Tableau lets you publish your views to Adobe PDF, PowerPoint, and Tableau Server. However, sometimes you cannot beat the convenience of flipping through several worksheets in Tableau Desktop itself. When you present straight from Tableau, there are several things you can do to maximize the space dedicated to your view. These include rearranging cards, switching into Presentation Mode, using the Fit Selector, and resizing the table.
Rearrange cards
As you build views, several cards are shown to support color, size, and shape legends. Additionally, you may also have the Current Page, Summary, and quick filter cards showing. Each card displays in a default location, usually stacked vertically along the sides of the view. While these cards are useful for interpreting the view, you may want to rearrange them to maximize the space dedicated to the view. To move a card, simply click and drag the card to a new position in the window. For example, you may want to create a single column of cards along the left or right of the view.
For example, in the view below you can drag the quick filter card to the left so all of the cards are on one side of the view.
Presentation mode
In addition to cards, the window contains shelves for the Rows, Columns, Marks, Filters, and so on. After arranging the cards, you can quickly hide the Tableau environment including shelves and the Data window by switching into Presentation Mode. You can enter this mode by clicking the Presentation Mode button in the toolbar.
In Presentation Mode, only the data, relevant cards, and sheet tabs display on a white background.
Use the toolbar in the bottom right corner to show and hide the sheet tabs, navigate forward and backward through sheets, enter and exit full screen mode, and exit Presentation Mode.
Use Fit Selector
In general, the view will resize to fit the data. Sometimes, you may want to force the view to fill the window horizontally or vertically. Other times, you may want to ensure that the entire view always shows in the window without scroll bars. You can use the Fit Selector to specify how the view should fit inside the application window. The Fit Selector is located on the toolbar.
Select one of the following options:
- Normal - The view uses default sizing that adjusts based on the data in the view. Scroll bars in either direction can occur.
- Fit Width - The view expands or contracts to fit horizontally inside the application window. This option forces the view to fit as you resize the window, thus avoiding horizontal scroll bars.
- Fit Height - The view expands and contracts to fit vertically inside the application window. This option forces the view to fit as you resize the window, thus avoiding vertical scroll bars.
- Entire View - The view expands and contracts to fit both horizontally and vertically inside the application window. This option forces the entire view to fit as you resize the window, thus scroll bars in either direction.
Resize the table
Finally, sometimes a view will have many columns or rows making it really wide or really tall. You can use the cell size formatting commands to quickly make the table taller, shorter, wider, or narrower. These options are available on theFormat > Cell Size menu. Refer to Resizing Rows and Columns in the Desktop Help to learn more.