Dark Power BI theme
High Contrast Dark Power BI theme
Black Power BI theme with white text and saturated yellow, cyan, magenta and green data colours; AAA text contrast for wall displays and low vision.
By Nawaf Sharaf · Founder & Reliability Engineer · Updated
Free for commercial use
Shown on the Manufacturing OEE template.
Power BI Desktop: Design ribbon → Import theme. Power BI service: View → Theme pane.
About the palette
High Contrast Dark mirrors Windows high-contrast mode: black page, near-black cards with visible edges, white text and data colours at maximum lightness and saturation (yellow, cyan, magenta, lime, orange, sky, violet, white). Every text pair clears 7:1.
Use it for shop-floor and contact-centre wall screens viewed from a distance, and for users who need a formal high-contrast mode. It is also a useful stress test: if a layout reads here, it reads anywhere.
Avoid gradients and shadows in templates paired with this theme; they disappear on black and only add noise to exports.
Palette profile
Computed from the colours on this page, not written by hand: hue spread, lightness range, contrast and a colour-vision simulation of the first six chart colours.
Best for
- Clustered and stacked charts with up to six series (7 hue families); add data labels to the pairs listed below.
- Greyscale printing and PDF board packs: the chart colours span 50–100 % lightness, so bars stay apart without colour.
- Wall displays and dark-mode screens: text at 18.8:1 and every chart colour at 6.6:1 or more on the cards.
- Variance charts, waterfalls and KPI deltas: good #3CF26A and bad #FF5A5A are 135° apart in hue.
Colour-vision simulation
- Protanopia: series 1 and 4 (#FFE01A, #3CF26A)
- Tritanopia: series 2 and 4 (#00E5FF, #3CF26A)
- Give those series data labels or direct labels instead of relying on the legend.
- Chart colours
- 8, in 7 hue families
- Lightness range
- 50–100 %
- Text contrast
- 18.8:1
- Muted text
- 11.2:1
- Weakest chart colour
- 6.6:1 on cards
- Near-grey series
- 1
- Closest catalog palettes
- VizForge Ink (0.093)Carbon Neon (0.097)Chalkboard (0.117)
Colours and contrast
Contrast ratios are measured against the card (surface) colour, where visuals sit. Text needs 4.5:1; graphics need 3:1.
| Role | Colour | Contrast on card | Check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Page background | #000000 | — | base |
| Card / surface | #111111 | — | base |
| Text | #FFFFFF | 18.88:1 | AA text |
| Muted text | #C8C8C8 | 11.29:1 | AA text |
| Accent | #FFE01A | 14.32:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Good | #3CF26A | 12.68:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Neutral | #FFE01A | 14.32:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Bad | #FF5A5A | 6.17:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 1 | #FFE01A | 14.32:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 2 | #00E5FF | 12.28:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 3 | #FF4FD8 | 6.62:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 4 | #3CF26A | 12.68:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 5 | #FF8A00 | 7.99:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 6 | #5AA9FF | 7.69:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 7 | #C98AFF | 7.70:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 8 | #FFFFFF | 18.88:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
Theme JSON excerpt
The downloaded file also includes text classes, visual styles and slicer, table and card defaults.
{
"name": "High Contrast Dark",
"dataColors": [
"#FFE01A",
"#00E5FF",
"#FF4FD8",
"#3CF26A",
"#FF8A00",
"#5AA9FF",
"#C98AFF",
"#FFFFFF"
],
"background": "#000000",
"foreground": "#FFFFFF",
"tableAccent": "#FFE01A",
"good": "#3CF26A",
"neutral": "#FFE01A",
"bad": "#FF5A5A"
}Import this theme in Power BI Desktop
- 1
Download the theme
Use the Download theme JSON button above. The file is a few kilobytes and contains no images.
- 2
Import the theme
In Power BI Desktop open the Design ribbon → Import theme and select the file. In the Power BI service use View → Theme pane. Older Desktop builds: View → Themes → Browse for themes.
- 3
Check visual overrides
Visuals with manually set colours keep them. Use Format → Reset to default on those visuals to pick up the theme.
- 4
Add a matching background
Open the design studio with High Contrast Dark selected to build a page background in the same colours.
VizForge AI · custom visuals
Generate a custom visual for this slot
Need a chart Power BI doesn't have? Pick a slot from the sample report above and VizForge AI writes a custom visual (.pbiviz, with TypeScript source) sized to it and drawn in the High Contrast Dark colours.
Gauge · 264×136 px
1, 2 or 5 credits depending on the brief · 5 free on signup. Sign in or create a free account on the next screen; the brief is saved for 30 minutes.
A Power BI gauge visual titled "OEE". It sits in a 264×136 px slot on a designed report page. Match the report's brand: data colours #FFE01A, #00E5FF, #FF4FD8, #3CF26A, #FF8A00, #5AA9FF; background #111111; text #FFFFFF; font Arial. Transparent visual background so the page design shows through; no visual border. The report uses the High Contrast Dark Power BI theme.
Templates in this theme
Backgrounds to pair with High Contrast Dark
Dark page backgrounds that sit well under this palette. Each background page has its own theme download, or keep High Contrast Dark and set the background image on top.
1280×720 background
Midnight Glass PanelsDark Power BI background with frosted glass panels over a deep navy glow: header strip, three KPIs and a wide chart area. Free PNG and SVG download.
1280×720 background
Ink Sidebar NavigationDark Power BI background with a left navigation rail for page-navigator buttons, title area and a five-panel layout. VizForge yellow accent.
Need a chart Power BI doesn’t ship?
Theme colours apply to custom visuals too. Describe the chart in plain English and VizForge generates it as a .pbiviz with its TypeScript source; in the design studio, the brief for a visual slot carries this palette. See the visual catalog.
Generate a custom visual with AI · starts free →Questions about this theme
Is the High Contrast Dark theme accessible?
Yes. Text and muted text meet WCAG AA (4.5:1) on both the page and card colours, and every data and status colour reaches at least 3:1 against the cards. In a colour-vision simulation 2 pairs among the first six chart colours look alike; the palette profile lists them so you can add data labels. The full contrast table is on this page.
Which fonts does the High Contrast Dark theme use?
It uses Arial Black for headings and Arial for body text. All of them are in Power BI's own font list, so the report renders the same in Power BI Desktop and in the Power BI service.
How do I import a theme JSON into Power BI?
In Power BI Desktop go to the Design ribbon → Import theme and select the downloaded .json file; in the Power BI service use View → Theme pane (older Desktop builds: View → Themes → Browse for themes). The data colours, text classes and visual defaults apply to every page of the report.
Which theme JSON schema do these themes use?
They are compiled against the current report theme schema (reportThemeSchema-2.159) and include name, dataColors, background, foreground, tableAccent, good/neutral/bad, textClasses and visualStyles.
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Keep exploring
80 contrast-checked theme JSON files, light and dark.
Build a theme JSON from your own brand colours.
61 hand-designed Power BI page layouts by department.
Page backgrounds at 1280×720 and 1920×1080 with visual positions.
Design a page in High Contrast Dark
Start the design studio with this palette, lay out your page and export a background, the theme JSON and a PBIP project that all match.
The design studio for Power BI. Free, in your browser, no sign-up.