How to Change Shapes in Tableau

Tired of endlessly clicking and staring at the same old circles and squares in your Tableau views? While the default marks get the job done, they often miss an opportunity to tell a richer visual story. This guide will show you exactly how to change shapes in Tableau, from using the built-in options to creating and implementing your very own custom icons to make your dashboards more intuitive and engaging.

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Why Bother Changing Shapes in Tableau?

Before we jump into the "how," let's quickly touch on the "why." Thoughtfully chosen shapes can transform a confusing chart into an instantly understandable insight. Numbers and labels tell part of the story, but visual cues often communicate meaning faster than text ever could. When you leverage custom shapes, you are adding an immediate layer of context that users can grasp without having to read a legend or hover over a tooltip.

Think about these scenarios:

• Social Media Analytics: Instead of a bar chart labeled "Facebook," "Twitter," and "LinkedIn," imagine a chart using their actual logos. The recognition is instant.
• Category Performance: Analyzing sales data for a furniture store? Using small icons for chairs, tables, and bookcases makes the report more visually appealing and easier to scan.
• Performance Indicators: Is a metric up or down? A simple "up" arrow or "down" arrow can convey performance trends far more effectively than a color swatch alone.

In short, using specific shapes connects your data to real-world concepts, reducing the mental effort required for your audience to understand your message.

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The Basics: Using Tableau's Default Shapes

Tableau comes with a nice little collection of built-in shape palettes that you can use right away. Before we get into custom graphics, let's cover the fundamentals. You need to tell Tableau which dimension in your data should determine the shape.

Let's use the classic Sample - Superstore data to illustrate. We want to see Sales by Ship Mode, using a different shape for each method.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Create a basic chart. Drag Ship Mode to Columns and Sales to Rows to create a simple bar chart.
2. Change the Mark Type. On the Marks card, click the dropdown menu that currently says 'Automatic' and select Shape. Your bars will now be replaced by open circles, with each circle representing a different ship mode at its corresponding sales level.
3. Assign a Dimension to the Shape Mark. To give each ship mode its own shape, drag the Ship Mode dimension from the Data pane directly onto the Shape property on the Marks card. Tableau will now assign a different shape from the default palette to "First Class," "Same Day," "Second Class," and "Standard Class."
4. Edit Your Shapes. Not happy with the default choices? Click on the Shape property on the Marks card. This opens the Edit Shape dialog box. On the right, you can see each item from your dimension ('First Class,' etc.) and its assigned shape.

That's it! In just a few clicks, you can add another layer of visual encoding to your charts. This is great for KPIs, simple categories, or status indicators.

Going Custom: How to Add Your Own Shapes

Using custom icons is where you can truly level up your dashboards. A dashboard filled with a company's product logos or branding is infinitely more powerful and tailored than one using generic default shapes. The process requires a one-time setup on your computer, but once you know it, you can add new palettes whenever you want.

Let's walk through the entire process, step-by-step.

Step 1: Find or Create Your Custom Shapes

First, you need the actual image files you want to use. Here are a few tips for getting your files ready:

• File Format: PNGs with transparent backgrounds are generally the best choice, as they blend seamlessly into your dashboard without a clunky white box around them. Tableau also supports JPEGs, BMPs, GIFs, and other common formats.
• Sizing: Consistency is important. Try to make your shape files roughly the same size (e.g., 32x32 pixels or 64x64 pixels). If one icon is massive and another is tiny, it will look jarring in your final visualization.
• File Names: Give your files clear, descriptive names. icon-chair.png is much better than image_123.png, as it helps you identify them later.
• Where to Find Icons: Resources like Flaticon or The Noun Project offer millions of professional icons. Alternatively, you can create your own or use official company logos.

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Step 2: Locate Your "My Tableau Repository" Folder

When you install Tableau Desktop, it automatically creates a special folder on your computer to store things like custom shapes, color palettes, and data sources. Finding this folder is an important step.

• On Windows: The path is typically C:\Users\[Your Username]\Documents\My Tableau Repository
• On Mac: The path is /Users/[Your Username]/Documents/My Tableau Repository

Navigate to this directory on your machine. Inside, you'll see several folders, including one named Shapes. This is where the magic happens.

