Legend
The legend explains the colors, sizes and symbols on the map. Icon Map Pro builds it from the way each layer is really styled, so it stays in step with your formatting.
Add a legend
- In the Format pane, switch on the Legend card.
- Choose a Position: one of the four corners of the map.
- Type a Title. It is the label of the button that folds and unfolds the legend.
The legend lists every layer that is switched on and can be explained. To leave a layer out, expand Legend labels and switch off its in legend setting.
What appears in the legend
The legend has one group for each layer, headed by the layer's title when Show layer titles is on. What a group shows depends on the layer and how it is styled.
| Layer | What the legend shows |
|---|---|
| Circles | A color swatch for each category, and a size ramp when circles are sized by a value. Cluster group colors are shown as swatches. |
| Images and icons | The icon or icons in use. When every row has its own icon and no description, a note says icons are set per item. |
| Lines | A sample of the line, a gradient for gradient lines, and a width ramp when the width follows a value. |
| Heatmap | A gradient from Low to High. |
| Cells | A swatch or a gradient. |
| Shapes (from data, from files, vector tiles, ArcGIS layers bound to data) | Fill swatches or line samples. |
| Icon Map Catalog layers | The catalog's own legend: a gradient, swatches or icons for its rules, or an image. |
Reference layers (files and feeds, raster, WMS and ArcGIS) are not shown in the legend in 1.1.0.10. The Format pane lists Overlay settings under Legend labels for file layers added by link, but they have no effect in this version.
A group with several categories starts folded: it shows a few swatches without names, then "+N" and an arrow. Select the arrow to expand the group and list every category with its name.
When a layer has more entries than Max categories, the list is cut short and a note such as "+ 8 more" is added.
Colors from conditional formatting
When a layer's color is set with conditional formatting (fx), Power BI gives the map only the finished color of each row. It does not pass on the rule, its colors or the field it is based on. The legend works backward from the colors it receives, and each layer's mode decides what it shows:
| Mode | What the legend shows |
|---|---|
| Auto (the default) | Up to Max categories different colors: a swatch for each color. More colors than that: a gradient, when the map can work out which measure the colors follow. Otherwise a note, "Colors set by conditional formatting". |
| Categories | A swatch for each color, even when there are many. Past Max categories, a note such as "+ 8 more colors" is added. |
| Gradient | A gradient. See Gradient mode. |
| None | The note "Colors set by conditional formatting", with no swatches. |
Set the mode for each layer in Conditional formatting legends.
Swatches are labeled with the number of items of that color, for example "12 items". Items that no rule colors keep the layer's own color and are listed as Other. To name the categories, give the layer a description in Legend labels: select fx, then Field value, and pick the field that names each category. A layer with a description lists one entry for each description and does not use its mode.
To find the measure behind a gradient, Auto compares the colors with the size and weight fields and the tooltips in the visual. It needs at least 8 colored items, and it uses a field only when the colors clearly follow it. The gradient is then captioned with the field's name and labeled with the lowest and highest values on the map. To tell the map which field to use, set the layer's gradient field.
Gradient mode
With the mode set to Gradient, the legend shows a gradient when it can find the measure the colors follow:
- When you set a gradient field, the legend uses that field. It needs at least 2 colored items.
- Without a gradient field, the map looks for the measure the colors follow, as Auto does. It needs at least 8 colored items.
Otherwise the legend shows the note "Colors set by conditional formatting". This happens when the map shows only a few items or a single color, or when the measure behind the fx rule is not in the visual. To get a gradient for a few items, pick the field that drives the colors as the layer's gradient field.
Show legends in the layer control
Display mode chooses where legends are drawn:
| Option | Result |
|---|---|
| Panel | A legend panel of its own. This is the default. |
| In layer control | Each layer's row in the layer control gets an arrow. The legend is folded until a reader selects the arrow, then it opens under the row. |
| Both | The panel and the layer control rows. |
In layer control needs the layer control switched on: Format pane > Controls > Layer control > Show layer control. Without it the legend falls back to a panel. See Map controls.
Settings
Legend
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Legend (the card's switch) | Shows the legend. | Off |
| Position | Top left, Top right, Bottom left or Bottom right. | Top right |
| Title | The label of the button that folds and unfolds the legend. With more than one group the button adds the count, for example "Legend (2)". | Legend |
| Start collapsed | The legend opens folded away; readers expand it. | Off |
| Show layer titles | Shows a heading for each layer's group. | On |
| Max categories | The most category swatches shown for one layer, 1 to 50. | 12 |
| Display mode | Panel, In layer control or Both. | Panel |
Legend labels
This group appears when at least one layer that can be in the legend is switched on. Each layer gets up to three settings, named after the layer.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| {layer} in legend | Includes the layer in the legend. | On |
| {layer} title | The heading for this layer in the legend and the layer control. | Empty (the layer's own name) |
| {layer} description | Fixed text, or use fx and Field value to label the entries from a field. | Empty |
| Layer name in the settings | in legend | title | description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Circles | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Icons (the Images / Icons layer) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lines | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Shapes (from data) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Shapes (from files), or Shapes level 1, Shapes level 2 and so on | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Esri features (an ArcGIS layer bound to data) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Heatmap | Yes | Yes | No |
| Cells | Yes | Yes | No |
| Vector tiles | Yes | Yes | No |
| Overlay {n} (Files and feeds reference layers added by link; no effect in this version) | Yes | Yes | No |
Conditional formatting legends
These settings tune how fx colors are turned into legend entries. They are offered for Circles, Icons, Esri features, Shapes (from data), Lines, Shapes (from files) and Vector tiles. When Shapes (from files) layers are used as levels, the settings are labeled Shapes (all levels), for example Shapes (all levels) mode.
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| {layer} mode | Auto decides by the number of different colors. Categories shows a list of swatches, Gradient shows a gradient, None shows only a note. See Colors from conditional formatting. | Auto |
| {layer} gradient field | The field whose values drive the gradient. Select fx, then Field value, and pick it. The field does not need to be in the visual's field wells. Leave it empty to let the map detect it from the measures in the visual. | Empty |
| {layer} min label, {layer} max label | Text for the two ends of the gradient, in place of the labels the legend chooses. | Empty |
| {layer} value ranges | Labels category swatches with the range of values seen for each color. The ranges are approximate, based on the data present. | Off |
Tips and limits
- The legend sits in a corner of the map and cannot be dragged. If it covers a control, move it to another corner with Position.
- The layer control lets readers show and hide layers. Their choices last for the session only and are not saved with the report.
- Use {layer} title to replace technical names such as Esri features or Overlay 1 with words your readers know.