# Shape Gauge Plume: 12 use cases

> Step by step: a barrel filled with burgundy, a fundraising thermometer, your logo filled up, one shape per product, circular fill, the player, thresholds, layers and pictograms.

- Language: English
- Web page: https://plumevisuals.com/en/tutorials/shape-gauge-plume-cas-pratiques
- Published: 2026-10-21
- Visual: Shape Gauge Plume, technical reference: https://plumevisuals.com/ai/visuals/shape-gauge.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).

These recipes start from a Shape Gauge Plume already in place. If it is not, start with [getting started](/en/tutorials/shape-gauge-plume-prise-en-main): the examples reuse its data. Features marked ★ are premium: they work without a license, with a watermark.

## How do I fill a barrel to 50% with burgundy?

You want to show the level of your wine tanks in a telling way.

1. Create two measures: `Wine in tanks = SUM ( Cellar[Volume] )` and `Capacity = SUM ( Cellar[Capacity] )`.
2. Drag `Wine in tanks` into **Value** and `Capacity` into **Target (100 %)**.
3. **Format › Shape › Shape** = *Containers and gauges · Barrel* (free shape).
4. **Format › Data colors › Color** = `#7B1E2B` (burgundy).

Result: the barrel fills to 50% with burgundy; its hoops stay drawn over the wine, like a real barrel. The 22 containers (bottle, wine glass, jar, tank, battery…) only fill their inside.

## How do I build a fundraising thermometer with a goal and ticks? ★

A charity tracks donations against a $40,000 goal, on a $50,000 scale.

1. Drag `Donations raised` into **Value**.
2. **Format › Shape › Shape** = *Thermometer* (free shape).
3. **Format › Scale and target › Maximum (full shape)** = `50000`, **Fixed target (value)** = `40000`, **Label** = `Goal`.
4. **Tick marks ★**: on, **Tick step (%)** = `25`.
5. **Format › Data labels › Content** = *Value*.

Result: the tube and the bulb fill up, a dashed line marks $40,000, ticks from 0% to 100% line up on the right, and the amount is written in the bulb. With a **Maximum** field and a **Target** field, the line follows your measures instead of fixed values.

> **Tip:** **Tip**: without tick marks, turn on **Format › Scale and target › Minimum and maximum labels** (free): "0" and "50,000" are written at the ends of the scale, like the native gauge's data labels.

## How do I fill my company logo? ★

1. Open your SVG logo in a text editor and copy the whole code, from `<svg` to `</svg>`.
2. **Format › Shape › Source** = *Pasted SVG*, then paste the code in **SVG code**.
3. **SVG colors** = *Original colors (logo)*.

Result: the filled part keeps the logo colors, the empty part is grayed out. The SVG is sanitized: scripts, images and web addresses are removed, nothing is loaded from the Internet. An unreadable SVG is replaced by the drop and a message shows in edit mode.

> **Tip:** A simple SVG (filled paths, no text) gives the best result. The code of a single path (the d attribute, for example `M12 2 L22 22 L2 22 Z`) is accepted too.

## How do I give each product its own shape? ★

1. Create a text measure that returns an SVG for each product:

```dax
Product shape =
SWITCH (
    SELECTEDVALUE ( Products[Name] ),
    "Bike", "<svg viewBox='0 0 24 24'><path d='M5 18a4 4 0 1 1 0-8 4 4 0 0 1 0 8z'/></svg>",
    "Scooter", "M2 20 L22 20 L20 4 L18 4 Z",
    BLANK ()
)
```

2. Drag `Products[Name]` into **Category** and the measure into **SVG shape (measure)**.

Result: each product has its own shape; a product without an SVG keeps the shape chosen in the pane.

## How do I fill in a circle starting at 12 o'clock? ★

1. **Format › Fill › Fill direction** = *Circular (start angle)*.
2. **Start angle (°, 0 = 12 o'clock)** = `0` (12 o'clock), `90` (3 o'clock) or `-90` (9 o'clock); **Clockwise** on or off.
3. For a gradient: **Format › Data colors › Coloring** = *Gradient along the fill*, then **Color** and **Gradient end (empty = accent)**.

Result: the shape fills like a rotating sector, on any shape (circle, star, logo). *Radial (from the center)* fills as a growing disk.

## How do I show that 25% really fills a quarter of the shape? ★

On a drop, a heart or a triangle, the height does not tell the area: 25% of the height of a triangle pointing up holds far more than a quarter of its surface.

1. **Format › Fill › The percentage sets** = *The filled area (exact) ★*.

Result: the level is computed so that the colored surface is exactly the percentage.

## How do I fill the shape year after year? ★

1. Drag `Region` into **Category** and `Year` into **Play axis ★** (the column itself, as a whole number without a thousands separator).
2. **Format › Playback ★ › Frame shown on opening** = *The first one*, **Duration of a frame (ms)** = `1200`.

Result: a play bar appears under the shapes; the play button fills the drops year after year, the current year written in large type. Clicking a shape selects its region (not the year). The arrows, Home and End drive the bar from the keyboard.

## How do I color each shape by thresholds? ★

1. **Format › Data colors › Coloring** = *By thresholds (unfavorable, middle, favorable) ★*.
2. **Threshold 1 (%)** = `50`, **Threshold 2 (%)** = `80`; turn on **Lower is better (swaps the colors)** for an error rate or a lead time.

Result: red below 50%, orange up to 80%, green above; the tooltip writes the status (unfavorable, middle, favorable). Without a license, the next recipe does the same for free with a DAX measure.

## How do I compare with last year? ★

1. Create `Prior-year revenue = CALCULATE ( [Revenue], SAMEPERIODLASTYEAR ( Dates[Date] ) )` (or any comparison measure).
2. Drag it into **Comparison (previous period)**.
3. **Format › Data labels › Change vs comparison (▲▼ points)**: on.

Result: a dotted ghost level marks last year, a hollow arrow points to it on the right, and the label adds "▲ +8 pts" or "▼ −3 pts". Color never carries the information alone.

## How do I show the share of each channel in the same shape? ★

1. Drag the `Web`, `Store` and `Phone` measures into **Stacked layers** (8 at most), and `Target` into **Target (100 %)**.
2. Change the color of a layer in **Format › Data colors**.

Result: the layers stack up in the shape, one color each, with a legend; their sum gives the total level and the label.

## How do I show 10 people for 100%? ★

1. **Format › Shape › Shape** = *People · Person*.
2. **Format › Layout › Presentation** = *Pictograms (n shapes = 100%)*, **Number of pictograms** = `10`.

Result: 73% gives 7 full people, one 30% full and 2 empty; the label is written under the row.

## How do I change the color from the result with a DAX measure (free)?

1. Create `Result color = IF ( DIVIDE ( [Revenue], [Target] ) >= 0.8, "#2E7D4F", "#C0392B" )`.
2. Drag it into **Dynamic format**, then rename it for this visual to `dataColors.single`.

Result: the shape turns green from 80%, red below. The same principle drives any setting (`title.text`, `fill.direction`…); see the [dynamic formats tutorial](/en/tutorials/formats-dynamiques).

## Learn more

- [Getting started with Shape Gauge Plume](/en/tutorials/shape-gauge-plume-prise-en-main): the data to prepare and a first gauge step by step.
- [Shape Gauge Plume fields and settings](/en/tutorials/shape-gauge-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 common settings.
- The visual's page: [Shape Gauge Plume](/en/visuals/shape-gauge). A question: [support](/en/support).