Foundations
Power BI Theme
A CAAT-branded report theme for Power BI Desktop and the Power BI service, packaged as a downloadable JSON file and starter report template with guidance for accessible dashboards, data color usage, and theme maintenance.
Overview
The CAAT Power BI theme translates the design system into a report theme file that can be imported into Power BI Desktop. It sets the default data color sequence, sentiment colors, structural colors, typography classes, visual title treatment, axes, legends, backgrounds, borders, headers, and tooltips.
Microsoft documents four main parts of a custom report theme: theme colors, structural colors, text classes, and visual styles. This file uses those parts to give report designers a strong starting point while leaving room for report-specific formatting where the data requires it.
Data colors
A 12-color categorical sequence built from CAAT blues, greens, teal, lime, neutral, warning, and danger colors.
Sentiment
Good, neutral, bad, gradient, and null colors for KPI, waterfall, and conditional-formatting defaults.
Typography
Libre Franklin text classes for callouts, titles, headers, labels, and small labels.
Visual styles
Defaults for titles, legends, axes, labels, backgrounds, borders, visual headers, and tooltips.
Download and Import
Download the theme and import it into Power BI Desktop from the report authoring ribbon.
- Open the report in Power BI Desktop.
- Go to View, open the Themes dropdown, and choose Browse for themes.
- Select
caat-power-bi-theme.json. - Review any import validation messages. If Power BI reports an error, validate the file against the current Microsoft theme schema before publishing.
- Reset existing visuals to default where you want them to inherit the theme. Direct visual formatting can override the theme until it is reset.
Companion Starter Report
The starter template is a real .pbit generated from source using the CAAT theme. It gives report designers a branded shell, a tiny inline sample semantic model, and two starter pages for report structure and quality checks.
| Included | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Embedded CAAT theme | Applies CAAT brand colors, structural colors, title styles, axes, legends, tooltips, and text classes. |
| Overview page | Provides the recommended dashboard canvas pattern: KPI strip, lead trend, supporting categorical view, table, and slicers. |
| Data Quality page | Captures accessibility and report-quality checks authors should complete before publishing. |
| Starter Metrics model | Small inline sample table with month, members, contributions, target, service score, and status fields. |
| Libre Franklin text | Uses Libre Franklin in the template text. If Libre Franklin is not installed for an author, use Arial as the fallback. |
For future edits, open the PBIT in Power BI Desktop, make changes, then export a new template from File > Export > Power BI template. Microsoft documents PBIT creation as a Power BI Desktop export workflow.
Theme Palette
The sequence prioritizes CAAT brand recognition over generic BI palette spread. Categorical charts start with deep CAAT blues, then move through brand greens, teal, lime, and a neutral. Warning and danger are not part of the ordinary data series sequence; they are reserved for semantic status.
| Order | Color | Token/source | Power BI use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #003750 / Blue 900 | Primary measure, strongest series, report title accents | |
| 2 | #0F6791 / CAAT blue | Secondary measure, comparison series | |
| 3 | #2F95D2 / Blue 500 | Supporting blue series and gradient center | |
| 4 | #0B5A80 / Blue 700 | Strong blue comparison or secondary emphasis | |
| 5 | #9DD2ED / Blue 300 | Low-emphasis series, shaded comparisons | |
| 6 | #367F32 / Green 700 | Positive/plan-health series where it is not being used as status | |
| 7 | #55A546 / CAAT green | Secondary positive or membership-related series | |
| 8 | #204B1F / Green 900 | Deep green comparison or secondary status family | |
| 9 | #0F8F9D / Teal dark | Distinct categorical series | |
| 10 | #12A7B8 / Teal | Supporting categorical accent | |
| 11 | #95E35C / Lime | Brand accent, highlights, sparing use | |
| 12 | #6F7D8C / Grey 500 | Neutral series, null, benchmark, or de-emphasized values |
Sequential data
Use blue tint progression for ordered values: Blue 100 to Blue 500 to Blue 900. Avoid mixing categorical colors into continuous scales.
Diverging data
Use danger for low/bad, warning or blue 500 for center/target, and green or blue 900 for high/good depending on metric semantics.
Status data
Reserve green, warning, and danger for meaning. Do not use those colors decoratively in the same report if they also encode status.
Using the Theme
| Decision | Guidance for report designers |
|---|---|
| Series order | Power BI applies dataColors in order. Put the most important measure or category first so it receives CAAT blue 900. |
| Direct formatting | Prefer theme colors from the color picker. If a visual is manually formatted outside the theme, it will not update consistently when the theme changes. |
| KPI status | Use good, neutral, and bad for actual performance states only. Avoid green for decorative categories on KPI-heavy pages. |
| Tables and matrix visuals | Use blue 900 for headers, grey 200 for dividers, and white or grey subtle backgrounds. Keep table accent color as blue 900. |
| Chart titles | Write descriptive titles that explain the measure, population, and time range. The theme sets title styling, but authors still control clarity. |
| Conditional formatting | The theme can supply colors, but it cannot add conditional formatting rules. Authors must configure rules per visual or measure. |
Accessibility Guidance
The theme supports accessible defaults, but accessible Power BI reports still depend on report authoring choices. Microsoft notes that report authors must configure items such as alt text, tab order, titles, labels, markers, and report themes.
- Do not rely on color alone. Pair status color with labels, markers, annotations, or explicit values.
- Use visual titles that are unique and descriptive so screen reader users understand each chart's purpose.
- Set alt text for visuals that communicate meaning beyond their title.
- Review tab order for report pages with slicers, buttons, bookmarks, and custom navigation.
- Test high contrast mode and keyboard navigation before publishing.
- Avoid dense legends with many categories. If a visual needs more than six to eight colors, consider faceting, filtering, small multiples, or a table.
Governance and Maintenance
Power BI validates custom report themes against Microsoft's JSON schema on import. The schema changes with Power BI Desktop releases, so the theme should be checked when the desktop application updates.
| Maintenance item | Owner action |
|---|---|
| Design token change | Update the JSON color values and this page's palette guidance in the same pull request. |
| Power BI Desktop update | Validate against the current report theme schema, then import the JSON into Desktop. |
| Starter report update | Update the starter source, regenerate caat-power-bi-starter-report.pbit, and retest the template in Power BI Desktop. |
| Report template release | Test the theme against common CAAT dashboard patterns: KPI strip, clustered bar chart, line chart, table, slicer, and tooltip. |
| Organizational rollout | Tenant admins can expose organizational themes in the Power BI theme dropdown for broader adoption. |
Theme JSON
The complete downloadable JSON file is loaded inline below.
Loading Power BI theme JSON...References
- Microsoft Learn: Use report themes in Power BI
- Microsoft Learn: Create custom report themes in Power BI Desktop
- Microsoft Learn: Create and use report templates in Power BI Desktop
- Microsoft Learn: Design Power BI reports for accessibility
- Microsoft Power BI report theme JSON schema repository
- pbi-tools CLI documentation