Working with Shapes

[Walt1010]

Noob here. As I understand it, shapes in PBI can be used inter alia to create new backgrounds on the entire canvas or to introduce new blocks of colour on top of which you can place visuals as a way of visually grouping or unifying them with a common background. When I introduce Shapes for this type of purpose, and place them at the back of the various objects on the canvas it looks good and works well when published. While I'm working with developing the rest of the visuals on the canvas however, having shàpes beneath other objects is extremely irritating! Moving my mouse pointer  over them causes them to "float" upwards, covering the rest of the visuals, and the correct order is only established by clicking off the canvas. Is there anyway to stop this behaviour so they can only be activated by a click?

[anmolmalviya05 · Accepted solution]

Hi ,

Absolutely, working with shapes as backgrounds for visual grouping in Power BI can be a bit frustrating due to that “floating” behavior you described. Luckily, there are ways to manage this and make your development experience smoother. Here are a few options:

1. Turn Off “Maintain Layer Order”

Power BI has a feature called "Maintain layer order" that can cause shapes to behave this way when objects overlap. If you turn this off, shapes will no longer “float” above other visuals when you hover over them.

To turn it off:

Go to View in the toolbar.

Toggle Maintain layer order to off.

2. Use the Selection Pane for Locking Shapes

Another way to stop shapes from interfering is to use the Selection Pane to lock them in place.

To do this:

Go to View > Selection Pane.

In the Selection Pane, find your shape and click on the lock icon next to it.

Locking a shape will prevent it from being selected, which means it won’t float up over other visuals.

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@Walt1010

[Walt1010]

Thanks that will definitely help. I'm pleased that I wasn't just doing something stupid. I'm surprised .ore people don't complain about it..

[rajendraongole1]

Hi @Walt1010 - To prevent shapes from coming to the foreground and interfering while you're developing other visuals. 

Power BI has a "Lock" feature for visuals, which prevents them from being moved or accidentally selected.

Point 2: The Selection Pane allows you to manage the layering of visuals on the canvas without directly interacting with them.

1. Go to the View tab at the top of Power BI Desktop>>Select Selection Pane>>In the Selection Pane, you’ll see a list of all visuals and shapes. You can drag the shapes to the bottom of the list (layer them under other visuals) or even toggle their visibility off temporarily while you’re working on other visuals.

Point 3: If locking the shape isn't enough, you can temporarily hide it.In the Selection Pane, click the "eye" icon next to the shape to make it invisible while you work, then click the icon again to make it reappear.

These methods should help keep shapes out of your way as you develop your report.

Hope this helps.

[Walt1010]

Thanks, I think both of your suggestions will help!