Light Power BI theme

Paper White Power BI theme

Warm neutral light Power BI theme: stone-grey lead, copper and dusty-blue series on paper white, for consulting decks and project controls.

By Nawaf Sharaf · Founder & Reliability Engineer · Updated November 9, 2026

Free for commercial use

Paper White theme applied to the Construction Project Controls template

Shown on the Construction Project Controls template.

Power BI Desktop: Design ribbon → Import theme. Power BI service: View → Theme pane.

Design with this theme →

About the palette

Paper White is a consultant's palette: warm paper page #FAFAF9, stone-grey lead #44403C, copper #B45F33 and dusty blue #4A7A9A. It keeps colour for meaning and lets the layout carry the design.

Use it for construction project controls, consulting deliverables and portfolio reviews. The stone lead makes "total" bars look like ink, and copper highlights the one series you're talking about. Text is #1C1917 at 17.4:1. Because it barely tints anything, it is also the easiest theme to drop under a client's logo without a clash.

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

Bar, column and line charts with four or five series (5 hue families).
Highlight-one-series charts: #44403C for the measure you're talking about, 2 near-grey series for comparisons.
Thin line charts and sparklines on white cards: every chart colour reaches 3.7:1 or more.
Variance charts, waterfalls and KPI deltas: good #3F7A4A and bad #A8322A are 127° apart in hue.

Colour-vision simulation

Deuteranopia: series 3 and 5 (#4A7A9A, #6B5B8A)
Tritanopia: series 2 and 6 (#B45F33, #A84A5E)
Give those series data labels or direct labels instead of relying on the legend.

Chart colours: 8, in 5 hue families
Lightness range: 25–50 %
Text contrast: 16.7:1
Muted text: 7.3:1
Weakest chart colour: 3.7:1 on cards
Near-grey series: 2
Closest catalog palettes: Treasury Ink (0.053)Slate Executive (0.059)Civic Slate (0.070)

Colours and contrast

Contrast ratios are measured against the card (surface) colour, where visuals sit. Text needs 4.5:1; graphics need 3:1.

Theme colours and contrast against the card colour
Role	Colour	Contrast on card	Check
Page background	#FAFAF9	—	base
Card / surface	#FFFFFF	—	base
Text	#1C1917	17.49:1	AA text
Muted text	#57534E	7.63:1	AA text
Accent	#44403C	10.27:1	≥ 3:1
Good	#3F7A4A	5.13:1	≥ 3:1
Neutral	#946A1E	4.84:1	≥ 3:1
Bad	#A8322A	6.66:1	≥ 3:1
Data colour 1	#44403C	10.27:1	≥ 3:1
Data colour 2	#B45F33	4.54:1	≥ 3:1
Data colour 3	#4A7A9A	4.62:1	≥ 3:1
Data colour 4	#8A8475	3.72:1	≥ 3:1
Data colour 5	#6B5B8A	6.02:1	≥ 3:1
Data colour 6	#A84A5E	5.52:1	≥ 3:1
Data colour 7	#3E7F66	4.74:1	≥ 3:1
Data colour 8	#9A7A2E	4.04:1	≥ 3:1

Theme JSON excerpt

The downloaded file also includes text classes, visual styles and slicer, table and card defaults.

paper-white-theme.json

{
  "name": "Paper White",
  "dataColors": [
    "#44403C",
    "#B45F33",
    "#4A7A9A",
    "#8A8475",
    "#6B5B8A",
    "#A84A5E",
    "#3E7F66",
    "#9A7A2E"
  ],
  "background": "#FAFAF9",
  "foreground": "#1C1917",
  "tableAccent": "#44403C",
  "good": "#3F7A4A",
  "neutral": "#946A1E",
  "bad": "#A8322A"
}

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 Paper White 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 Paper White colours.

Slot to replace

Line chart · 1200×184 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.

Brief sent to the generator (you can edit it there)

A Power BI line visual titled "Earned value S-curve". Purpose: Cumulative planned value, earned value and actual cost by month. It sits in a 1200×184 px slot on a designed report page. Match the report's brand: data colours #44403C, #B45F33, #4A7A9A, #8A8475, #6B5B8A, #A84A5E; background #FFFFFF; text #1C1917; font Segoe UI. Transparent visual background so the page design shows through; no visual border. The report uses the Paper White Power BI theme.

Templates in this theme

Pick the right page for Power BI themes

Download · start hereFree Power BI themes80 contrast-checked theme JSON files, light and dark.
GenerateTheme LabBuild a theme JSON from your own brand colours.
Step by stepHow to import a themeDesign ribbon → Import theme, and what to do when colours don't change.
ReferenceTheme JSON guideWhat each field in the theme file controls.
2026 changesFluent 2, Classic 2026 and style presetsHow base themes layer under your JSON, 1920×1080 pages, the Update theme banner.
Compare toolsPower BI design tools, comparedTheme generators, page designers and kits, with sourced, dated facts.
Starter kitStarter Report KitYour brand as theme JSON, backgrounds, a PBIP with sample data and AI rules, in one zip.
AIAI theme generatorDescribe the look in words; get a contrast-checked theme JSON previewed on a real template.

Backgrounds to pair with Paper White

Light page backgrounds that sit well under this palette. Each background page has its own theme download, or keep Paper White and set the background image on top.

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 Paper White 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 Paper White theme use?

It uses Segoe UI Semibold for headings and Segoe UI 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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Background images

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Design a page in Paper White

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.

Open in the design studio →Browse templates

The design studio for Power BI. Free, in your browser, no sign-up.