Legend, axis & colours

Everything outside the plot area: who is who (Legend and Data Colors) and when is when (X-Axis).

Legend

Format → Legend

Setting	Options	Default
Show	On · Off	On
Position	Top · Bottom · Left · Right · Top Center · Bottom Center · Left Center · Right Center	Top
Title	Free text	(empty)
Color	Any colour	Grey (#666666)
Text Size	6 – 40	8

Position

The four plain positions align the legend to the start of that side (the left edge for a top or bottom legend, the top edge for a left or right one). The four Center positions centre it along the side instead.

Position	Best for
Top (default) / Top Center	Most charts — the legend reads before the data
Bottom / Bottom Center	When a title above the visual already occupies the top
Left / Right	Many series: a vertical list stays readable where a horizontal one wraps

Whichever you pick, the legend takes its space from the plot area. On a short visual a top or bottom legend can leave the chart with too little height for its rank rows — a side legend, or turning the legend off in favour of data labels, gives the height back.

Title, colour and size

• Title is empty by default, so no title is drawn. Type one (Product, Team, Region) when the series aren't self-explanatory.
• Color applies to the legend text; the swatches always use each series' own colour.
• Text Size starts at 8, which is deliberately discreet. Raise it to 10–12 for a report people read at arm's length, or for a large tile.

What the legend can and can't do

• Legend markers are always circles, whatever node shape the chart uses.
• Legend items are clickable filters — see Filtering from the legend.
• The order follows the order Power BI delivers the series in — sort your Series column in the model to change it.
• With Top N on, only the series that survive the filter are listed.

X-Axis

Format → X-Axis

Setting	Options	Default
Show	On · Off	On
Text Size	6 – 40	10
Color	Any colour	Black (#000000)

The axis is labels only — there is no axis line and there are no tick marks, which keeps a rank chart from looking like a value chart. Labels are drawn from the Time column using its model format string; to change how a date reads, change the format on the column.

There is no vertical axis

A bump chart doesn't need one. The vertical position is the rank, and the rank number inside each marker states it exactly. That's also why the chart doesn't offer gridlines.

Keeping labels legible

Labels are never rotated or dropped, so long ones on a narrow visual will crowd each other. Fixes, in order of preference:

1. Shorten the labels at the source — a 2026 Q1 or Wk 12 column reads better than a full date.
2. Reduce Text Size to 8 or 9.
3. Reduce the number of periods with a filter or a slicer — most bump charts are best between 4 and 12 steps.
4. Widen the visual.

Turning Show off removes the labels entirely — useful for a small tile where the periods are stated in the visual's title.

Data Colors

Format → Data Colors — one colour picker per series, labelled with the series name.

• Defaults come from your report theme palette, so a bump chart matches the rest of the report out of the box.
• Colours are assigned by series name, so a series keeps the same colour across refreshes, filters and page loads. Rename a series in the model and it takes a new colour from the palette.
• Only the series currently drawn get a picker. With Top N on, series that never enter the band aren't listed.
• Use the picker's Revert to default to hand a series back to the theme palette.

Colour strategy for bump charts

A bump chart is a crowded picture, and colouring every series equally makes them compete:

Approach	How	Good for
Hero and chorus	One or two series in strong colours, everything else in light grey	"Where are we in the field?"
Group colours	One colour per group — all own brands blue, all competitors grey	Comparing groups rather than individuals
Full palette	Theme defaults for everyone	Under 6 series, where each has its own identity

tip

Colour is doing double duty here — it identifies a series in the legend and along its whole line. Two series in adjacent shades of the same hue will be indistinguishable once the lines cross. Pick colours that differ in lightness, not only in hue.

Theme and high contrast

Set defaults for every report at once from a report theme file. In Windows high-contrast mode Power BI replaces every colour with the system palette — your choices are kept, and return when high contrast is switched off.

Related

• Lines, markers & labels — the plot area itself.
• Interactivity & cross-filtering — clicking legend items and lines.
• Formatting reference — every setting with its range and default.