# Word Cloud Plume: every field and every setting

> Complete reference of Word Cloud Plume: fields (words, size, color, comparison, excluded words, SVG shape, play axis) and every Format pane setting with its values.

- Language: English
- Web page: https://plumevisuals.com/en/tutorials/word-cloud-plume-champs-et-reglages
- Published: 2026-10-21
- Visual: Word Cloud Plume, technical reference: https://plumevisuals.com/ai/visuals/word-cloud.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).

This page describes every field and every setting of Word Cloud Plume. The cards shared by all Plume visuals (Plume Studio License, Style, Tooltips, Title, Source note, Frame, Language and numbers) are described in [the common basics](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume).

## The visual's fields

| Field | Required? | How many | What to drop | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Words or text | Yes | 1 | A column of words, labels or long texts | The words of the cloud; long texts are split into words | `Topics[Topic]`, `Reviews[Comment]` |
| Size | No | 1 | A measure | The size of the words; without it, the number of occurrences | `Number of mentions` |
| Color | No | 1 | A text (color) or number measure | Color of each word; a number gives a gradient ★ | `Average sentiment` |
| Comparison ★ | No | 1 | A measure | The same measure for an earlier period: rising ▲, falling ▼, new ✦ | `Mentions last year` |
| Excluded words | No | 1 | A text measure | Words to remove, separated by ; , or new lines | `CONCATENATEX` of a table |
| Shape (SVG) ★ | No | 1 | A text measure that returns an SVG | Shape of the cloud, takes precedence over **Format › Shape** | Logo of the filtered brand |
| Play axis ★ | No | 1 | A date, a year, an ordered category | One cloud per value, with a play bar | `Date[Month]` |
| Tooltips | No | several | Measures | Values added to the tooltip (sum over the rows of the word) | `Revenue` |
| Dynamic format | No | several | Measures named card.setting | Drive a setting with DAX | `wordFont.maxSize` |

**Words or text.** The visual decides by itself whether to split (**Split text into words** on *Automatic*): when at least one value in five has four words or more, or three words on average. Short labels ("New York", "customer service") stay whole. Numbers and dates of a non-text column are written with the column format.

**Size.** With split text, each word receives the row value as many times as it appears (or once, with **Count** on *Once per row* ★). An empty, zero or negative size removes the row.

**Color.** A color as text (`#AA0000`, `red`) is used as is, for free. A number gives the *weighted average* of the rows that use the word (sentiment, satisfaction) and switches the coloring to a gradient ★.

**Tooltips and Dynamic format**: see [the common basics](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume) and the [dynamic formats](/en/tutorials/formats-dynamiques) tutorial.

## The Format pane settings

The cards shared by every Plume visual (Plume Studio License, Style, Tooltips, Title, Source note, Frame, Language and numbers) and the two basic settings of the Interactions card are described in [the common basics](/en/tutorials/bien-demarrer-visuels-plume). Here are the cards specific to Word Cloud Plume, in the order of the pane. Color and text settings have the **fx** button: a measure or a rule can drive them.

### Layout

How words are oriented, spaced and placed in the shape. First card after Style since version 1.1.

| Setting | What it does | Options (default in **bold**) |
|---|---|---|
| Word orientation | Angle of the words; a given word always keeps the same orientation | All horizontal · **Horizontal and vertical** · All vertical · Horizontal and diagonals (±45°) · From one angle to another (even steps) · Free angles between two limits |
| Share of rotated words (%) | Share of vertical or diagonal words (the largest word stays horizontal) (shown when Word orientation = *Horizontal and vertical* or *Horizontal and diagonals (±45°)*) | **25** (0 to 100) |
| Direction of vertical words | (shown when Word orientation = *Horizontal and vertical* or *All vertical*) | **Bottom to top** · Top to bottom |
| Start angle (°) | (shown when Word orientation = *From one angle to another (even steps)* or *Free angles between two limits*) | **-60** (-90 to 90) |
| End angle (°) | (shown when Word orientation = *From one angle to another (even steps)* or *Free angles between two limits*) | **60** (-90 to 90) |
| Number of orientations | Angles evenly spread between start and end (shown when Word orientation = *From one angle to another (even steps)*) | **5** (2 to 19) |
| Spacing between words (px) | Minimum room around each word | **2** (0 to 30) |
| Size fitting | Fill the shape: the words grow until they fill the shape (never below the minimum size); when the shape is small for every word, the least frequent ones are left out rather than shrinking everything | **Fill the shape (shrink or enlarge)** · Shrink only when needed · Fixed sizes |
| Placement spiral | Path followed to find a place, from the center of the shape | **Round (cloud)** · Rectangular (block) |
| Layout variant | The layout is always the same for the same data; change this number to try another arrangement | **1** (1 to 999) |
| Fill the shape with repeated words ★ | Once every word is placed, smaller copies fill the remaining room (texture) | **off** |
| Repeated words opacity (%) | — | **55** (10 to 100) |
| Maximum number of repetitions | — | **900** (50 to 3000) |
| Words appear | When the data changes; never when animations are reduced (Style › Animations or the system) | **From the center** · Fade · None |

A word that does not fit is tried again in the other orientation, then smaller down to the minimum size. If it still does not fit, the "n word(s) not placed" note appears in edit mode; hover it for the list. With *Fill the shape*, when the shape is too small to keep every word without shrinking them all to the minimum size, the least frequent words are left out (at most 15% of the total weight): a discreet grey note "n less frequent word(s) not shown" says so in edit mode.

