Getting started with Plume visuals: installation, license, styles and shared settings

All Plume visuals (slicers, tables, charts, Gantt, Ridgeline…) share the same foundation: the same installation, the same license card, the same styles and the same settings cards, listed in the same order. This page explains them once and for all; each visual then has its own tutorials (getting started, how-to guides, fields and settings), listed on its page.

Installing a Plume visual

What you need: Power BI Desktop (recent version) or a report open in edit mode in the Power BI service.

From the .pbiviz file (your Downloads space on plumevisuals.com):

1. In Power BI Desktop, open your report.
2. In the Visualizations pane, click … (Get more visuals).
3. Choose Import a visual from a file, then select the .pbiviz file.
4. Confirm the Power BI warning message.

A new icon appears at the bottom of the icons in the Visualizations pane. It is saved in the report: colleagues who open the .pbix see the visual without installing anything.

From AppSource (visuals certified by Microsoft): … › Get more visuals, search for the visual's name, click Add. This is often the only option allowed in organizations whose Power BI administrator only accepts certified visuals.

Sample reports

Each visual has a sample report in French and in English (.pbix, in the Downloads space, free account required). The data is fictitious and embedded, and the Tips page sums up the useful settings. It's the fastest way to see the visual in action before connecting it to your data.

Inserting the visual and dragging fields

1. Click an empty area of the page, then the visual's icon in Visualizations: an empty frame appears, with a welcome screen that shows the expected fields.
2. In the Data pane, check or drag a column or a measure to one of the visual's wells (the rectangles below the icons: Category, Values…).
3. To remove a field, click the cross next to its name in the well. To rename it only in this visual: right-click › Rename for this visual.

The Visualizations pane has three tabs: Build visual (the field wells), Format (the look, the settings cards) and, for some visuals, Analytics (reference lines, trend…). Each card in the Format pane expands with a click; a switch in the header of some cards turns the whole card on or off.

Glossary

Term	In plain words
Table	A grid of data, like an Excel sheet: rows and named columns.
Column	A piece of information on every row (a date, a product name, an amount). You drag it into the visual to group or filter (one bar per product, for example).
Measure	A calculation written in DAX that gives a result based on what is displayed or filtered (the revenue for a month, a region…). Calculator icon in the Data pane. You drag it into the visual to calculate.
DAX	The Power BI formula language. You create a measure with Modeling › New measure.
Granularity	What one row of the table represents: "one row per order", "one row per day and per station"… Each tutorial states the expected granularity.
Relationship	The link between two tables (for example Sales[Date] → Calendar[Date]), which lets a filter on one apply to the other. Model view.
Date table (calendar)	A table with one row per day, related to your facts and marked as a date table (Table tools › Mark as date table). Essential for date slicers and prior-year comparisons.
Hierarchy	Nested levels: Year › Quarter › Month, or Category › Product. A date column dragged into a visual can turn into an automatic date hierarchy (in the visual's well, click the arrow to the right of the field and choose the column name instead of Date Hierarchy to keep the date on its own).
Filter	A restriction on the data taken into account ("only 2025", "only Brittany").
Slicer	A visual used to filter the other visuals on the page (list, dropdown, slider, calendar).
Cross-filter, highlight	When you click an item in a visual, the other visuals on the page are filtered (cross-filter) or emphasize the matching part (highlight). Format › Edit interactions sets the behavior visual by visual.
Tooltip	The small window that appears when you hover over an item.
Bookmark	A "snapshot" of the state of a page (filters, selections), to recall with one click (View › Bookmarks).
Drill down	Going down one level in a hierarchy (from year to month) on a visual.
Report theme	The report's colors and fonts (View › Themes). Plume visuals can follow it (see the Style card).
Edit mode / reading mode	In edit mode, you build the report (Desktop, or Edit in the service); in reading mode, you view it. Some Plume visual messages only show in edit mode.
.pbiviz / .pbix	The file of a custom visual / the file of a Power BI report.
AppSource, certified visual	Microsoft's visual store; a certified visual has passed Microsoft's checks (no network calls, code reviewed).
★ feature	A premium feature: usable without a license, with a watermark (see premium features).

