How to Add Image to Power BI Report

Adding images to your Power BI reports is one of the quickest ways to transform them from a dull spreadsheet look-alike into a polished, engaging dashboard. Whether you need a company logo in the corner or dynamic product images that update based on a filter, handling images is a fundamental skill. This guide will walk you through the primary methods for adding both static and data-driven images to your Power BI reports.

Why Use Images in Power BI Reports?

Before diving into the "how," it's worth understanding the "why." A well-placed image does more than just make your report look pretty. It serves several practical purposes:

• Provides Context: Seeing a picture of a product next to its sales figures is much more intuitive than just reading the product name. This is invaluable for retail, e-commerce, and inventory reporting.
• Increases Engagement: Visuals naturally draw the eye. Images can break up text and numbers, making your report less intimidating and easier to digest for your audience. Think of it as telling a more compelling story with your data.
• Reinforces Branding: Adding your company logo or client logos helps maintain a professional, consistent look and feel across all your reports. It’s a small touch that makes a big impact on a report's perceived quality.
• Improves Navigation: You can use small icons as visual cues for buttons or to categorize different sections of your report, making it simpler for users to understand how to interact with it.

Method 1: Using the "Image" Object for Static Visuals

This is the most straightforward method and is perfect for any image that doesn't need to change. This is what you'll use for company logos, background images, static icons, or any other visual element you want to permanently place on your report canvas.

Think of it as simply placing a picture onto your canvas, just like you would in PowerPoint or Google Slides.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Open your Power BI report in Power BI Desktop.
2. Navigate to the Insert tab on the main ribbon at the top of the screen.
3. In the Elements section, you will see an option for Image. Click on it.
4. A file browser window will immediately pop up. Find the image file you want to add from your computer (Power BI supports a range of formats like JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, etc.). Select your file and click Open.
5. The image will now appear on your report canvas. From here, you can click and drag it to the desired position. You can also resize it by clicking and dragging the corners or edges, just like any other visual element.

Formatting Your Static Image

Once you’ve added your image, you have a solid set of formatting options to make it fit your report's design. With your image selected, go to the Visualizations pane on the right-hand side and click the "Format your visual" icon (it looks like a paintbrush).

Here you can adjust settings like:

• Style: Control how the image fits within its bounded box (Normal, Fit, Fill). 'Fit' is often the most useful option to ensure the entire image is visible without being cropped.
• Border: Add a colored border around the image.
• Shadow: Add a drop shadow for a bit of depth.
• Transparency: Make the image partially transparent, which is excellent for creating a watermark or "faded" background effect.

Method 2: Displaying Dynamic Images Based on Your Data

This is where Power BI's interactivity really shines. Instead of a single static photo, you can display different images that change based on what data is being shown or filtered. A common use case is a product catalog where selecting a product line in a slicer updates a table to show pictures of all products in that line.

The magic behind this method lies in using a column in your dataset that contains URLs pointing directly to each image online.

Step 1: Get Your Data Ready

First things first, your data model needs a field containing the actual web addresses (URLs) of your images. These images must be accessible via a public URL, meaning they can't be stored only on your local machine or behind a firewall that Power BI can't access. The URLs need to point directly to the image file itself (e.g., ending in .jpg, .png, etc.).

For example, if you have a product table, it might look something like this in Excel or your data source:

After loading this table into Power BI, you need to tell Power BI that the ImageURL column contains links to images, not just boring text.

Step 2: Set the Data Category to "Image URL"

This is the most critical step. Categorizing the data tells Power BI how to interpret and render the information in that column.

1. In Power BI Desktop, switch to the Data view by clicking the table icon on the far left navigation pane.
2. Select the table containing your image URLs from the Data pane on the right-hand side.
3. Click on the header of the column that contains your URLs (in our example, a column named ImageURL). This will highlight the entire column.
4. A new tab called Column tools will appear in the top ribbon. In this tab, find the Properties section.
5. Click the dropdown menu next to Data category. It will be set to "Uncategorized" by default. Select Image URL from the list.

That's it! You have successfully told Power BI what to do with that data. Now, it’s time to use it in a report.

Step 3: Add the Images to a Visual

Now that Power BI knows it's working with images, you can add them to visuals that support displaying them. The most common visuals for this are tables, matrices, slicers, and multi-row cards. For this example, let's use a standard Table visual.

1. Go back to the Report view by clicking the icon at the top of the left-hand navigation pane.
2. Select a Table visual from the Visualizations pane and add it to your report canvas.
3. With the new table visual selected, go to your Data pane. Find your data table and drag your ImageURL field into the Values or Columns area for the visual.
4. You will see your images instantly appear in the table!
5. To make the table more useful, you can drag other data fields into it as well, such as ProductName and Sales. You can now build powerful, interactive reports. Adding a slicer to filter by Product Category would dynamically update which product rows (and their corresponding images) are shown in the table.

Tips and Best Practices for Optimal Performance

Working with images can sometimes slow down your report if not managed well. Here are a few tips to keep your reports snappy and professional:

• Optimize Image File Sizes: Large, high-resolution photos can significantly bloat your report's loading time. Before uploading your images to their web location, use a tool to compress them and reduce their file size without a noticeable drop in quality. A size under 100KB per image is a good target.
• Use Consistent Dimensions: For images appearing together in a table or gallery, try to use images that have a consistent aspect ratio (e.g., all square or all 16:9). This prevents strange stretching or cropping and gives your report a much tidier, more uniform look.
• Check URL Accessibility: Before you get too deep into your report build, double-check that your image URLs are publicly accessible. A quick way to test is to open a private browser window (like Chrome's Incognito mode) and paste the URL. If the image loads there, Power BI will be able to access it.
• Use PNG for Transparency: If you need your images to have a transparent background (like a company logo with no white box around it), be sure to save and upload them in PNG format.
• Don't Overdo It: Images should enhance your data, not clutter the report. Use them purposefully to provide context or improve usability. A report packed with too many visuals can be just as confusing as one with none.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re adding a simple logo for branding or building a dynamic catalog with data-driven visuals, mastering the use of images is a huge step toward creating more professional and user-friendly Power BI reports. The key distinction is using the 'Image' object for static visuals and setting the 'Image URL' data category for dynamic ones linked to your data model.

While mastering tools like Power BI unlocks powerful reporting capabilities, there's often a significant learning curve. You still have to manage data models, understand DAX, and configure visualizations manually. At our company, we built Graphed because we believe getting insights shouldn't require an analytics degree. We provide an AI data analyst that lets you connect your marketing and sales platforms in a few clicks, then create entire dashboards and get answers simply by describing what you need in plain English - no tricky setups or configurations required.