Colors and legend → By expression, e.g. If(Sum(Sales) < 0, Red(), Green())

Color by expression in Power BI

Qlik colours chart elements with an expression that returns a colour. Power BI does the same with conditional formatting using "Field value": a measure returns a hex code or colour name.

Direct equivalent DAX Reports

Short answer: Write a measure that returns text such as "#C00000", then in the visual's colour setting click fx → Format style Field value → pick the measure. Rules and gradients work without DAX for simple cases.

What it does in Qlik

Qlik's colour expression runs per data point and returns RGB(), ARGB(), a named colour such as Red(), or a hex string.

Qlik example

Qlik expression

If(Sum(Sales) < Sum(Target), RGB(192,0,0),
   If(Sum(Sales) < Sum(Target) * 1.1, RGB(255,192,0), RGB(0,176,80)))

Power BI equivalent

Colour measure

DAX

Sales colour =
SWITCH (
    TRUE (),
    [Sales] < [Target],       "#C00000",
    [Sales] < [Target] * 1.1, "#FFC000",
    "#00B050"
)

Bar chart: Format → Bars → Color → fx. Table: right-click the field in the Values well → Conditional formatting → Background color (or Font color) → Field value.

Gotchas and behaviour differences

In Power BI the measure must return a string (hex #RRGGBB, rgb(...) text, or a CSS colour name). There are no RGB() or Red() functions in DAX.
Some visuals only allow conditional colours when there is no legend field, and some custom visuals don't support them. Check the visual before redesigning.
Qlik's "persistent colours" for dimension values have no direct counterpart. Keep colours stable with a colour column on the dimension table and conditional formatting on it, or set data colours manually.

Official documentation

Coloring by expression (Qlik Help)
Apply conditional table formatting in Power BI (Microsoft Learn)

If(cond, then, else) If and nested If Qlik's If() maps directly to DAX IF and to Power Query's if ... then ... else. Long nested Ifs are cleaner as SWITCH(TRUE(), ...). Qlik's numeric booleans (-1/0) are the main difference. Direct equivalent Master items: reusable dimensions, measures and visualizations Master items (master dimensions and measures) Qlik master items are governed, reusable expressions stored in the app. In Power BI the equivalent is a measure in the semantic model. Every measure is reusable by default. To share across reports, publish one semantic model and build thin reports on it. Partial / different approach

Spotted an error or a better pattern? QlikToDax is maintained by a working BI consultant; corrections are welcome via the About page. Last reviewed 2026-10-25.