Step 3: Add Your Custom Shapes to the Repository

You can't just dump all your images into the Shapes folder. To keep things organized, Tableau requires you to create new sub-folders for each custom palette you want to add.

1. Navigate inside the Shapes folder within your 'My Tableau Repository'.
2. Create a new folder. The name you give this folder is what your custom palette will be called inside Tableau. For example, if you're adding social media icons, you might name the folder "Social Media Logos".
3. Copy and paste all your custom PNG (or other image) files directly into this new folder.

Step 4: Reload Shapes in Tableau and Use Them

Your custom files are now in the right place, but Tableau doesn't know about them yet. You need to tell it to check the repository for new files.

1. If Tableau is open, you don't always need to restart it. Go to any worksheet, click the Shape card, which will open the Edit Shape dialog box again.
2. Click the Reload Shapes button. Tableau will rescan your repository directory and discover your new folder and the images inside it.
3. Now, click the "Select Shape Palette" dropdown menu. You should see the name of your new folder (e.g., "Social Media Logos") in the list!
4. Select your palette. All your custom icons will appear in the grid.
5. Finally, you can assign your custom shapes to each data item just as you did with the default ones. Select the dimension member on the left and click the corresponding icon on the right.

You can now use these icons across any Tableau workbook you create on that computer.

Practical Tips and Best Practices

Having the technical skill to add shapes is one thing, using them effectively is another. Keep these design principles in mind:

• Less is More: Don't use shapes just because you can. Over-decorating a view with dozens of different icons can make it noisy and more difficult to read. Stick to one or two key dimensions.
• Combine with Color: Shapes and colors work beautifully together to encode two different pieces of information. For example, you could use arrow shapes to show the direction of change (up/down) and color to show the magnitude of change (bright green for a large increase, light red for a small decrease).
• Manage Size Carefully: On the Marks card, you have a 'Size' property. Use this slider to make your shapes larger or smaller. Finding the right size is a balance - they need to be big enough to be recognizable but small enough not to clutter the chart.
• Maintain Consistency: If you use a chair icon for the 'Furniture' category on one dashboard, use that same icon for 'Furniture' across all of your related dashboards. This builds a consistent visual language that your users will learn to recognize.

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A Creative Example: A KPI Dashboard with Indicator Shapes

Let's tie everything together with a common business scenario: creating a top-line KPI (Key Performance Indicator) dashboard. A manager wants to see if monthly sales, profit, and order volumes are hitting their targets.

The Goal:

Create a simple view showing the actual metric, alongside a visual indicator (like a checkmark or an 'X') showing if it met the goal.

The Setup:

1. Prepare your custom shapes. Find or create two simple icons: a green checkmark (for 'Met Target') and a red X (for 'Missed Target'). Save them as PNGs. Create a new folder named "KPI Icons" inside your Tableau repository (../My Tableau Repository/Shapes/KPI Icons) and place them inside.
2. Create a Calculated Field. For each metric, you'll need to define what "hitting the target" means. Let's start with Sales. In Tableau, create a new calculated field called "Sales Status".
3. Build the Indicator Viz. In a new worksheet, drag your new "Sales Status" calculated field onto the Shape card. Change the Mark type to "Shape."
4. Assign Your KPI Shapes. Click the Shape card, "Reload Shapes," and select your "KPI Icons" palette. Assign the green checkmark to the "Met Target" value and the red X to the "Missed Target" value. Use the Size slider to make the shape nice and large.
5. Combine on a Dashboard. Now you can create a simple text table showing the SUM(Sales) value. Drag that sheet and your new "Indicator" sheet side-by-side onto a dashboard. Voila! You have a clear, simple KPI showing both the number and a visual Pass/Fail indicator. Repeat this process for Profit, Orders, or any other key metric.

Final Thoughts

Moving beyond default settings is a key step in mastering any data visualization tool. Learning how to change and customize shapes in Tableau is a simple way to take your dashboards from purely functional to deeply insightful and visually compelling. Now you have the framework to set up your repository, add your own custom icons, and apply them with purpose.

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