Does a theme change my data or just the colors?

Just the colors. A theme sets series colors, text, axes, gridlines, tooltips, legends, data labels, borders, tables, and the dashboard canvas, card, title, and note colors. It never changes the query, the aggregation, or which fields a chart reads, and it never shows or hides anything.

What happens to colors I already picked by hand in a chart's Format tab?

They are overwritten. Picking a theme replaces every color it covers on every chart and on the dashboard, including a color you set manually in a chart's Format tab or in the dashboard's Format, Title, Notes, or Images panels. A color you change after the theme is applied stays until a theme is picked again, even if you pick the same one.

Who can see a custom theme I create?

Everyone in your organisation. A custom theme is not personal and not tied to one dashboard. It appears under Your Themes for every member, on any dashboard, as soon as it is saved.

Who can edit a custom theme someone else created?

The member who created it, or a superadmin. The edit icon on a theme card is hidden for everyone else, though any member can still select and apply a theme they did not create.

Can I delete a custom theme?

Not yet. A custom theme stays in the organisation's theme list once saved. If a theme is no longer needed, edit it to repurpose its colors, or simply stop selecting it on new dashboards.

Does a theme affect light and dark mode?

Yes. A theme with a white or transparent background (Heritage, Pastel, Infographic, and most presets) switches the dashboard to light mode. A theme with a dark background (Midnight, Chalk, Ember) switches it to dark mode. The whole app follows that mode while the dashboard is open, then returns to your own theme when you leave.

Do external viewers and embedded dashboards see the theme?

Yes, but they cannot change it. An external viewer who opens a shared link, and an embedded dashboard, both render with whatever theme was applied and saved by the dashboard's owner. Neither has access to the theme picker or the Theme Builder.

Does switching back to Default restore my original colors?

No, not the colors you picked by hand before any theme was applied. Default restores each chart's stock starting colors for its chart type. If you had customized a chart's colors in the Format tab before ever applying a theme, switching to a preset and back to Default does not bring those specific hand-picked colors back.

Dashboard Theming: Presets and Custom Themes

Pick from preset color themes or build a custom one. Custom themes are shared across your whole organisation and apply to every chart and the dashboard canvas.

A dashboard theme sets the colors for every chart on a dashboard and for the dashboard canvas around them, in one action. Choose from preset color themes, or build a custom theme in the Theme Builder and save it. A custom theme is stored at the organisation level: once saved, every member of your organisation can see and apply it on any dashboard.

How It Works

A theme is applied from the Theme section of the dashboard editor's options panel. Selecting a theme writes its colors into every chart already on the dashboard and into the dashboard canvas, card borders, shadow, title, and notes around them. The change is immediate: no separate step is needed to push it to each chart.

A theme sets colors only. It never changes fonts, line widths, symbols, or chart smoothing, and it never turns any element on or off: there is no visibility switch inside a theme or inside the Theme Builder. If you then change a color by hand in a chart's Format tab, that hand-picked color stays until a theme is applied again, even the same one.

Applying a theme also sets the dashboard's light or dark mode to match the theme's own background. A white or transparent theme switches the dashboard, and the app around it, to light mode for as long as that dashboard is open. A dark theme switches it to dark mode. Leaving the dashboard restores your own light or dark preference.

Key Concepts

Preset themes

Sixteen ready-made color themes are available with no setup, including Default, which follows the Edilitics brand look in your current light or dark mode. The rest are fixed palettes that keep their own colors regardless of your light or dark mode setting.

Theme name	Background
Default	Follows your light or dark mode
Classic	White
Modern	White
Heritage	Cream
Pastel	White
Contrast	White
Infographic	White
Vivid	White
Slate	White
Fresh	White
Horizon	White
Sunset	Parchment
Midnight	Charcoal (dark)
Chalk	Slate (dark)
Plum	Violet (dark)
Ember	Dark grey (dark)

Custom themes

A custom theme is a color set you build yourself in the Theme Builder, starting from any preset. It is saved to your organisation, not to a single dashboard or to you personally: every member sees it under Your Themes and can apply it to their own dashboards. Only its creator, or a superadmin, can edit it afterward. Anyone, regardless of license tier, can create a new custom theme or apply an existing one.

Theme Builder

The Theme Builder is where a custom theme is built or edited. It opens a color-by-color editor covering series colors, a value scale (for heatmaps and maps), background, dashboard canvas and card colors, text, axis lines and gridlines, borders, tooltip, toolbox and zoom controls, map colors, and table colors. While the builder is open, the dashboard canvas also shows a demo tile for every chart type not already on the dashboard, so a theme can be judged against chart types you have not built yet. These demo tiles are for preview only: they are never saved and disappear when the builder closes.

Configuration and Setup

Apply a theme

Open the dashboard in the editor and expand Theme in the options panel on the right.

Browse Your Themes (your organisation's saved custom themes) or scroll to the preset grid below it.

Click a theme card to apply it. Every chart and the dashboard canvas recolor immediately. Click Save to publish the change so other viewers see it.

The sheet builder itself has no theme tab. A theme is a dashboard-level setting, picked from the dashboard canvas, not from an individual chart.

Create a custom theme

In the Theme section, click the dashed New theme card.

Enter a name (up to 40 characters: letters, digits, spaces, hyphens, and underscores only) and pick a theme under Start from. Switching the starting theme replaces every color below it.

Edit any color section you want to change. Series colors and the value scale are shown expanded by default; the rest are collapsed.

Review the demo chart tiles added below your real charts to see how the theme reads across chart types you have not built yet.

Click Save Theme. The theme is created for your organisation and applied to the current dashboard at once.

Edit a custom theme

Click the edit icon on a custom theme's card under Your Themes. The icon only appears if you created that theme, or if you are a superadmin. Change any color, then save: the update applies to the dashboard you are editing on immediately. Other dashboards already using that theme keep their existing colors until the theme is picked on them again.

Behaviour by Context

Context	What happens
Dashboard editor	Full theme picker and Theme Builder available. Changes apply live and are published with Save.
Dashboard View mode (internal viewer)	Shows the applied theme. No picker or builder: a theme is changed only in the editor.
External or one-time-code viewer	Shows whatever theme was last saved. No access to the theme picker.
Embedded dashboard	Shows whatever theme was last saved. No access to the theme picker.

Dashboard Theming: Presets and Custom Themes

How It Works

Key Concepts

Preset themes

Custom themes

Theme Builder

Configuration and Setup

Apply a theme

Create a custom theme

Edit a custom theme

Behaviour by Context

FAQs

Dashboard Assembly

Format Charts

Sharing and Permissions

Embed

On this page