### Data colors

How the words are colored.

| Setting | What it does | Options (default in **bold**) |
|---|---|---|
| Coloring | Color mode of the words | **Palette (one color per word)** · Single color · Gradient by size ★ · Gradient by the “Color” field ★ · Change (“Comparison” field) ★ |
| Color | Color of every word | color; **empty** |
| One color per word | With *Palette* and words that are not split: the 30 largest words, each with its color (fx button available) | palette color |
| Gradient | Gradient palette | **Sequential (style palette)** · Diverging (around the middle) |
| Colors in size order | On: the largest word takes the first color, the next one the second… Off: each word keeps its color whatever its size | **on** |

A numeric **Color** field selects the gradient ★, a **Comparison** field selects the change ★, when the coloring is left on *Palette*. Gradient tints that are too pale are darkened to stay readable.

### Words

Text splitting, stop words, case and number of words.

| Setting | What it does | Options (default in **bold**) |
|---|---|---|
| Split text into words | Automatic: values of several words (comments, titles) are split into words; short labels are kept whole | **Automatic (long texts)** · Yes · No (one value = one word or phrase) |
| Phrases | Phrases ("customer service", "delivery lead time") are counted like words; stop words never start or end a phrase | **Single words** · Two-word phrases ★ · Words and two-word phrases ★ · Three-word phrases ★ |
| Count | Once per row: a word repeated in the same comment counts once | **Every occurrence** · Once per row (answer, comment) ★ |
| Minimum length (letters) | Shorter words are ignored (split text) | **3** (1 to 20) |
| Ignore numbers | "Words" without letters (2025, 12.5) are ignored | **on** |
| Keep special characters (#, @, emojis) | Hashtags (#sale), mentions (@store), amounts ($20, 20€) and emojis are kept as words. | **off** |
| Remove French elisions (l', d', qu'…) | "l'équipe" → équipe, "d'accueil" → accueil | **on** |
| Merge singular and plural ★ | "order" and "orders" become one word (the most frequent form is shown) | **off** |
| Word case | Words are always grouped regardless of case; split text: the lowercase form wins over a sentence-initial capital | **Most frequent form** · lowercase · UPPERCASE · Capitalized |
| Built-in stop words | Common words without meaning of their own (the, and, le, de…) are removed when the text is split | **French and English** · French · English · None |
| Other words to exclude | Case and accents ignored; also for words that are not split | text; **empty** |
| Maximum number of words (top N) | The N largest words | **150** (1 to 1000) |
| Minimum weight (0 = all) | Words whose weight (or number of occurrences) is lower are not shown | **0** (min. 0) |

### Word text

The font, the weight and the size scale of the words.

| Setting | What it does | Options (default in **bold**) |
|---|---|---|
| Font | Fonts installed with Windows or Microsoft Office (no web font); a similar font is used when one is missing | **Style font**, then 55 fonts: Segoe UI (Light, Semilight, Semibold, Black), Arial, Arial Narrow, Aptos, Bahnschrift (SemiCondensed, Condensed), Calibri, Calibri Light, Candara, Century Gothic, Corbel, Ebrima, Franklin Gothic Medium, Gadugi, Gill Sans MT, Leelawadee UI, Lucida Sans Unicode, Microsoft Sans Serif, Nirmala UI, Tahoma, Trebuchet MS, Tw Cen MT, Verdana, Book Antiqua, Bookman Old Style, Cambria, Constantia, Garamond, Georgia, Palatino Linotype, Rockwell, Sitka Text, Sitka Heading, Sylfaen, Times New Roman, Cascadia Code, Cascadia Mono, Consolas, Courier New, Lucida Console, Comic Sans MS, Gabriola, Ink Free, MV Boli, Segoe Print, Segoe Script, Bradley Hand ITC, Lucida Handwriting, Arial Black, Impact ("· Office": shipped with Microsoft Office) |
| Weight | Stroke thickness | Regular · **Semibold** · Bold · Bold for the largest words |
| Italic | — | **off** |
| Minimum size (px) | Size of the smallest word; never smaller, even to make words fit | **11** (6 to 80) |
| Maximum size (px) | Size of the largest word (adapted by **Size fitting**) | **64** (8 to 300) |
| Size by weight | Weight = the "Size" measure, or the number of occurrences without it | Linear · **Square root (balanced)** · Logarithmic (compressed) ★ · By rank ★ |
| Weight at the maximum size (empty = automatic) | Keeps the sizes when another visual filters the cloud: a measure named wordFont.weightMax in “Dynamic format”, e.g. CALCULATE ( MAXX ( VALUES ( Topics[Topic] ), [Mentions] ), ALL ( Topics ) ) (ALL or REMOVEFILTERS ignores the filter; ALLSELECTED follows it), with Layout › Size fitting › Fixed sizes. | text; **empty** |

