The new Card visual in Power BI is getting ready for general availability. This update introduces a modern, visually richer way to feature key metrics in your reports, and it comes with major improvements and expanded capabilities.
What’s New – Rendering & Design Improvements
- The rendering engine has been completely re-engineered for responsive design: when you resize the Card visual, proportions are maintained and sections at the bottom no longer get cut off.
- Existing reports may look different once the update is live, especially if Card visuals are short in height.
- After GA, the default settings for callout size and background formatting will apply whether or not a divider is enabled. Previously, these settings only appeared when a divider was toggled on.
How to Prepare Your Existing Reports
To get ahead of the change:
- Toggle on the divider for the Card visual.
- Adjust the callout size to your preferred appearance.
- Set the background color for reference labels to your liking. If you’d rather keep the background hidden when the divider is off, simply turn off the background setting.
- Keep the divider toggled on (in the Divider group) to ensure consistent alignment. Or, you may turn off the divider and still retain custom background and callout size settings.
Other New Features Coming with GA
- Enhanced image support: You’ll be able to include key images inside Card visuals, giving reports a richer storytelling medium.
- Collage layout: A layout option to organize metrics and sections in a clean, collage-style arrangement.
- Expanded styling controls: Additional customization options such as section-specific backgrounds, rounded corner styling for multi-category tiles, and more.
- Updated defaults: A cleaner, modern layout by default, with improved spacing and typography. Existing reports can opt-in to the new defaults by updating the base Power BI theme via the theme dialog.
Why This Matters
With these enhancements, the new Card visual gives report authors greater flexibility and a more polished look for key metric displays. The visual is easier to read, more adaptable across devices and layouts, and better positioned for future features. For report consumers, this means clearer, more engaging visuals and a more consistent experience.
