How to Change Map Background in Tableau

Changing the background of your maps in Tableau is one of the quickest ways to elevate your geospatial visualizations from standard to stunning. A well-chosen background can add context, reinforce branding, and make your data points pop. This guide will walk you through the various methods for customizing your map backgrounds in Tableau, from using built-in options to integrating fully custom styles.

Why Customize Your Tableau Map Backgrounds?

Before jumping into the "how," it's helpful to understand the "why." The default Tableau map is functional, but customizing it allows you to achieve a few key objectives:

• Improve Readability: A simpler or lower-contrast background can reduce visual clutter and make your intricately plotted data much easier to read. For example, using a dark background with brightly colored marks creates a dramatic effect that draws immediate attention.
• Add Context: You can add specific contextual layers that are relevant to your data, like satellite imagery for environmental analysis, terrain details for logistical planning, or street-level views for urban studies.
• Reinforce Branding: Using custom colors and styles that align with your company's brand guidelines creates a polished, professional look. This is especially important for dashboards shared with clients or executive stakeholders.
• Tell a Better Story: The style of your map - whether it's antique, futuristic, or minimalistic - subtly influences how the viewer interprets the data. A custom background helps set the right tone for the story you are trying to tell.

Method 1: Using Tableau's Built-In Map Options

Tableau comes with a set of default background map styles that are easy to access and a great starting point for customization. This is the simplest way to change the look of your map.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Follow these steps to access and modify the built-in map layers and styles:

1. Open the Map Layers Pane: With your worksheet containing the map open, navigate to the top menu bar and select Map > Map Layers. This will open the Map Layers pane on the left side of your workbook, giving you full control over the map's appearance.
2. Choose a Base Style: At the top of the Map Layers pane, you'll see a 'Style' dropdown menu. Clicking it reveals Tableau's pre-packaged map themes. As of recent versions, these typically include:
3. Adjust the 'Washout' Level: Just below the Style dropdown is a slider labeled 'Washout'. This slider increases the transparency of the base map, fading it into the background. Sliding it to the right (e.g., to 70%) makes the underlying map fainter, which is incredibly useful for directing the viewer's focus solely to your data marks.
4. Toggle Map Layers: The bottom section of the pane, called 'Map Layers,' lets you turn specific geographic details on or off. You can control the visibility of:

Method 2: Connecting to a Web Map Service (WMS) Server

For more advanced options beyond Tableau’s defaults, you can connect to a Web Map Service (WMS). A WMS is a standard protocol for serving georeferenced map images over the internet. Many government, research, and open-source organizations host public WMS servers that offer a vast array of specialized maps.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Connecting to a WMS server is straightforward:

1. Find a WMS Server URL: First, you need the URL of the WMS server you want to use. Here are a few examples of public servers you can try:
2. Add the WMS Server to Tableau: In the Tableau top menu, go to Map > Background Maps > WMS Servers...
3. Input the Server URL: In the 'Add WMS Server Connection' dialog box that appears, click 'Add'. Paste the URL of the WMS server you found into the URL field and click 'OK'.
4. Select Your New Background: The WMS server is now available as a background option. Go to Map > Background Maps and you should see the new server listed. Select it.
5. Configure WMS Layers: Once the WMS map is active, you can go back to the Map Layers pane. You'll now see new options specific to the layers offered by that WMS server. You can toggle these layers on and off just like you did with the default Tableau layers to craft your perfect background.

Method 3: Integrating Custom Maps with Mapbox

When you need full creative control to design a map that perfectly aligns with your brand or tells a specific story, integrating with Mapbox is the most powerful solution. Mapbox is a platform that lets you design completely custom maps - changing everything from the color of the water to the font of city labels.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Setting up a Mapbox integration involves a few steps both in Mapbox and Tableau.

1. Create a Mapbox Account: Go to the Mapbox website and sign up for a free account. The free tier is generous and suitable for most dashboarding projects.
2. Design a Custom Map in Mapbox Studio:
3. Get your Mapbox Style URL and Access Token:
4. Add the Mapbox Map to Tableau:
5. Activate your new background: Access your designs through the “Maps" folder in Tableau to refresh the dashboards with your custom map.

Final Thoughts

Having the ability to choose your backgrounds allows creators to make the maps as amazing as they need them to be - so play around! See what best tells your data stories and fits your style by selecting different background sets, these range from clean minimalist designs to detailed visuals.

These options offer incredible visuals or branded pieces you can use through dashboards. At Graphed, we build tools without the steep learning curve of popular tools like Tableau, simplifying the process for businesses to succeed with real-time data visualizations.