Know more New Power Bi Feature launched in Dec 2021 – Sparkline

How to create Sparkline?

What is Sparkline?

Sparkline is a small chart that resides inside one worksheet cell and is without an axis in a Table or a Matrix chart. It can be used to distinctly represent data or show a trend/variation of your data over time of the metric of your choice. Sparkline can draw attention to important items such as seasonal changes or economic cycles and highlight the maximum and minimum values in a different color.

Now you must be wondering why to use Sparkline when there is a similar chart (Line Chart). Because a Sparkline chart is an excellent option for compiling data within a row of a table or Matrix.

Power Bi has Launched Sparkline feature in December 2021 Update.

How to add Sparkline in Power Bi

As Sparkline is a great addition to reports/dashboard lets learn how to effectively add it in Power Bi. 

Sparkline can be added once you have built your Table or Matrix Visualization.

To add a Sparkline lets create Matrix or Table visualization:

1. In this example, I have created Matrix chart with Country, Category and Subcategory as Rows and Sales Amt as Values.

2. Now to see the Sales Trend for the Particular Subcategory we will add Sparkline to the Matrix.

3. Right Click on the Total Sales Amount Values on Fields tab

4. Click on Add Sparkline

 

5. A window will pop up. Fill in the details as follows. Here I am selecting trend of Sales by Order Date.

6. Sparkline will be displayed on the Matrix Chart.

7. Rename the column

Right Click on the field and click on rename and change the name of the field.

 

 

How to Format Sparkline?

 

1. After adding the Sparkline to the chart, you can format it by clicking on Format Pane and Sparklines.

2. Right now, Power Bi provides 2 types of Charts for Sparkline, Line and Column Chart. You can make a choice as per your requirement. But if there are more items then interpreting a Column chart becomes difficult, as sparkline is a Micrograph.

3. You can show markers on Sparklines by selecting the appropriate values. For example, in the below screenshot, the markers are placed on highest and Lowest value.

 

 

4. You can select the color, size and shape for the markers as well.

How to edit Sparkline?

1. Right-click on the Sparkline in the Fields tab and select Edit sparkline.
2. In the Edit sparkline dialog box that opens, edit the sparkline values and then click OK.

Few things to keep in mind for Sparklines:

1. Currently Power bi supports 5 sparklines per visual and displays up to 52 points per sparkline.
2. The number of columns in Matrix is limited to 20 when sparklines are used.

Advantages of using Sparkline:

1. Visualization of data to see the broad trend like temperature, Sales Amount, or stock market price.
2. Data is transformed into a compact form.
3. Easy to understand the variation in the data.
4. High and low data points can be marked on the sparkline.
5. Sparkline automatically adjusts its size once the cell width is changed in the Table or Matrix.

Conclusion: 

1. Sparkline is a micro chart which do not recommend an axes or coordinates.
2. Sparkline can apply on a single column or row of data series.
3. Different formatting properties are available for the Sparkline.
4. Sparkline is a small graph which fit into a single cell of Table or Matrix chart.
5. The different data points can be highlighted in a Sparkline with different color.
6. Sparkline is lightweight charts and helps visualize data to show trends in series of data.