Dark Power BI theme · colour-blind safe
Tol Bright (Dark) Power BI theme
Colour-blind-safe dark Power BI theme using Paul Tol's bright qualitative scheme on charcoal: seven distinguishable data colours plus grey, tested for CVD.
By Nawaf Sharaf · Founder & Reliability Engineer · Updated
Free for commercial use
Shown on the IT Service Desk template.
Power BI Desktop: Design ribbon → Import theme. Power BI service: View → Theme pane.
About the palette
The data colours are Paul Tol's 'bright' qualitative scheme (blue, red, green, yellow, cyan, purple, grey), published with CVD simulations showing the seven colours remain distinguishable for deuteranopes and protanopes. Here they sit on a charcoal page, where most of them clear 3:1 against the surface; blue (#4477AA) and purple (#AA3377) fall below it, so give those series data labels. The eighth colour, orange (#EE8866), is borrowed from Tol's 'light' scheme for charts that need one more series.
Good is the Tol green and bad the Tol red; these two are the pair the scheme was specifically designed to keep apart. The accent is the Tol blue.
Use this theme when the audience includes people with colour-vision deficiency and the organisation prefers a dark house style. The grey in slot seven is a legitimate series colour in Tol's scheme, not a placeholder.
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).
- Greyscale printing and PDF board packs: the chart colours span 33–73 % lightness, so bars stay apart without colour.
- Wall displays and dark-mode screens: text at 14.4:1 and every chart colour at 2.6:1 or more on the cards.
- Variance charts, waterfalls and KPI deltas: good #228833 and bad #EE6677 are 138° apart in hue.
Colour-vision simulation
- Tritanopia: series 1 and 3 (#4477AA, #228833)
- Give those series data labels or direct labels instead of relying on the legend.
- Chart colours
- 8, in 5 hue families
- Lightness range
- 33–73 %
- Text contrast
- 14.4:1
- Muted text
- 6.9:1
- Weakest chart colour
- 2.6:1 on cards
- Near-grey series
- 1
- Closest catalog palettes
- Risk Desk (0.106)Clear Sight Night (0.111)Council Chamber (0.114)
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 | #141518 | — | base |
| Card / surface | #1E2024 | — | base |
| Text | #F0F1F3 | 14.43:1 | AA text |
| Muted text | #A6A9B0 | 6.93:1 | AA text |
| Accent | #4477AA | 3.47:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Good | #228833 | 3.60:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Neutral | #CCBB44 | 8.36:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Bad | #EE6677 | 5.28:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 1 | #4477AA | 3.47:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 2 | #EE6677 | 5.28:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 3 | #228833 | 3.60:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 4 | #CCBB44 | 8.36:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 5 | #66CCEE | 8.88:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 6 | #AA3377 | 2.68:1 | published value, add labels |
| Data colour 7 | #BBBBBB | 8.50:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
| Data colour 8 | #EE8866 | 6.49:1 | ≥ 3:1 |
Theme JSON excerpt
The downloaded file also includes text classes, visual styles and slicer, table and card defaults.
{
"name": "Tol Bright (Dark)",
"dataColors": [
"#4477AA",
"#EE6677",
"#228833",
"#CCBB44",
"#66CCEE",
"#AA3377",
"#BBBBBB",
"#EE8866"
],
"background": "#141518",
"foreground": "#F0F1F3",
"tableAccent": "#4477AA",
"good": "#228833",
"neutral": "#CCBB44",
"bad": "#EE6677"
}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 Tol Bright (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 Tol Bright (Dark) colours.
Column chart · 576×200 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 column visual titled "Incidents by priority and week". It sits in a 576×200 px slot on a designed report page. Match the report's brand: data colours #4477AA, #EE6677, #228833, #CCBB44, #66CCEE, #AA3377; background #1E2024; text #F0F1F3; font Segoe UI. Transparent visual background so the page design shows through; no visual border. The report uses the Tol Bright (Dark) Power BI theme.
Templates in this theme
Backgrounds to pair with Tol Bright (Dark)
Dark page backgrounds that sit well under this palette. Each background page has its own theme download, or keep Tol Bright (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 Tol Bright (Dark) theme accessible?
Its text meets WCAG AA on the page and cards. The data colours are a published colour-blind-safe palette kept at their exact values, so a few fall below 3:1 against the cards; the table on this page lists them, and those series should carry data labels.
Which fonts does the Tol Bright (Dark) theme use?
It uses Segoe UI. 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 Tol Bright (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.