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Status Submitted
Workspace Planning Analytics
Created by Guest
Created on Mar 5, 2026

RELATED IDEAS

Extend custom color palettes to Appearance > Fill Color and Text Color for non-visualization objects in PAW books

Dear team,

Current Limitation: Custom color palettes (global via Administration > Excel and Customizations > Palettes, or book-specific) work perfectly and are selectable in the Visualization > Color section for charts (bar, pie, column, heatmap etc.), where "Change color palette" appears.

However, for non-visualization objects – such as:

  • Default Exploration views (tables/grids)

  • Text tiles / simple numeric displays

  • Shapes (rectangles, circles, callouts etc.)

  • Tiles without an active visualization type

the Appearance > Fill Color and Appearance > Text Color pickers only offer:

  • Standard IBM/default swatches

  • Manual HEX/RGB entry

There is no dropdown, palette selector, or integration with custom/global palettes in these dialogs. This forces repetitive manual color entry (HEX codes) for every object, even when matching corporate palettes already exist and apply correctly to visualizations in the same book.

Business Value / Use Cases:

  • Consistent corporate branding: Apply the same approved palettes uniformly across entire dashboards (e.g., fill backgrounds of tiles/shapes, text in labels/KPIs) without manual overrides.

  • Productivity gain: Avoid tedious HEX copying for dozens/hundreds of objects in complex books.

  • Professional dashboards: Easier theming for non-chart elements like process flows, scorecards, text widgets, or static tiles.

  • Reduced errors: Prevent color inconsistencies when teams collaborate on books.

Proposed Enhancement:

  • Expose/select custom palettes (global and book-level) directly in the Appearance > Fill Color and Appearance > Text Color pickers for all objects, regardless of visualization status.

  • Allow palettes to apply to fill/stroke/text where relevant (e.g., categorical colors for text, sequential for fills).

  • Optionally: Inherit from book theme or provide a "Use palette" toggle.

  • Ensure backward compatibility (defaults remain standard swatches if no palette selected).

Related Documentation (why it's currently limited):https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/planning-analytics/2.1.0?topic=SSD29G_2.1.0/com.ibm.swg.ba.cognos.tm1_nfg.2.0.0.doc/paw_nf_create_global_palette.htmhttps://www.ibm.com/docs/en/planning-analytics/2.1.0?topic=books-change-colors

Workaround (current):

  • Manual HEX entry each time (error-prone, time-consuming).

  • Conditional formatting where applicable (limited to data cells, not static fills/text).

  • Force visualization types unnecessarily (not suitable for all use cases).

Severity / Impact: High for users focused on branded, consistent dashboards – especially in larger deployments with many non-chart widgets.

With best regards,
Vitalij

Needed By Yesterday (Let's go already!)

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