The "Plume Studio License" card (first card in the Format pane)

Setting	What it does	Possible values
Get a license	Information line, not editable: the address where you can buy a key.	plumevisuals.com
License key	Paste the key you received after purchase here (it starts with PLUM1.). The watermark on ★ features disappears immediately.	empty
Show license holder (edit mode)	In edit mode, shows in the visual the name of the holder recorded in the key.	On / Off

• The key is checked offline: the visual never connects to the Internet (a requirement of Microsoft certification).
• The key is saved in the report's visual: paste it once in each visual concerned (copy and paste the visual, or use Format painter to go faster).
• Possible messages in edit mode: "Invalid license key", "License expired (date)", "This key doesn't cover this visual" (key for another visual; the catalog bundle covers all visuals).
• A license lasts one year (one-time payment, reminders before it expires, 30-day grace period); on renewal, you receive a new key to paste in place of the old one. Prices: Pricing page.

Free features and premium ★ features

• Nothing is ever blocked. All features work without a key.
• Premium features carry a ★ in their label (setting or list value). Used without a valid key, they show a discreet "Plume Visuals · Premium preview" watermark with an Unlock → link.
• Free features never show a watermark.
• Each tutorial lists its ★ features in its section 6.

The "Style" card: dress up the visual in one click

The Style card is the same in every visual: choose the same style in all the visuals on a page and they match. It has four groups, always in this order: Style, Custom colors, Text and Animations. The background and the corner radius are no longer there: they are in the Frame card.

Style group:

Setting	What it does	Possible values
Style	Complete look: colors, three palettes, fonts, frame, table header, marks and effects.	None, Minimal, Black & White (free); Newspaper ★, Vintage (antique plate) ★, Earth ★, Nordic ★, Executive ★, Accessible (high legibility) ★, Pastel ★, Bauhaus (pop) ★, Climate ★, Blueprint ★, Unknown Pleasures ★, Graphite (dark) ★, Neon ★, Terminal (Matrix) ★, Infographic ★, Cockpit (HUD) ★, Hologram ★
Theme JSON ★	Paste a theme (your brand guidelines: colors, palettes, font) that applies on top of the style. See the tutorial Styles, custom colors and JSON themes.	empty
Follow report theme	Text, background, accent and data colors come from the report's Power BI theme (View › Themes), like native visuals.	On / Off
Reverse gradients (charts, Ridgeline Plume, Map Plume)	Reverses the direction of gradients and of the series colors taken from them.	On / Off

Custom colors group (free):

Setting	What it does	Possible values
Customize colors	Start from the style and choose each color yourself. Shows the following settings.	On / Off
Background, Text, Secondary text, Lines and grid, Accent, Favorable, Unfavorable	Base colors of the visual (empty = style color). Favorable / Unfavorable: increase / decrease, target met or not.	empty
Bar track (slicers only)	Track behind the bars and sliders of slicers.	empty
Series 1 to Series 8	Series colors, in order (empty = style color).	empty
Gradient palette	Palette used for gradients (heatmaps, colors based on a value). The start, middle and end colors replace it.	Style or theme palette, Plume (sequential), Plume (diverging) (free); Viridis, Magma, Cividis (colorblind-safe), Warming stripes, Okabe-Ito (colorblind-safe)… ★
Gradient: start, Gradient: middle (diverging), Gradient: end	Colors of your own gradient.	empty

Text group:

Setting	What it does	Possible values
Font	Font of every text in the visual (title, axes, labels, cells).	Segoe UI
Text size (slicers)	Base size of the texts (the other sizes are derived from it).	8 to 28 (12)
Density (slicers)	Overall spacing: tighter or roomier.	Compact, Normal, Comfortable

Animations group:

Setting	What it does	Possible values
Animations	Smooth transitions when the data changes. Turned off automatically when Windows asks to reduce motion.	On / Off

Variants: Ridgeline Plume and Map Plume offer a list of fonts and a Custom palette (Color 1 to Color 5); Ridgeline Plume adds Filter change transition (ms) to the Animations group. Details are in their tutorials.

Order of priority: Windows high contrast comes first, then dynamic formats (see dynamic formats), then custom colors, the report theme (if followed), the JSON theme, and finally the style.

The shared Format pane cards

Since the new Format pane layout (October 30, 2026), every Plume visual lists its cards in the same order, with the same names:

• Charts (and Table, Matrix, Gantt, Ridgeline, Map Plume): Plume Studio License, Style, then the visual's own cards (Layout, Data colors, axes, Gridlines, Legend, Sort…), then Interactions, Tooltips, Title, Source note, Frame and Language and numbers.
• Slicers: Plume Studio License, Style, Header, then the slicer's own cards, then Preselection, Tooltips (for slicers that show them), Frame and Language and numbers.

