In this blog, I will talk about how to create a custom shape palette for tableau.
Before we start, let’s have a look what are “shapes” in tableau. In the drop-down menu in the mark card, select “Shapes”, then click “Shape Card”, and some shapes that come with Tableau will appear.
Occasionally, you’ll come across scenarios in Tableau where you need more than the stock shapes that Tableau provides.
Find the desired shape
First, you have to find the shape you want and save it to the computer (I normally use png and jpg), I will use the fast-food company logo as the example.
Put them into the shape folder
To create your own custom shape palette, you can open your file explorer and go to Documents → My Tableau Repository → Shapes and then create a new folder to house your images.
Reload the Palette
When you are ready to use those shapes in Tableau you can select “Reload Shapes” from the shape editor and the new folder with the shapes you added will show up as an option.
Put them into Dashboard and add filters
Once done, you can put the custom shape worksheet into your dashboard and add filter/set action to change the shape icons.
This is the way to create a custom shape palette for tableau, hope you find this blog helpful.
Author: Zoe Lu
Zoe is a graduate of the University of Queensland, majoring in professional accounting and applied finance, she always strives to learn and enjoys applying her skills to manage any challenge. She moved from Brisbane to Melbourne three years ago and she believes that all change is good change. When Zoe is not creating dashboards, you will see her at Pilates or enjoying the good restaurants around Melbourne with her family and friends. If you ever get a chance to eat hot pot with her, she will share the recipe for her delicious secret dipping sauce.