Essential Settings Before You Start Designing
Before you begin designing with Nebula, it’s important to configure a few Power BI settings to ensure the visual behaves as intended. These quick adjustments will give you a clean, flexible canvas for building custom report backgrounds and layouts—right inside Power BI.
Follow the steps below to import the Nebula visual, activate it, and apply the recommended formatting settings for the best experience.
Step 1: Import the Nebula Visual (.pbiviz file)
Once you've received the Nebula .pbiviz file (via email or download), import it into Power BI:
- Open Power BI Desktop
- Click on “…” in the Visualizations pane
- Select Import a visual from a file
- Choose the Nebula .pbiviz file
You’ll now see the Nebula icon available in your Visualizations panel.
Step 2: Activate the Visual
To activate the Nebula visual:
- Add any field or measure (e.g., a dummy field or ID) into the “Launch Nebula” field well
This activates the canvas and unlocks the formatting settings.
Step 3: Format Nebula for Seamless Design
To make Nebula behave like a design surface and eliminate unnecessary visual elements:
Format Your Visual > General > Properties
- Padding: Set all padding values to 0 px → This ensures your shapes can extend to the full visual border.
- Enable Maintain Layer Order → Keeps layering consistent across your visual elements.
Format Your Visual >Effects
- Background: Turn Off
Format Your Visual >Header Icons
- Header Icons: Turn Off → These settings give you a clean canvas to design on.
You're Ready to Design
With these settings in place, you're now ready to start building backgrounds with Nebula. This setup minimizes friction, maximizes flexibility, and helps you make the most of Nebula’s design capabilities inside Power BI.