The tutorials of each visual don't repeat these cards.

Tooltips

Setting	What it does	Possible values
Show	Tooltip on hover, with the fields of the "Tooltips" well and report page tooltips.	On / Off

A visual may add its own settings below (tooltip content, detail lines): they are in its tutorial. Basic Slicer, Filter Bar and Text Plume don't show tooltips and don't have this card.

Title

The title drawn by the visual (charts). It is separate from the Power BI container title: turn one of the two off in Format › General › Title to avoid two titles. The settings match those of the native title.

Setting	What it does	Possible values
Show (Title group, also in the card header)	Shows the title.	On (Off in Table, Matrix, Ridgeline and Map Plume)
Text	Title text. Empty = automatic title built from the fields.	empty
Size	Title size.	7 to 40 (14)
Bold, Italic, Underline	Title formatting.	Bold On; Italic and Underline Off
Color (empty = text)	Title color (fx button).	empty
Background color	Color band behind the title.	empty
Horizontal alignment	Title position.	Left, Center, Right
Text wrap	A long title wraps to the next line instead of being cut.	On / Off
Subtitle (Subtitle group)	A second, more discreet line. Several lines allowed: type \n to go to the next line.	empty
Size, Color (empty = secondary text), Italic (appear when the subtitle is not empty)	Subtitle formatting.	7 to 30 (11); empty; Off
Show divider (Divider group)	Line under the title.	On / Off
Color (empty = lines), Line style, Width (appear when the divider is shown)	Line formatting.	empty; Solid, Dashed, Dotted; 1 to 6 (1)
Space below the title (px) (Spacing group)	Distance between the title and the chart.	0 to 40 (4)

Header (slicers)

Slicers have a Header card, right after Style, with the same text settings as the Title.

Setting	What it does	Possible values
Show, Text	Shows the header; empty text = field name.	On; empty
Size, Bold, Italic, Underline, Color (empty = text), Background color, Horizontal alignment	Formatting of the header title.	7 to 36 (14); Bold On; Left
Text wrap	A long title goes on two lines instead of being cut.	On / Off
Show divider, Color (empty = lines), Line style, Width	Line under the header (Divider group).	Off; Solid; 1 to 6 (1)
Show value / selection count	Count on the right of the header (Count and Clear button group).	On / Off
"Clear" button, Clear button label	Button that clears the selection, and its text (empty = "Clear").	On; empty

A few slicers have other defaults (hidden header, count turned off): see their tutorial.

Source note

A discreet line at the bottom of the visual, to cite the data source ("Source: Census Bureau, 2025"). Switch in the card header.

Setting	What it does	Possible values
Show	Shows the note.	On / Off
Text	Text of the note.	empty
Size	Text size.	6 to 20 (9)
Italic	Note in italics.	On / Off
Color (empty = secondary text)	Color of the note.	empty
Alignment	Position.	Left, Center, Right

Frame

The background, border, shadow and margins drawn by the visual, like the Effects of native visuals. A setting left at its default takes the one of the style or JSON theme (dark background of Graphite, border of Bauhaus…).

Setting	What it does	Possible values
Background (Background group)	Draws a background.	On / Off
Color, Gradient end (optional) (appear when Background is on)	Background color; with an end color, a gradient background.	#FFFFFF; empty
Transparency (%) (appears when Background is on)	Lets the page show through the background, without touching the content.	0 to 100 (0)
Transparent background (slicers only)	The slicer lets what is behind it show through (useful for a dropdown placed over another visual).	Off (On in Basic Slicer and Date Picker)
Border (Border group)	Draws a frame around the visual.	Off in charts, On in most slicers
Color (empty = lines), Width (appear when Border is on)	Line color and width.	empty; 0 to 6 (1)
Rounded corners	Rounding of the frame, bars and buttons (px).	0 to 24 (8)
Shadow (Shadow group)	Drop shadow under the visual.	On / Off
Color (empty = soft), Blur (px) (appear when Shadow is on)	Shadow color and blur.	empty; 0 to 40 (12)
Inner padding (Spacing group)	Space between the edge and the content (px).	0 to 40 (8 in charts, 10 in most slicers, 0 in Ridgeline and Map Plume)

Language and numbers

(Formerly "Language and texts".)

