---
title: Applying themes to a dashboard
description: "# How to Apply Color Themes to Your Dashboard A **dashboard theme** is the set of design choices — color palette, fonts, and background — that gives your dashboard its visual identity. With **Dashboard Builder**, you can apply a prebuilt…"
url: "https://dashboardbuilder.net/applying-themes-to-a-dashboard"
updated: "2026-10-19"
category: Building dashboards
---

# Applying themes to a dashboard

# How to Apply Color Themes to Your Dashboard

A **dashboard theme** is the set of design choices — color palette, fonts, and background — that gives your dashboard its visual identity. With **Dashboard Builder**, you can apply a prebuilt theme, customize your own colors, or upload a JSON theme file, all without writing a line of code.

 ![Applying a color theme to a dashboard](/images/supply_chain_dashboard.png)

On this page

1. [What Is a Dashboard Theme?](#what-is)
2. [**Apply a Theme from the Theme Gallery**](#apply-gallery)
3. [Create Your Own Custom Theme](#custom-theme)
4. [Use a JSON Theme File](#json-theme)
5. [Frequently Asked Questions](#faq)

## What Is a Dashboard Theme?

A dashboard theme is the overall design and aesthetic that governs how your data is presented — color scheme, typography, iconography, spacing, and layout. It's what makes a dashboard feel consistent and on-brand, rather than a mismatched collection of default charts. Choosing the right theme also affects readability: the wrong color palette can make a chart hard to scan at a glance, while the right one draws the eye straight to what matters.

## Apply a Theme from the Theme Gallery

**Applies to:** On-premises ✓   Online ✓   Desktop ✗

Assumption: you've already built a dashboard and want to apply a color theme to it. Launch the dashboard, then go to **Edit > Theme**. When you apply a theme, its colors are pushed to every tile on the dashboard automatically.

   1

**Scroll the Theme Gallery and pick a theme.** Click any theme card to select it.

   2

**Click Apply.** The theme's colors are applied to every tile across the whole dashboard.

   ![Dashboard theme gallery selection](/images/dashbaord_theme_sc2.png)

## Create Your Own Custom Theme

Prefer full control? Build your own theme and set each color individually.

   1

**Set the chart color.** Click the chart color swatch to change how your data series render.

   2

**Set the font color.** Click the font color swatch to change label and text color.

   3

**Set the background color.** Click the background swatch to change the dashboard's base color.

   4

**Click Apply.** Your custom palette is saved and applied to the dashboard.

## Use a JSON Theme File

You can also define a theme in a JSON file and upload it — useful if you want to reuse the same palette across multiple dashboards, or share a theme with your team. A theme JSON file includes:

  **name:** The theme's display name. **fontColor:** Foreground color for text. **backgroundColor:** Background color for the dashboard. **chartColors:** A list of hex codes used for chart data — include as many or as few as you need.

Save the file to `assets/themes/` as `yourtheme.json`. Here's a sample theme, `springday.json`:

```
{
  "name": "springday",
  "fontColor": "#356D80",
  "backgroundColor": "#FFFFFF",
  "chartColors": ["#003D5B", "#D1495B", "#EDAE49", "#30638E", "#00798C", "#696174", "#DF7C52"]
}
```

## Frequently Asked Questions

   What color theme should I use? It depends on what your dashboard needs to communicate. A neutral palette (grays and one accent color) works best when you want the data itself to stand out, while a brighter multi-color theme suits dashboards comparing several categories at once. If you're not sure, start with one of the prebuilt themes in the gallery — they're built with contrast and readability already balanced.    Which theme is best? There's no single "best" theme — it depends on your audience and where the dashboard will be viewed. For an executive summary viewed on a projector, a high-contrast theme reads better from a distance. For a detailed operational dashboard viewed up close on a monitor, a softer, lower-contrast theme is easier on the eyes over a full shift.    How do I choose colors? Pick one base color that matches your brand or the dashboard's purpose, then build 3-5 supporting colors around it that have enough contrast to stay distinct in a chart legend. Avoid using more than 6-7 colors in a single chart — beyond that, most people can no longer reliably tell the segments apart.    What colors go together? Colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel (like blue and teal) create a calm, cohesive look, while colors opposite each other (like blue and orange) create contrast that's useful for highlighting one metric against the rest. The sample `springday.json` theme above is a ready-made example of colors chosen to work together.    Can I change the theme? Yes — themes aren't permanent. Go back to Edit > Theme at any time, select a different theme from the gallery or adjust your custom colors, and click Apply. Changing the theme doesn't affect your underlying data or chart setup, only the visual styling.

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