Types of Reference Lines, Bands, and Boxes

Tableau offers four types of reference lines, bands, and boxes:

• Line - adds a line at a constant or computed value on the axis. Computed values can be based on a specified field.
  
  
• Band - shades an area behind the marks in the view between two constants or computed values on the axis.
  
  
• Distribution - adds a gradient of shading to indicate the distribution of values along the axis. Distribution can be defined by confidence intervals, percentages, percentiles, quantiles, or standard deviation. In addition to the shading, you can add a line to mark a constant or computed value along the axis. This type of reference can be used to create bullet charts.
  
  
• Box Plot - adds a box plot that describes the distribution of values along the axis. Box plots show quartiles and whiskers. Tableau provides different box plot styles, and allows you to configure the location of the whiskers and other details. See Adding Box Plots.