Compare absolute and grid layouts

The absolute and grid layouts serve very different needs. If you want to quickly put together a dashboard using only charts that snap to your specified rows, choose the grid layout. Use the absolute layout if you want access to features like pixel-perfect placement, shapes, icons, and image uploading.

When using the absolute layout option, you can use your mouse or keyboard to drag and drop and resize objects on your dashboard. This layout also gives you pixel-perfect control and customizable backgrounds. When you use the absolute layout, the visual editor allows you to add shapes, custom images, and icons to your dashboards and create searches in the form of data sources.

By default, the absolute layout automatically scales dashboards to Auto. Auto displays the best zoom level, up to 100%, for your dashboard's visibility. Manually zooming in and out will override the auto display mode. Select Auto in the zoom dropdown list to reset to Auto display. You can change the Auto setting in the visual editor by clicking on the background and selecting Actual Size or Fit to Width in the Display Mode section of the Configuration panel.

In the classic Splunk dashboard framework, visualizations you add to the canvas snap to a row-column structure. The grid layout is most similar to that structure. In the grid layout, the number of visualizations in a row determines the size of the other visualizations in that row, and they all size to equal proportions. You can modify the width of a visualization using your mouse. This layout automatically scales dashboards to the size of the browser.

This table shows what features are available using the two layouts:

Option	Absolute	Grid
Charts	All charts are available. See the Configuration options reference for all of the options.	All charts are available. See the Configuration options reference for all of the options.
Background Color	You can choose a background color for your dashboard canvas.	Changing the background color is not supported in the grid layout.
Canvas size	You can customize the size of the canvas in the Configuration panel.	While you cannot change the size of the canvas, you can use your mouse to change the height of the rows or the width of the visualizations within the rows.
Shapes	Add rectangles, lines, and ellipses to your dashboard.	Add rectangles to your dashboard in the grid layout.
Icons	You can choose from an assortment of default icons, or upload your own icons in SVG format.	Icons and icon uploads are not supported in the grid layout.
Images	You can upload images up to 16MB in size.	You can upload images up to 16MB in size.