Dynamic display of HTTP URL Images

[TanguyMa]

Hi, 

I am trying to dynamically display images in a PBI table. I store URL paths in a table. and filter to get the right picture to display.

The pictures are store on a NAS, and a webserver is used to create HTTP URL links to the images.

When I put the picture URL in my web browser, it works perfectly, but PBI Desktop fails to display the images..

Images are 25KB, so not too large.

Is there specific settings to set on PBI ? Could it be a permission issue ? Is it proxy/firewall related ?

Tips/Ideas are welcomed

Thanks in advance,

Tanguy

[DataNinja777]

Hi @TanguyMa ,

It sounds like you've run into a common issue when trying to display images in Power BI from a URL. The most frequent cause for this behavior is that Power BI doesn't know that the text in your column is meant to be an image. You need to explicitly tell it by setting the column's Data Category. To do this, go to the Data view or Model view in Power BI Desktop, select the table and the specific column that contains your image URLs. Then, in the Column tools ribbon that appears at the top, find the Data category dropdown and change it from "Uncategorized" to "Image URL". This simple step usually resolves the problem right away. ✨

If changing the data category doesn't work, the next thing to check is accessibility. While the URL works for you in a browser on your machine, Power BI Desktop might be getting blocked. Your browser could be using cached credentials or specific network permissions that the Power BI application itself doesn't have. A good way to test this is to open a private or incognito browser window and paste the URL; if it still loads without asking for a login, it confirms that the image allows for anonymous access, which is what Power BI requires.

Another potential hurdle could be a proxy or firewall issue. Corporate network security can sometimes prevent applications like Power BI Desktop from accessing external or even internal network URLs. The Power BI application needs to have clear access to the webserver on your NAS. This is something you might need to discuss with your IT department to ensure Power BI isn't being blocked.

Finally, keep in mind that if you plan to publish this report to the Power BI Service, the service will also need to access these URLs. Since your NAS is on a local network, the Power BI Service (which is in the cloud) won't be able to reach it. For published reports, the images must be hosted on a publicly accessible web server. For now, focusing on Power BI Desktop, the Data Category and potential network blocks are your most likely culprits.

Best regards,

[TanguyMa]

Hi DataNinja777, 

I already tried the first two points. It still doesn't work. I'll try to reach IT department to check what could be the rootcause. Do you have any information on what port/protocol needs to be open/allow ? 

Thank you for your time and answer,

Regards,

[v-achippa]

Hi @TanguyMa,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Fabric Community.

Thank you @DataNinja777 for the prompt response.

As we haven’t heard back from you, we wanted to kindly follow up to check if the issue is resolved? Have you tried reaching out to the IT department? or let us know if you need any further assistance.

Thanks and regards,

Anjan Kumar Chippa

[v-achippa]

Hi @TanguyMa,

We wanted to kindly follow up to check if the issue is resolved? or let us know if you need any further assistance.

Thanks and regards,

Anjan Kumar Chippa