### Shape

The shape the words fill, and its proportions.

| Setting | What it does | Options (default in **bold**) |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | The words fill this shape; ★ shapes and the custom SVG show the premium watermark without a license | **Oval (fills the visual)**, *Rectangle (fills the visual)*, *Custom SVG ★*, then 153 shapes by category: Basic, Arrows and symbols, Nature and weather, People, Objects and buildings, Containers and gauges, Maps and places, Business, Transport. Free: circle, square, rounded square, rectangle, triangle, diamond, hexagon, star, heart, cloud, drop, bubble, arrow, person, house |
| Shape SVG | Paste an SVG (or a path "d"); it is cleaned (no script, no web link) (shown when Shape = *Custom SVG*) | text; **empty** |
| Proportions | Keep the shape intact or stretch it to the size of the visual (shown with every shape except *Oval (fills the visual)* and *Rectangle (fills the visual)*) | **Keep proportions** · Stretch to fill the visual |
| Silhouette in the background ★ | Draws the shape behind the words | **off** |
| Silhouette color (empty = grid) | (shown when Silhouette in the background = on) | color; **empty** |
| Silhouette opacity (%) | (shown when Silhouette in the background = on) | **40** (5 to 100) |
| Margin around the shape (px) | Room left between the shape and the edge of the visual | **4** (0 to 80) |

### Legend

Shown with a gradient (gradient bounds) or the change (Rising, Stable, Falling, New; a click selects the words of the category).

| Setting | What it does | Options (default in **bold**) |
|---|---|---|
| Show | Shown when the chart has several series. | **on** |
| Position | — | Top · **Bottom** · Right · Left |
| Alignment | (shown when Position = *Top* or *Bottom*) | Start · **Center** · End |
| Legend title | — | **off** |
| Title text | (shown when Legend title = on) | text; **empty** |
| Size | — | **9** (6 to 24) |
| Color (empty = secondary text) | — | color; **empty** |
| Click = select the series | — | **on** |

### Comparison ★

Shown when the **Comparison** field is filled.

| Setting | What it does | Options (default in **bold**) |
|---|---|---|
| ▲▼ arrows in the cloud | Marker written small after the word; the direction is also in the tooltip | **on** |
| A decrease is favorable | Swaps the colors (complaints, returns) | **off** |
| Negligible change (± %) | Below it, the word is "stable" (gray) | **5** (0 to 100) |
| Favorable color (empty = style) | Color of rising words (or falling words when a decrease is favorable) | color; **empty** |
| Unfavorable color (empty = style) | Color of words moving the wrong way | color; **empty** |
| Mark new words (✦) | Word absent from the earlier period | **on** |

### Playback ★

Shown when the **Play axis ★** field is filled; card shared by every animated Plume visual. ★ feature (rebalancing of 10/22/2026): without a license, the player works with the watermark as soon as the field holds data.

| Setting | What it does | Options (default in **bold**) |
|---|---|---|
| Frame shown on opening | — | **The last one (most recent)** · The first one |
| Duration of a frame (ms) | At speed ×1; the speed button multiplies it (×0.5 to ×4) for the session | **1000** (100 to 10000) |
| Loop | — | **off** |
| Play automatically on opening | Once; never with reduced animations nor on a dashboard tile | **off** |
| Animated transitions | Common words glide from one frame to the next | **on** |
| Play bar | — | **on** |
| Bar position | (shown when Play bar = on) | **Bottom** · Top |
| Tick marks | (shown when Play bar = on) | **Automatic** · Every frame · None |
| Tick labels | (shown when Play bar = on) | **on** |
| Start and end buttons | (shown when Play bar = on) | **on** |
| Speed button | (shown when Play bar = on) | **on** |
| Current value in large type | — | **on** |
| Large value size | (shown when Current value in large type = on) | **44** (12 to 160) |
| Large value position | (shown when Current value in large type = on) | **Bottom right** · Top right · Top left · Bottom left · Center |

## Premium features ★

| Feature | Where to set it |
|---|---|
| Two- or three-word phrases | **Format › Words › Phrases** |
| Gradient by a measure (sentiment) | Numeric **Color** field, **Format › Data colors** |
| Comparison of two periods | **Comparison** field, **Comparison ★** card |
| 132 ★ shapes, custom SVG | **Format › Shape › Shape**, **Shape (SVG)** field |
| Repeated words that fill the shape | **Format › Layout › Fill the shape with repeated words ★** |
| Cloud that changes over time | **Play axis ★** field, **Playback ★** card |
| Gradient by size | **Format › Data colors › Coloring** |
| Logarithmic and rank scales | **Format › Word text › Size by weight** |
| Merged singular and plural, once per row | **Format › Words** |
| Silhouette in the background | **Format › Shape** |
| Paid styles, advanced palettes, JSON theme | **Format › Style** |