Startup Screen Design

Introduction

A Startup Screen offers a great first impression for your application. Beyond showcasing your design skills, it also provides an opportunity to run essential daily routines—such as automatically backing up the database or verifying the connection status of linked tables from external sources—all quietly in the background.

Sample Design.

Let’s explore a simple design for a Startup Screen. The completed layout is shown below, featuring an animated Website Address Image prominently displayed at the center.

Click to Enlarge

We’ll now examine the form-level and control-level settings individually. Click on the image above to view its design in an enlarged window.

Note: All object dimensions and specifications on this site are provided in U.S. measurement units. If you use the metric system, please convert the values accordingly or change your PC’s regional settings to U.S. standards via the Control Panel.

Form Property Values.

Open a new Form and set the Detail Section & Form level Properties as given below:

1. Detail Section Height = 2.85"
2. Back Color = 16777215 (white)
3. Form Width = 5.45"
4. Default View = Single Form
5. Allow Form View = Yes
6. Allow Datasheet View = No
7. Allow Edits = No
8. Allow Deletions = No
9. Allow Additions = No
10. Data Entry = No
11. Record Selectors = No
12. Navigation Buttons = No
13. Dividing Lines = No
14. Auto Resize = Yes
15. Auto Center = Yes
16. Pop Up = Yes
17. Border Style = None
18. Control Box = No
19. Min Max Buttons = None
20. Close Button = No
21. What's This Button = No
22. Allow Design Changes = Design View only

Create a Label with the Caption as shown at the top of the design. Display its Property Sheet and change the following Properties:

1. Fore color = 12632256 (gray color, good for a shadow-like effect)
2. Border Style = Transparent
3. Font Name = Times New Roman
4. Font Size = 18
5. Font Weight = Bold
6. Text Align = Center

To create a shadow effect for the label text:

Copy the existing label and paste it again on the form. Position the new label slightly above and to the right of the original, so the original text appears as a shadow behind it. Then, set the ForeColor property of the new label to 0 (black) or any other bold color you prefer for the shadow effect.

Create another label below it as shown in the design with the caption indicating the Version Number of your Application.

Create a Text Box at the bottom of the design and write the text as shown to display the Copyright information. