Light Power BI theme
Pastel Studio Power BI theme
Soft pastel Power BI theme that still passes contrast: lilac, peach, mint and sky mid-tones on white, with charcoal text for marketing reports.
By Nawaf Sharaf · Founder & Reliability Engineer · Updated
Free for commercial use
Shown on the Marketing Campaign Performance template.
Power BI Desktop: Design ribbon → Import theme. Power BI service: View → Theme pane.
About the palette
Pastel palettes usually fail in Power BI because the data colours melt into white cards. Pastel Studio keeps the pastel feel in the page tint and surfaces but pushes each data colour to a mid-tone (lilac #8B7CD8, peach #C37B5B, mint #429B81, sky #5090BE), each at 3:1 or better against white, so bars still have an edge.
Charcoal text (#2B2A33) rather than black keeps the softness without dropping below AA. The accent lilac is used for the header band and active slicers.
Best for marketing performance, product analytics and anything shared with a design-literate audience. Avoid it for finance variance reporting; the good/bad colours are intentionally soft.
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).
- Thin line charts and sparklines on white cards: every chart colour reaches 3.3:1 or more.
- Variance charts, waterfalls and KPI deltas: good #3E9B7A and bad #D06A7A are 168° apart in hue.
Colour-vision simulation
- Protanopia: series 1 and 4 (#8B7CD8, #5090BE); series 2 and 6 (#C37B5B, #A18844); series 4 and 5 (#5090BE, #B17D9B)
- Deuteranopia: series 1 and 4 (#8B7CD8, #5090BE); series 2 and 6 (#C37B5B, #A18844); series 3 and 5 (#429B81, #B17D9B)
- Tritanopia: series 2 and 5 (#C37B5B, #B17D9B); series 3 and 4 (#429B81, #5090BE); series 5 and 6 (#B17D9B, #A18844)
- Give those series data labels or direct labels instead of relying on the legend.
- Chart colours
- 8, in 5 hue families
- Lightness range
- 43–67 %
- Text contrast
- 13:1
- Muted text
- 6:1
- Weakest chart colour
- 3.3:1 on cards
- Near-grey series
- 1
- Closest catalog palettes
- Lilac Haze (0.053)Sorbet (0.066)Sea Glass (0.068)
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 | #F7F5FB | — | base |
| Card / surface | #FFFFFF | — | base |
| Text | #2B2A33 | 14.17:1 | AA text |
| Muted text | #5E5B6B | 6.59:1 | AA text |
| Accent | #8B7CD8 | 3.52:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Good | #3E9B7A | 3.40:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Neutral | #B87F37 | 3.43:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Bad | #D06A7A | 3.49:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 1 | #8B7CD8 | 3.52:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 2 | #C37B5B | 3.33:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 3 | #429B81 | 3.37:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 4 | #5090BE | 3.46:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 5 | #B17D9B | 3.35:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 6 | #A18844 | 3.43:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 7 | #7C8CA3 | 3.42:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 8 | #AE8267 | 3.39:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
Theme JSON excerpt
The downloaded file also includes text classes, visual styles and slicer, table and card defaults.
{
"name": "Pastel Studio",
"dataColors": [
"#8B7CD8",
"#C37B5B",
"#429B81",
"#5090BE",
"#B17D9B",
"#A18844",
"#7C8CA3",
"#AE8267"
],
"background": "#F7F5FB",
"foreground": "#2B2A33",
"tableAccent": "#8B7CD8",
"good": "#3E9B7A",
"neutral": "#B87F37",
"bad": "#D06A7A"
}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 Pastel Studio 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 Pastel Studio colours.
Line & column chart · 784×208 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 combo visual titled "Spend vs leads by week". It sits in a 784×208 px slot on a designed report page. Match the report's brand: data colours #8B7CD8, #C37B5B, #429B81, #5090BE, #B17D9B, #A18844; background #FFFFFF; text #2B2A33; font Segoe UI. Transparent visual background so the page design shows through; no visual border. The report uses the Pastel Studio Power BI theme.
Templates in this theme
Backgrounds to pair with Pastel Studio
Light page backgrounds that sit well under this palette. Each background page has its own theme download, or keep Pastel Studio and set the background image on top.
1280×720 background
Sunset Gradient HeaderLight Power BI background with an orange-to-coral gradient header band and white cards: five KPIs, a full-width trend and three panels.
1280×720 background
Nordic Split PanelMinimal light Power BI background with a left story column for title, KPIs and slicers and a large canvas for charts. Calm Nordic palette.
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 Pastel Studio 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 9 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 Pastel Studio theme use?
It uses Corbel 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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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 Pastel Studio
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.