# A readable treemap in Power BI: groups, totals and zoom

> Get started with Treemap Plume: prepare the data, create the measure, insert the visual, read the groups and their totals, zoom into a group and come back.

- Language: English
- Web page: https://plumevisuals.com/en/tutorials/treemap-plume-prise-en-main
- Published: 2026-10-21
- Visual: Treemap Plume, technical reference: https://plumevisuals.com/ai/visuals/treemap.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 treemap?** A treemap splits a rectangle into tiles whose **area** is proportional to a value. Tiles of the same family sit together: you see at a glance what weighs the most, and in which group.

Mini example. A store chain makes $100,000 in revenue: $60,000 in the North East (of which $40,000 in furniture and $20,000 in lighting) and $40,000 in the West. The rectangle is cut into two groups: the North East takes 60% of the area, the West 40%; within the North East, furniture takes two thirds.

- **What the visual does.** Treemap Plume shows up to six nested levels (region, city, category…), each group with its **header** and its **total**. Labels grow with their tiles and wrap instead of being cut. Clicking a header **zooms** into the group; a breadcrumb takes you back. A year in **Play axis ★** animates the treemap from one year to the next (premium feature).
- **When to use it.** Splitting a total across many hierarchical categories: revenue by region and product, budget by department and line item, stock by warehouse and family, a portfolio by sector and stock.
- **When to prefer something else.** Comparing a few values precisely or following a trend over time: Bar Plume or Line Plume. Negative values (losses, variances): Waterfall Plume.
- **What you will be able to do.** Prepare a table, create the measure, insert the visual on two levels, read the headers and totals, zoom into a group, sort the tiles.
- **What you need:** Power BI Desktop, the Treemap Plume visual installed (see [the common basics](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume)), a table with categories and an amount. The sample report **PlumeTreemap-Sample-EN**, in your ["Downloads"](/en/account/downloads) area, shows a home store chain's sales by region and category (page 1), colors by a measure and exploration (page 2) and the ★ features (page 3), including the 2023 → 2025 animation.

## The data to provide

**The shape.** One row per sale (or per combination of categories) with the columns that form the hierarchy, from the largest group to the smallest, and an amount.

| Region | Category | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| London | Furniture | 41,200 |
| London | Lighting | 18,900 |
| London | Decor | 12,400 |
| South East | Furniture | 27,300 |
| South East | Lighting | 11,800 |
| North West | Furniture | 19,600 |
| North West | Decor | 9,100 |
| Scotland | Furniture | 10,400 |
| Scotland | Lighting | 5,200 |
| Scotland | Decor | 4,300 |

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

```dax
Sales =
DATATABLE (
    "Region", STRING, "Category", STRING, "Amount", DOUBLE,
    {
        { "London", "Furniture", 41200 },
        { "London", "Lighting", 18900 },
        { "London", "Decor", 12400 },
        { "South East", "Furniture", 27300 },
        { "South East", "Lighting", 11800 },
        { "North West", "Furniture", 19600 },
        { "North West", "Decor", 9100 },
        { "Scotland", "Furniture", 10400 },
        { "Scotland", "Lighting", 5200 },
        { "Scotland", "Decor", 4300 }
    }
)
```

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

```dax
Revenue = SUM ( Sales[Amount] )   -- adds up the amounts of each tile, each group and the total
```

**Pitfalls.**
- The **Category (groups)** columns go from the largest group to the smallest: Region first, then Category. The order of the fields in the well gives the order of the levels.
- **Negative** values have no area: they count as 0 (a message says so in edit mode). For positive and negative variances, prefer Waterfall Plume or the diverging colors ★ (see the [how-to guide](/en/tutorials/treemap-plume-cas-pratiques)).
- With no measure in **Values**, the visual counts rows: handy for an inventory (number of products per family).

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

1. In the **Visualizations** pane, click the **Treemap Plume** icon. An empty frame appears, with a landing page listing the fields to drop; make it larger.
2. Drag `Region` into **Category (groups)**, then `Category` just below it, in the same well.
3. Drag the `Revenue` measure into **Values**. The treemap appears: the largest region at the top left, each region with a **header** in its color (name and total), its categories as shaded tiles.
4. Read a tile: the name in bold, the value below. Hover it: the tooltip gives the full path (region, category), the value, the **share of the group** and the **share of the total**.
5. Click the **London** header: the treemap **zooms** into this region, with a transition. At the top, the breadcrumb shows "↑ All › London".
6. Click **All** in the breadcrumb (or **↑**) to go back to all regions.
7. Click a tile: the other visuals of the page filter on this region and category (cross-filtering, see the [glossary](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume#glossary)). **Ctrl** + click to add another one; click an empty area of the visual to clear.
8. Open **Format › Layout › Tiling › Tile order** and choose *Name (A → Z)*: regions and their categories are sorted alphabetically, the first one at the top left.
9. Open **Format › Data colors**: one color per region is offered, each one editable.

**Expected result:** the regions as groups with a header and their total, the categories as readable tiles with their value (their share in the tooltip), a zoom when clicking a header and a way back through the breadcrumb.

## Troubleshooting

| What you see | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The landing page stays | No field in **Category (groups)** or **Details** | Add at least one category column |
| Regions are in the tiles and categories in the headers | The fields are in the wrong order | In the well, drag `Region` above `Category` |
| "… negative value(s) ignored" | Negative amounts | Expected: an area cannot be negative; see the how-to guide |
| A tile with no label | The tile is too small for readable text | Make the visual larger, or lower **Format › Data labels › Hide in tiles narrower than (px)** |
| No headers | Groups too small, or headers turned off | **Format › Groups (headers and borders) › Group headers**: on; make the visual larger |
| All tiles have the same size | **Values** is empty (rows counted) or the measure returns 1 | Put the amount measure in **Values** |
| "Premium preview" watermark | A ★ feature is used without a key | Key in Format › Plume Studio License, or a free setting |
| "… very small tiles merged into their group's color" | More than 4,000 visible tiles | Expected: they stay in the totals; zoom into a group to see them |

## Key takeaways

- One column per level, from the largest group to the smallest, and a measure in **Values**.
- Each group has its header with its total; clicking it zooms in, the breadcrumb brings you back.
- Labels grow with the tiles; a tile that is too small stays without text rather than showing "C…".
- Everything on this page is free; the play axis, shares in labels, colors by tile, diverging or by thresholds, Voronoi, the stock map, Top N, images and small multiples are ★.

## Learn more

- [Treemap Plume how-to guide](/en/tutorials/treemap-plume-cas-pratiques): recipes for common needs.
- [Treemap Plume fields and settings](/en/tutorials/treemap-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: [Treemap Plume](/en/visuals/treemap). A question: [support](/en/support).