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ื”ื‘ืœื•ื’ ืฉืœ Microsoft Power BI

Announcing: Copy a Visual as an Image

Headshot of article author Maggie Tsang

Program Manager
15 ืืคืจื™ืœ, 2020

Introducingย the ability to copy a visual as an imageย to your clipboard!ย Today,ย weโ€™re excited toย announceย you can easilyย share a capturedย image of a dashboard tile orย aย report visualย with just one click!ย Here is what aย copied visual would lookย like in an email –ย 

 

A Power BI Visual pasted into an Outlook mail.

 

You can now copyย a static image ofย the visualย in the Serviceย along with theย visualโ€™s metadataย including:

  • A link back into the Power BI dashboardย orย report
  • The title of theย report or dashboard theย content was copied from
  • If the image contains confidential information
  • The time stamp of when the data was last updated
  • The filters applied to the visual

 

Note:ย This is different from โ€œCopy Visualโ€ in Desktop,ย which allows you to copy and paste visuals between report pages while authoring.ย More information can be foundย here.

 

Hereย is a walkthroughย on how you can interact with Copy Visualย asย anย Image!

 

Copyย fromย a Dashboard Tile

 

  • Navigate to the dashboard you want to copy from
  • Click on the โ€œMore optionsโ€ menu on the top right corner of a dashboard tile
  • Click on โ€œCopy visual as imageโ€
  • When your visual is ready, paste your imageย usingย โ€œCtrl + Vโ€ย or โ€œright-click > Pasteโ€

 

Power BI Tile Visual with "Copy visual as image" highlighted.

 

Copy from a Report Visual

  • Navigate to the report you want to copy from
  • Hover over a visual and click on the โ€œCopy visual as imageโ€ย icon on the visual header
  • When your visual is ready, paste your image using โ€œCtrl + Vโ€ or โ€œright-click > Pasteโ€

 

A report visual with the Copy icon highlighted in the visual header.

 

FAQ:

I donโ€™t want users to be able to copyย a specific visual, how can I turn this off?

To toggle off Copy Visualย forย individual report visuals:

  • In edit mode, navigate to the Visual Formatting pane
  • Under โ€œVisual Headerโ€, toggle off the โ€œCopy iconโ€
  • Save changes, and the Copy icon wonโ€™t appear on that report visual

Visual Header highlighted on the visual Formatting Pane.

Copy icon toggle highlighted.

 

Ifย you areย unable toย find theย Visual Headerย setting,ย turn on the modern visual headerย optionย under Report Settings.ย 

 

Highlighted toggle to turn on modern visual header.

 

 

I donโ€™t want a group of users to be able to copy visuals, how can I turn this off?

Admins can turn off this feature for specific security groupsย or the entire organization through the Admin portal:

  • Navigate to the Admin Portal
  • Under โ€œTenant settingsโ€, find the โ€œExport and sharing settingsโ€
  • Under โ€œCopy and paste visualsโ€, disable this feature for your selected user groups
  • Save changes, and the specified groups will not be able to copy visuals as an image throughout Power BI

 

Turn off Copy and Paste Visuals in tenant settings of the admin portal.

 

 

Why is the Copy icon disabled on a visual?ย 

 

Visual with the Copy Visual as Image disabled on the header.

 

 

We currently support native Power BI visuals and Certified Visuals. There isย limited support for certain visuals including:

  • ESRIย and other Mapย visuals
  • Python visuals
  • R visuals
  • PowerApps
  • Non-certified custom visuals

For your custom visual to be supported, learn more aboutย how to certify your custom visual.

 

I have a data sensitivity label applied to my report. Willย this label be applied to a copied visual?

Sensitivity labelsย willย notย beย appliedย to copied visuals; however,ย users will be notifiedย that they are taking a screenshot from a sensitive report before copying.

 

Dialog pop-up for reports with a data sensitivity label applied.

 

 

When the content is pasted, there will be information in the metadata letting others know the visual contains confidential data.ย 

 

 

Pasted visual with Confidential info in the metadata.

 

 

Why isย my visualย not pasting correctly?

There areย limitations around Copy Visual including:

  • Limited support for visual formatting such as:
    • Tile scalingย when pasting
    • Custom visuals with animations
    • Regional number formatting
    • Title styling may not be retained
  • Copying constraints:
    • Cannot redirect users to content withย Odataย filtersย and sticky states such as personal bookmarks
    • Pinned live pages are not supported
    • Cannot copy visuals that are unable to be pinned to a dashboardย 
  • Applications with limited support for pasting HTML-formatted content from the clipboard may not render everything that was copied from the visual
  • The copied image will only contain what is shown in the visible viewport of the visual

 

Whatโ€™s next?

Head on over toย Power BIย and try it outย – share data insights with colleagues, create beautiful presentations,ย andย use this featureย to your heartโ€™s content!

This feature will be available to all tenants by the end of this week. Let us know what you think by commenting on this post. If you have suggestions for future enhancements,ย addย anย idea onย Power BI Ideasย page and upvoteย theย itemsย you want to seeย ๐Ÿ˜Š