Light Power BI theme · passed colour-vision check
Print Grey Steps Power BI theme
Print-friendly light Power BI theme: navy, copper and charcoal series with wide lightness steps that survive greyscale printing and CVD.
By Nawaf Sharaf · Founder & Reliability Engineer · Updated
Free for commercial use
Shown on the Budget vs Actual template.
Power BI Desktop: Design ribbon → Import theme. Power BI service: View → Theme pane.
About the palette
Print Grey Steps is for reports that get printed on office printers: pure white page and cards, black text (21.0:1), and series chosen for distinct lightness as well as hue (navy #1C3F75, copper #C26E2A, charcoal #262626, brown #5C3317), so bars stay distinguishable in black and white.
Its first six colours passed the colour-vision simulation. Use it for board packs, supplier scorecards and anything that goes to PDF. The lighter series (lilac #AC84CD, sky #5B8FCC, grey #8C8C8C) belong at the end of a legend.
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
- Pages with three or four series: the chart colours come from only 4 hue families, so beyond four categories use a table or small multiples.
- Highlight-one-series charts: #1C3F75 for the measure you're talking about, 2 near-grey series for comparisons.
- Greyscale printing and PDF board packs: the chart colours span 15–66 % lightness, so bars stay apart without colour.
- Thin line charts and sparklines on white cards: every chart colour reaches 3:1 or more.
- Variance charts, waterfalls and KPI deltas: good #2D6A3E and bad #A3241F are 134° apart in hue.
Colour-vision simulation
The first six chart colours stay apart for protanopia, deuteranopia and tritanopia (OKLab distance 0.06 or more after simulation).
- Chart colours
- 8, in 4 hue families
- Lightness range
- 15–66 %
- Text contrast
- 21:1
- Muted text
- 8.4:1
- Weakest chart colour
- 3:1 on cards
- Near-grey series
- 2
- Closest catalog palettes
- Slate Executive (0.057)Ledger Navy (0.065)Blue Amber Balance (0.076)
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 | #FFFFFF | — | base |
| Card / surface | #FFFFFF | — | base |
| Text | #000000 | 21.00:1 | AA text |
| Muted text | #4D4D4D | 8.45:1 | AA text |
| Accent | #1C3F75 | 10.41:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Good | #2D6A3E | 6.48:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Neutral | #8A6A00 | 5.07:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Bad | #A3241F | 7.42:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 1 | #1C3F75 | 10.41:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 2 | #C26E2A | 3.78:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 3 | #262626 | 15.13:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 4 | #5C3317 | 10.82:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 5 | #3D7F72 | 4.69:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 6 | #AC84CD | 3.03:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 7 | #5B8FCC | 3.36:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 8 | #8C8C8C | 3.36:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
Theme JSON excerpt
The downloaded file also includes text classes, visual styles and slicer, table and card defaults.
{
"name": "Print Grey Steps",
"dataColors": [
"#1C3F75",
"#C26E2A",
"#262626",
"#5C3317",
"#3D7F72",
"#AC84CD",
"#5B8FCC",
"#8C8C8C"
],
"background": "#FFFFFF",
"foreground": "#000000",
"tableAccent": "#1C3F75",
"good": "#2D6A3E",
"neutral": "#8A6A00",
"bad": "#A3241F"
}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 Print Grey Steps 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 Print Grey Steps colours.
Line & column chart · 704×192 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 "Actual vs budget by month". Purpose: Actual as columns, budget as a line. It sits in a 704×192 px slot on a designed report page. Match the report's brand: data colours #1C3F75, #C26E2A, #262626, #5C3317, #3D7F72, #AC84CD; background #FFFFFF; text #000000; font Segoe UI. Transparent visual background so the page design shows through; no visual border. The report uses the Print Grey Steps Power BI theme.
Templates in this theme
Backgrounds to pair with Print Grey Steps
Light page backgrounds that sit well under this palette. Each background page has its own theme download, or keep Print Grey Steps and set the background image on top.
1280×720 background
Ledger Navy FinanceFinance Power BI background with a navy top band, gold rule and flat bordered panels for KPIs, a P&L matrix and two charts. Board-pack style.
1280×720 background
Pastel Soft GradientSoft pastel gradient Power BI background with large rounded white cards; friendly for marketing and product reports. Passes contrast with dark text.
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 Print Grey Steps 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. Its first six chart colours also stay distinguishable in a protanopia, deuteranopia and tritanopia simulation. The full contrast table is on this page.
Which fonts does the Print Grey Steps 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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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 Print Grey Steps
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.