Workaround Different Bar Colours for simple waterfall

[PBI_22]

Hi Community,

I am using the free version of the Simple Waterfall Chart in Power BI, but I am facing an issue with customizing the bar colors. It seems that the "Format using Sentiments" option is not available in my version of the visual. I’ve read that this feature was supported in versions prior to 2.0.10.3, but it might have been removed or restricted in later updates.

I would like to assign custom colors to the bars based on specific conditions, such as positive values being green, negative values being red, start bar being gray, and End bar being blue. Since the option for customizing colors directly doesn’t seem to be available, I’m looking for a workaround.

Does anyone know of a way to achieve this with the current free version of the Simple Waterfall Chart? 

[Ritaf1983 · Accepted solution]

Hi @PBI_22 

All free waterfall charts allow you to assign a single uniform color for the start and end points, while using different colors for the changes in between.

Additionally, you can add markers for increases and decreases using colors of your choice.
(I recommend using a combination of blue and red since green and red are colors that colorblind individuals, who make up about 10% of the male population, often cannot distinguish.)

If you want the start and end points to have different colors, you can either:

Use a paid chart option, for example:

 OR code your chart using Deneb, as shown in the link I’m attaching.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/79265963/vega-lite-deneb-waterfall-chart-start-end-column-proble...

From an effective visualization perspective, I wouldn’t recommend adding another color. Adding extra colors increases the cognitive load for interpretation, especially since waterfall charts are already complex for most people to understand and read.

The logical goal of a waterfall chart is to highlight the “extremes” (start and end points) and what happened between them.

If this post helps, then please consider Accepting it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.