Adding Images to a Dashboard

Once you have created a dashboard, you can add images to the dashboard. For example, you can add a corporate logo or photo to your dashboard.

You can specify the location of the image in either of the following ways:

You can embed the image in the dashboard file. Embedded images are portable and are available when the dashboard is opened offline. The dashboard will initially display with embedded images shown as placeholders, since the images are loaded last.

Images larger than 3MB are compressed, unless they are a .gif file. If the compression does not result in a file smaller than 3MB, the image cannot be embedded. Use a URL to specify the image's location instead.

Only one copy of each image is included in the dashboard file, even if the image is used on different sheets.

You can use a URL. Large images (over 10MB or a gif file over 3MB) should use a URL rather than embedding.

You can specify that the image opens a URL when you click the image. For example, if you click your corporate logo, your company’s home page opens.

You can move, resize, and select formatting properties for images, as described in the steps below.

For steps to delete an image, see To delete an image from a dashboard.

Prerequisite

You must have Edit Dashboard and Run Dashboard privileges.

To add an image to a dashboard:

From the dashboard's toolbar, click the Insert icon , then click Image. A blank image container is displayed at the top of the dashboard. (You can move and resize the image later.)
Do one of the following:

To embed the image in the dashboard, click Browse in the image container. Navigate to and select the image, then click Open. You can also drag and drop an image file into the image container.
To specify the image location using a URL, in the Enter an image URL field in the image container, type the location of the image, such as http://www.example.com/myimage.gif, and click OK.

To move the image, click and drag the image to its new location in the dashboard, so that an indicator line is displayed in the location in which you want to place the image. The image is moved to its new location and displayed.

To format the image:

From the Properties panel, select the appropriate options to format and display the image, as described in the steps below. Note: If the Properties panel is not displayed, from the View menu, select Properties Panel. If the Properties panel is hidden behind another panel, click the Properties icon to display the Properties panel.
You can keep the image's original aspect ratio when the image is resized. Select one of the following:

To maintain the image's aspect ratio when the image is resized, select the Lock Aspect Ratio check box (default).
To resize the image without maintaining the aspect ratio, clear the Lock Aspect Ratio check box.

To size the image, choose from the following:

To quickly size the image's container, hover the cursor over the edge of the container. The cursor becomes double arrows. Click and drag the edge of the container to resize it. If you choose to size the image based on the dimensions of its container, as described below, the image is automatically sized to fit the container.
To size the image using specific sizing options, from the Size drop-down list, select one of the following:
To display the image with a specific width and height, select Fixed To, then do the following:

Type the width of the image, in pixels, in the X field.
Type the height of the image, in pixels, in the Y field.

To size the image so that its width and height fit inside its container, select Fit to Container. If the space available to display the image does not match the image's original aspect ratio, blank space is displayed.
To size the image so that it fills its container, select Fill Container. If the space available to display the image does not match the image's original aspect ratio, a portion of the image is cropped to fit the size of the available space.
To stretch the image so that it fills all space available in its container, select Stretch.
To restore the image to its original size, click Restore to Original Size.

From the Fill Color palette, select the background color of the image's container.
To specify a border to display around the image, from the Outer Border drop-down lists, select the following:

From the first drop-down list, select the type of border.
From the palette, select the border color.

You can use the image as a link to a URL, or open a report or document when the users click the image. From the Link drop-down list, select one of the following:

To display the image without adding a hyperlink, select Disabled.
To use the image as an image link, select Navigate to URL.

In the field, type the URL to link to.
In the Tooltip field, type text to display when the user hovers the cursor over the image.

To open a report or document when the user clicks the image, select Run this report or document.

Click the Browse (...) button. Navigate to and select the report or document to open, then click OK.
In the Tooltip field, type text to display when the user hovers the cursor over the image
You can determine whether to open the link in a new window. Do one of the following:

To open the link in a new window, select the Open in new window check box.
To open the link in the current window, clear the Open in new window check box (default).

To delete an image from a dashboard:

In the dashboard, hover the cursor over the image to delete, then click the arrow icon, and select Delete. The image is deleted from the dashboard.

Adding Images to a Dashboard

Prerequisite

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