# Color, shapes, annotations and tooltips

*Tableau Data Analyst Study Guide · Create Content · Last updated October 29, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-data-analyst/create-content/color-shapes-annotations-and-tooltips*

Style views precisely: center a diverging palette and pick color effects (borders, halos, markers, opacity), copy worksheet formatting, set default and custom shapes, add Preferences.tps palettes, choose mark, point or area annotations, and fix tooltip asterisks, Include in Tooltip and Viz in Tooltip limits.

- Certification: Salesforce Tableau Data Analyst
- Exam section: Create Content
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/tableau-data-analyst

**Official exam objective:**

> Format workbooks, worksheets, and dashboards: Apply color, font, shapes, styling; Add custom shapes and color palettes; Add annotations; Customize tooltips; Apply padding; Format gridlines, row-level and column-level bands, and shading; Create a responsive design for specific device layouts.

## What the exam expects

- Configure Edit Colors for a continuous field (Advanced Start, End and Center, stepped, reversed, full color range) and choose color effects: opacity, borders, halos and markers.
- Reuse styling with Copy Formatting and Paste Formatting, and know what does not carry over.
- Assign default shapes on a field and add custom shapes and Preferences.tps color palettes that work.
- Pick a mark, point or area annotation and know what web authoring can do with annotations.
- Customize tooltips: ATTR asterisks, Include in Tooltip and Viz in Tooltip limits.

Key terms:
- **Diverging palette:** two color ranges meeting at a neutral center.
- **Mark halo:** a solid contrasting color around marks over a background map or image.
- **Preferences.tps:** the XML file in My Tableau Repository that holds custom palettes in Tableau Desktop 2025.2 and earlier.
- **Area annotation:** a callout for a region, not tied to one mark.
- **Viz in Tooltip:** a worksheet shown, filtered, inside another sheet's tooltip.

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Center | Sets the neutral point; not available in Tableau Server or Tableau Cloud | [Color Palettes and Effects](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/viewparts_marks_markproperties_color.htm) |
| Mark borders | All mark types except text, line and shape | [Color Palettes and Effects](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/viewparts_marks_markproperties_color.htm) |
| Mark halos | Only with a background image or map | [Color Palettes and Effects](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/viewparts_marks_markproperties_color.htm) |
| Copy Formatting | Skips reference lines and annotations | [Worksheet formatting](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/formatting_worksheet.htm) |
| Default shape | Data pane > Default Properties > Shape; shared across sheets on the data source | [Mark appearance](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/viewparts_marks_markproperties.htm) |
| Colored custom shapes | Need a transparent background (PNG or GIF) | [Mark appearance](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/viewparts_marks_markproperties.htm) |
| Palette types | regular, ordered-sequential, ordered-diverging | [Custom Color Palettes](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/formatting_create_custom_colors.htm) |
| New palettes appear | After saving Preferences.tps and restarting Tableau Desktop | [Custom Color Palettes](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/formatting_create_custom_colors.htm) |
| Web annotations | Create and delete only; no formatting or moving | [Add Annotations](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/annotations_annotations_add.htm) |
| Tooltip asterisk | ATTR over several members; fix with Detail | [Mark appearance](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/viewparts_marks_markproperties.htm) |
| Viz in Tooltip target | Worksheets only; one source sheet per target at a time | [Viz in Tooltip](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/viz_in_tooltip.htm) |

## Check yourself

- Why would you choose Reversed on a diverging palette?
- What does Stepped Color do to a continuous palette?
- About what size should a custom shape image be?
- Why might a long custom palette seem cut short in Edit Colors?

## Sources

- [Color Palettes and Effects](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/viewparts_marks_markproperties_color.htm)
- [Control the Appearance of Marks in the View](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/viewparts_marks_markproperties.htm)
- [Create Custom Color Palettes](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/formatting_create_custom_colors.htm)
- [Add Annotations](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/annotations_annotations_add.htm)
- [Format at the Worksheet Level](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/formatting_worksheet.htm)
- [Create Views in Tooltips (Viz in Tooltip)](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/viz_in_tooltip.htm)
- [Create Dashboard Layouts for Different Device Types](https://help.tableau.com/current/pro/desktop/en-us/dashboards_dsd_create.htm)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 13 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the Tableau Data Analyst pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams