Color is a powerful tool in data visualization. It can highlight patterns, communicate meaning, and make dashboards instantly more engaging. Tableau comes with a wide set of built-in pallettes, but sometimes they aren't enough. Maybe your company has strict brand guidelines, or maybe you want a design that better fits the story you're telling.
In this article, we'll explore both the artistic side (choosing the right colors for your dashboards) and the technical side (building and applying your own palettes in Tableau).
Choosing the Right Colors (Stylistic Considerations)
The first rule of working with color is simple: context matters.
- If your dashboard is playful or entertainment-focused, bright colors can attract attention.
- If it relates to healthcare, finance, or transportation, a more restrained and professional palette makes it easier to interpret.
Another common scenario is when you're building dashboards for a company with established corporate colors. In that case, incorporating their brand palette ensures consistency and strengthens recognition.
Sometimes inspiration can come from company reports. In one project on LEGO's history, I based my palette on the colors from LEGO's annual report. Since those reports are always vivid and aligned with LEGO's playful mission, they turned out to be the perfect fit.
Tools for Creating Color Palettes
If you need to build a palette from scratch, these tools are a great starting point:
· coolors.co — generate or browse ready-made palettes.
· Adobe Color — experiment with harmonies and explore shades.
· ColorBrewer — designed with data visualization and accessibility in mind.
For example, in a project about customer satisfaction, I wanted calm, professional tones. After experimenting on Coolors, I created a palette of blue-green hues that balanced readability with a neutral, trustworthy feel.
Creating Custom Palettes in Tableau.
Once you've chosen your colors, the next step is to add them into Tableau so they can be reused across dashboards.
Step 1: Locate the Preferences.tps file
- Navigate to your My Tableau Repository folder (created automatically when you install Tableau).
- Inside, you'll find a file named Preferences.tps. Open it with a text editor.
- If you've never edited it before, the file will look almost empty, like this:
Step 2: Add your palette
Inside the <preferences> tags, you can add your color codes.
After saving the file and reopening Tableau, your palette will appear in the color menu.
Types of Custom Palettes in Tableau
When defining a palette, you can specify different types:
- Categorical palettes — distinct colors for categories (e.g., product types, regions).
- Sequential palettes — one hue with varying intensity, used for continuous measures (e.g., sales volume).
- Diverging palettes — two contrasting hues meeting in the middle, ideal for highlighting deviations (e.g., profit above/below zero).
Example: Green-Brown Palette
For a recent project, I wanted a calm, natural look — professional but not harsh. I designed a set of Green-Brown palettes:
Categorical Palette (Green-Brown)
Distinct colors for categories like survey answers or customer segments.
<color-palette name="Green-Brown" type="regular">
<color>#677C77</color> <!-- Hooker's green-->
<color>#445F3B</color> <!-- Hunter green -->
<color>#8EA076</color> <!-- Moss green -->
<color>#E0EFEA</color> <!-- Mint cream -->
<color>#9B9B8F</color> <!-- Battleship grey -->
<color>#564734</color> <!-- Drab dark brown -->
<color>#E4E4E6</color> <!-- Platinum -->
</color-palette>Sequential Palette (Green-Brown Sequential)
Ideal for continuous measures, fading from light mint to dark green.
<color-palette name="Green-Brown Sequential" type="ordered-sequential">
<color>#E0EFEA</color> <!-- Mint cream -->
<color>#677C77</color> <!-- Hooker's green-->
</color-palette>Diverging Palette (Green-Brown Diverging)
Perfect for highlighting positive vs. negative trends.
<color-palette name="Green-Brown Diverging" type="ordered-diverging">
<color>#E0EFEA</color> <!-- Mint cream -->
<color>#9B9B8F</color> <!-- Battleship grey -->
<color>#564734</color> <!-- Drab dark brown -->
</color-palette>Best Practices for Custom Palettes
Before finalizing your palette, keep these principles in mind:
- Accessibility: ensure sufficient contrast and test for color blindness.
- Simplicity: too many colors can confuse readers.
- Consistency: Apply the same palette across related dashboards for cohesion.
- Purpose: always let your story guide your color choices.
Case Study: Customer Satisfaction Dashboard
To see everything come together, here's the final Customer Satisfaction Analysis dashboard where I applied my custom Green-Brown palettes:
This dashboard shows how a custom palette can shape the tone of the analysis. The earthy tones create a calm, professional atmosphere, fitting the subject of customer satisfaction.
- Categorical colors distinguish groups like loyalty levels and age segments.
- A sequential palette is applied to satisfaction scores, making performance gradients easy to read.
- A diverging palette highlights loyalty differences, clearly separating high and low values.
The result is a design that is both visually balanced and context-appropriate. The colors support the analysis instead of distracting from it, helping readers focus on the story behind the data.
Custom palettes in Tableau aren't just about aesthetics — they're about communication. By tailoring colors to your context, you make dashboards clearer and more aligned with your story.
Next time you design a dashboard, go beyond the defaults. Choose colors with purpose, and let them work for your data.
The contents of external submissions are not necessarily reflective of the opinions or work of Maven Analytics or any of its team members.
We believe in fostering lifelong learning and our intent is to provide a platform for the data community to share their work and seek feedback from the Maven Analytics data fam.
Submit your own writing here if you'd like to become a contributor.
Happy learning!
-Team Maven