an axis name filters the page.

## Troubleshooting

| What you see | Likely cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| "Add fields to get started" | No measure in Values | Drop at least one measure in **Values** |
| One or two lines instead of a polygon | Fewer than 3 axes | Add measures to Values, or a category to Axes (message in edit mode) |
| Every polygon is squashed in the center except one axis | Common scale with different units (salary in $ and a score out of 100) | **Format › Scale › Axis scale**: *One scale per axis* (or *Normalized* ★) |
| Values too large (doubled, tripled) | The measure adds several rows | Use `AVERAGE` instead of `SUM` |
| Months out of order (April, August, December…) | Power BI's alphabetical sort | **Column tools › Sort by column** with the month number (or, with premium, **Format › Sort › Axis order** = *Custom ★*) |
| "Only the first 60 axes are drawn" | The category has too many values | Filter the Axes field: a radar reads well with 3 to 12 axes |
| "Premium preview" watermark | A ★ feature is used without a key | Key in **Format › Plume Studio License**, or a free setting |
| Polygons blend together | Many series | Keep 2 to 6 series, filter with a slicer, or use small multiples ★ |

## Key takeaways

- Several measures in Values = one axis per measure; a category in Axes = one axis per value.
- The Series field gives one polygon per player, product or team, from a single measure.
- Different units: keep the *Automatic* scale (one per axis); ratings out of 5 or 100: common scale, with its maximum if needed.
- A click on a point, a polygon or an axis name filters the page.

## Going further

- [Radar Plume use cases](/en/tutorials/radar-plume-cas-pratiques): recipes for common needs.
- [Radar Plume fields and settings](/en/tutorials/radar-plume-champs-et-reglages): every field well and every setting.
- [Getting started with Plume visuals](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume): installation, license, styles and shared settings.
- The visual's page: [Radar Plume](/en/visuals/radar). A question: [support](/en/support).