How to Add Dynamic Images in Tableau

Adding dynamic images to your Tableau dashboards can transform them from static data displays into vibrant, interactive reports. Instead of just showing product names or sales regions, you can display the actual product photo or a country flag next to the data, making your visualization instantly more intuitive. This guide will walk you through the two primary methods for bringing dynamic images into your Tableau projects.

Why Use Dynamic Images in Tableau?

Before jumping into the "how," let's quickly cover the "why." Integrating dynamic images isn't just about making your dashboard look nice, it serves several practical purposes:

• Enhanced Context: An image provides immediate context that text alone cannot. Seeing an image of the "Mid-Century Modern Sofa" next to its sales figures is far more impactful than just reading the name.
• Increased Engagement: Visuals naturally draw the eye. Users are more likely to interact with and understand a dashboard that uses relevant imagery, leading to deeper insights.
• Improved User Experience: For dashboards that list people (sales reps, employees), countries, or brands, showing a face, flag, or logo makes navigating and interpreting the data faster and more intuitive.
• Professional Polish: A well-executed dashboard with dynamic images has a professional, polished finish that sets it apart from standard reports.

There are two popular ways to make this happen in Tableau: using URL Actions to pull images from the web and using Custom Shapes for images stored on your computer.

Method 1: Dynamic Images with URL Actions

This method is perfect when your images are already hosted online. Think of product images on an e-commerce website, employee photos on a company server, or logos stored in a cloud drive. The core idea is to embed a "Web Page" object in your dashboard and then use an action to tell it which image URL to load based on the user's selection.

Step 1: Prepare Your Data Source

Your data must contain a column with the complete, direct URL for each image. For this method to work, each row in your data that needs an image must have a corresponding link.

For example, your dataset might look something like this in a spreadsheet:

Ensure these URLs are public and directly accessible. If an image is behind a login or on a private network, it won't load in Tableau.

Step 2: Build Your Main Visualization

Connect to your data in Tableau and create a worksheet that will act as the "trigger" for the images. A simple table or bar chart works perfectly fine.

For our example, let's create a worksheet named "Sales by Product."

1. Drag Product Name to the Rows shelf.
2. Drag Sales to the Text card on the Marks shelf.

You should now have a simple list of products and their sales numbers. This will be the list that users click on to see an image.

Step 3: Create the Dashboard and Add Objects

Now it's time to assemble the dashboard where everything will come together.

1. Create a new dashboard by clicking the "New Dashboard" icon at the bottom of the workbook.
2. Drag your "Sales by Product" worksheet onto the dashboard canvas.
3. From the Objects panel on the left (under the "Size" options), drag a Web Page object onto the canvas. Place it next to your sales list.
4. When prompted for a URL, simply click OK without entering anything. The object will appear blank, which is exactly what we want for now.

Step 4: Configure the URL Action

This is where the magic happens. We'll create an action that listens for a click on the "Sales by Product" sheet and uses the URL from that row to populate the Web Page object.

1. In the top menu, navigate to Dashboard > Actions...
2. In the Actions dialog box, click Add Action > Go to URL...
3. A configuration window will open. Let's fill it out carefully:
4. Click OK twice to close both dialog boxes.

That's it! Now, test your dashboard by clicking on different product names in your list. The blank Web Page object should update instantly to display the corresponding image from the URL. You have successfully created a dynamic image display.

Method 2: Dynamic Images with Custom Shapes

This method is ideal when you have a finite set of image files saved locally on your computer. It's perfect for things like country flags, brand logos, employee headshots, or status indicators (e.g., green checkmark, red X).

Step 1: Add Image Files to Your Tableau Repository

Tableau needs to know where to find your custom images. You do this by placing them in a specific folder within your "My Tableau Repository."

1. On your computer, navigate to your repository folder. This is typically located in Documents/My Tableau Repository.
2. Inside this folder, open the Shapes folder.
3. Create a new folder inside "Shapes." Give it a meaningful name, as this name will appear in Tableau. For example, "Company Logos."
4. Copy all of your image files (JPG, PNG, etc.) into this newly created "Company Logos" folder. Using PNGs with transparent backgrounds often yields the best results.

Step 2: Load Your Data and Build a View

For this to work, your dataset must have a dimension that corresponds directly to your image file names. For instance, if you have an image named Microsoft.png, your data needs a column with a value of "Microsoft." The names don't have to include the file extension.

In Tableau, connect to your data and build a basic view.

1. Create a new worksheet.
2. Drag the dimension that corresponds to your images (e.g., "Company Name") onto the Rows shelf.
3. Drag a measure like "Market Share" or "Sales" to the Columns shelf to create a bar chart.

You should have a standard bar chart that you want to enhance with your custom logos.

Step 3: Assign the Custom Shapes

Now, let's tell Tableau to replace the default marks with your custom images.

1. In the Marks card, change the mark type from "Automatic" (or "Bar") to Shape.
2. Drag the dimension that you're using for your shapes ("Company Name") onto the Shape card on the Marks shelf. You'll see different shapes now assigned to each company.
3. To assign your custom images, click the Shape card to open the Edit Shape dialog box.
4. On the right, find the Select Shape Palette dropdown. If you've just added your folder, you may need to click Reload Shapes first. After reloading, find and select your new palette ("Company Logos").
5. Tableau will now display your custom images. It will automatically try to match a data item (like "Microsoft") to a shape with the same name ("Microsoft.png"). You can also manually assign each item by clicking on a data item on the left and then clicking the desired shape on the right.
6. Once you're satisfied with the assignments, click OK.

Your visualization now displays a custom shape for each company. You can adjust the size of the images using the Size slider on the Marks card to get them looking just right.

Best Practices for Using Dynamic Images

• Image Optimization Is Key: Especially for the URL Action method, large image files can slow down your dashboard's loading time. Compress and resize images to an appropriate size before using them.
• Maintain Data Integrity: Broken URLs or mismatched names between your data and shape files are the number one cause of issues. Keep your data clean and audit your links regularly.
• Use Consistent Aspect Ratios: Images with varying aspect ratios can look distorted when forced into a standard box. Whenever possible, crop or resize your images to be consistent.
• Leverage Transparent Backgrounds: For the Custom Shapes method, PNG files with transparent backgrounds integrate much more seamlessly into your dashboard's design than images with solid backgrounds.

Final Thoughts

Mastering dynamic images in Tableau is a fantastic way to elevate your reports from good to great. By using URL actions for web-hosted images or custom shapes for local files, you can provide rich visual context that engages your audience and makes your data stories more compelling.

Of course, digging into this level of technical setup isn't always something you have time for. Sometimes you just need clean, insightful dashboards fast. This is exactly where we built Graphed to help. Instead of setting up manual actions or managing shape repositories, we allow you to simply ask for the report you want in plain English. You could ask something like, "Show me our top 10 Shopify products by revenue for last quarter, and include their product images," and get a live, polished dashboard in seconds. We connect all your critical data sources so you can get straight to the insights, not the setup.