How to: Add a Background Image (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS)

You can add a background image to a report item such as a rectangle, text box, list, matrix, table, and some parts of a chart, or a report section such as the page header, page footer, or report body. You can define a background image for any selected item on the report design surface that displays BackgroundImage in the Properties pane. Like other images, the background image can be a URL to an image on the report server, an image from a dataset field, or an image embedded in the report definition. To use an image embedded in the report, you must first add the image to the report definition before you can add the image to the design surface.

Note

You can create and modify report definitions (.rdl) in Report Builder 3.0 and in Report Designer in Business Intelligence Development Studio. Each authoring environment provides different ways to create, open, and save reports and related items. For more information, see Designing Reports in Report Designer and Report Builder 3.0 (SSRS) on the Web at microsoft.com.

To embed an image in the report definition

  1. In the Report Data pane, right-click the Images node, and then click Add Image.

    Note

    If the Report Data pane is not visible, on the View tab, click Report Data.

  2. Navigate to the image you want to embed in your report definition, and then click OK.

To add a background image

  1. In report design view, select the report item to which you want to add a background image.

  2. If the Properties pane is not visible, on the View tab, select Properties.

  3. In the Properties pane, expand BackgroundImage, and then do the following:

    • For an embedded image:

      Set Source to Embedded.

      Set Value to the name of an image that is embedded in the report.

    • For an external image:

      Set Source to External.

      Set Value to a valid path to an image. This can be on a report server in native mode or SharePoint integrated mode, or it can be on any other Web site. For more information, see How to: Add an External Image (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS).

    • For an image is that is contained in a field in the database to which the report item is connected:

      Set Source to Database.

      Set Value to the name of a field in the report dataset. For more information, see How to: Add a Data-Bound Image (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS).

      For MIMEType, or file format, select the appropriate MIME type for the imageā€”for example, .bmp.

      Note

      MIMEType applies only if the Source property is set to Database. If the Source property is set to External or Embedded, the value of MIMEType is ignored.

    • For BackgroundRepeat, select an expression, Default, Repeat, RepeatX, or RepeatY, or Clip.For background images in a chart, BackgroundRepeat can be set to Default, Repeat, Fit, and Clip, but not RepeatX or RepeatY.