Setting	What it does	Possible values
Interface language	Language of the visual's texts (buttons, messages, months). The field well names always follow the Power BI language.	Same as Power BI, French, English
Number format locale (e.g. en-GB)	Thousands and decimal separators (fr-FR: 1 234,5; en-US: 1,234.5). Empty = same as Power BI.	empty

Interactions (charts)

Setting	What it does	Possible values
Highlight on hover	When you hover over an item, the others fade.	On / Off
Dimmed items opacity (%)	How much the other items fade, on hover or after a click.	5 to 80 (25)

Some visuals add their own interactions to this card (vertical guide, lasso selection, path tracking…): they are detailed in their tutorial. Table Plume and Matrix Plume don't have this card.

Your previous settings are kept

Several settings moved to another card or were renamed on October 30, 2026 (for example the corner radius, moved from Style to Frame › Rounded corners, or the gridlines, moved from the axis cards to the Gridlines card). A report created with an earlier version keeps its settings: as long as you haven't changed the new setting, the visual reads the old one. A measure in the "Dynamic format" field named with the old name (style.radius) is still accepted. Sample reports and JSON themes use the new names.

Slicer preselection

The seven Plume slicers can open already filtered when the report opens: on the user's region, on the current month, on the last 30 days… The selection is applied like a click: the other visuals filter as usual.

Two ways to preselect:

• A DAX measure dropped in the slicer's Preselection well (premium ★). It returns one value or a list separated by ;: "Paris;Lyon". The comparison ignores case, accents and spaces.
  • Date slicers (Period, Date Picker): a date or a range in ISO dates, "2026-01-01;2026-03-31".
  • Range Plume: a range "100;500"; an empty bound leaves the range open (";500").
  • Basic Slicer: also a given node of a hierarchy, "Office › Lamp".
  • Text Plume: the search text.
  • Filter Bar: one measure per field, named like the field (Rename for this visual) or placed in field order.
• A shortcut without DAX (free), in the date slicers and in Range Plume: the Shortcut (no DAX) setting of the Preselection card.

The measure is removed from the visual's data: it never becomes a row, a bar or a count.

The Preselection card:

Setting	What it does	Possible values
Shortcut (no DAX) (Period, Date Picker)	Period chosen without a measure.	None (measure only), Today, Latest date in the data, Last 7 days, Last 30 days, Last N days, This week, This month, Previous month, Year to date (YTD), Last 12 months
N (days) (appears with Last N days)	Number of days.	1 to 3660 (30)
Shortcut (no DAX) (Range Plume)	Range chosen without a measure.	None (measure only), Without outliers, Middle half (Q1 to Q3), Above median, Top 10%, Bottom 10%
Apply	Once per session: the first time the slicer is displayed in the session. Reapply on every display: every time the page is displayed, and every time the measure's value changes.	Once per session, Reapply on every display
Force	Replaces an existing selection: saved in the report, recalled by a bookmark or by persistent filters. Otherwise that selection is kept.	On / Off
Value separator	Character that separates the values of the list (line breaks work too).	;
Report values not found (edit mode)	In edit mode, flags a value that isn't in the slicer ("Preselection: Lille not found").	On / Off

Writing the measure:

-- A fixed list
Preselection = IF ( NOT ISEMPTY ( Sales ), "Paris;Lyon" )

-- The signed-in user's region
Preselection region =
IF (
    NOT ISEMPTY ( Sales ),
    LOOKUPVALUE ( Users[Region], Users[Email], USERPRINCIPALNAME () )
)

-- The month of the latest sale, whatever the other filters (date slicer)
Preselection month =
VAR d = CALCULATE ( MAX ( Sales[Date] ), REMOVEFILTERS () )
RETURN
    IF (
        NOT ISEMPTY ( Sales ),
        FORMAT ( DATE ( YEAR ( d ), MONTH ( d ), 1 ), "yyyy-mm-dd" ) & ";" & FORMAT ( d, "yyyy-mm-dd" )
    )

• The measure is computed with the page filters: for a value that doesn't depend on the other slicers, write the calculation with CALCULATE ( …, REMOVEFILTERS () ) or ALL ( Table ).
• USERPRINCIPALNAME () returns the reader's address in the Power BI service (your own account in Desktop): each reader opens the report on their region. An empty measure preselects nothing.
• IF ( NOT ISEMPTY ( Sales ), … ) keeps a measure that is never empty from bringing back values without data when the slicer has fields from several tables.

