Shape Maps: The Next Frontier in Geospatial Analysis

Shape maps in Power BI Desktop are a visualization type that allows you to display data on a map using custom geographic regions, or “shapes.” You can use shape maps to display data on maps of countries, states, provinces, or other regions.

Shape maps in Power BI Desktop are a type of visual that allows you to display data on a map using custom geographical regions or shapes. These maps can be created using a variety of file formats, such as ESRI shapefiles, TopoJSON, and KML. Once the shape map is created, you can use it in your Power BI report to display data in the context of specific regions or shapes.

To use shape maps in Power BI Desktop, you’ll need to first add the shape map visualization to your report. You can do this by clicking the “Shape map” option under the “Maps” category in the Visualizations pane.

Next, you’ll need to select the data that you want to display on the map. To do this, you’ll need to drag fields from your data set to the “Location” and “Color saturation” fields in the Visualizations pane. The “Location” field determines which shapes on the map will be colored, and the “Color saturation” field determines the intensity of the color.

For example, you can use a shape map to display sales data by state or country. To create a shape map in Power BI Desktop, you will need to use the built-in shape map visual and import a shape file or other supported file format into the report. Once the shape map is imported, you can then bind it to your data and customize the map’s appearance and behavior using the formatting options available in Power BI Desktop.

You can then customize the appearance of your shape map by using the options in the “Format” tab of the Visualizations pane. For example, you can change the color scheme, adjust the map’s zoom level, or add a legend.

Shape maps can be a powerful tool for visualizing data on a map, and are a useful addition to any Power BI Desktop report.