The card settings and the shortcuts are free; preselection from a measure is a ★ feature (watermark without a license key).

Shared fields: Tooltips, Preselection and Dynamic format

• Tooltips: drag one or more measures here; they are added to each item's tooltip, below the visual's values. Report page tooltips are supported when the visual allows it.
• Preselection (slicers): see slicer preselection.
• Dynamic format: see dynamic formats.

Driving any setting with a DAX formula (dynamic formats)

In every Plume visual, each Format pane setting can come from a DAX measure. Two ways:

	fx button	Dynamic format field
Settings covered	Every color and every text	All: sizes, switches, lists, fonts, colors, texts
How	Click fx next to the setting (rules, gradient or field value)	Drag a measure into Dynamic format and rename it for this visual as card.setting (e.g. title.fontSize)
Visuals	All, except Table, Matrix and KPI Plume	All, including Table, Matrix and KPI Plume

Where is the fx button? In the Format pane, to the right of every color or text setting (for example Title › Color (empty = text)). It is missing only on the License card, on per-series colors (a Microsoft recommendation) and in Table Plume, Matrix Plume and KPI Plume: Power BI doesn't allow conditional formatting in table-based or matrix-based custom visuals. In these three visuals, use the Dynamic format field; Table Plume and Matrix Plume also have the free Cell elements card (background, font, icons, web URL driven by a measure), and KPI Plume has dedicated fields (Title, Note, Icon, Reference labels).

Example: a title that turns red when revenue goes down.

Title Color =
IF ( CALCULATE ( [Change], ALLSELECTED () ) >= 0, "#2E7D4F", "#C0392B" )
-- dragged into Dynamic format, then renamed title.color

• Accepted values: #RRGGBB colors, numbers, TRUE / FALSE, and for lists either the technical value or the label shown in the pane.
• The formula wins over the pane setting; only high contrast comes first.
• Driving a setting with DAX is free, but a ★ setting stays ★.
• The list of keys for each visual is in its technical reference (the visual's page on the website). Full tutorial, with the recipe to keep the same scale when the report is filtered: Dynamic formats.

What works everywhere

• Cross-filter: clicking an item filters the other visuals on the page (Ctrl + click to add more); clicking an empty area clears the selection.
• Right-click: the usual Power BI menu (Drill down, Include, Exclude…).
• Keyboard: you can navigate the visuals with the keyboard (Tab, arrows, Enter).
• Windows high contrast: respected automatically.
• Export to PDF, subscriptions, Power BI service: supported.
• Bookmarks and, for slicers, slicer sync (View › Sync slicers).

Common issues, shared by all visuals

What you see	Likely cause	Fix
The welcome screen stays displayed	A required field is empty	Fill in the wells listed on the welcome screen
"Premium preview" watermark	A ★ feature is used without a valid key	Paste your key (see the License card) or go back to a free option
"This key doesn't cover this visual"	Key bought for another visual	Use the key for the right visual or the catalog bundle
The field wells are in French	They follow the Power BI Desktop language	File › Options and settings › Options › Regional settings, or Language and numbers › Interface language for the visual's texts
Old version of the visual after an update	The report keeps the version it contains	Re-import the .pbiviz; if needed, remove the old visual from the report
Colors different from what you expected	Color priority order (see the Style card)	Check dynamic formats, custom colors, Follow report theme, JSON theme
Two titles on top of each other	Power BI container title + visual title	Turn one of them off
No fx button in Table, Matrix or KPI Plume	Power BI doesn't allow it in table-based or matrix-based visuals	Dynamic format field; Cell elements card in Table and Matrix Plume
The slicer doesn't open on its preselection	A selection saved in the report or recalled by a bookmark is kept	Clear the slicer before saving, or turn on Preselection › Force
I can't find the corner radius or the background in the Style card	They have been in the Frame card since October 30, 2026	Frame › Rounded corners, Frame › Background (your previous settings are kept)
A syntax error on a pasted DATATABLE	Regional ; separator	Depending on your regional settings, Power BI Desktop may expect ; instead of , between DAX arguments. Replace the separating commas with semicolons

For any other question: Support page; to report a bug or suggest an idea: Feedback and suggestions page.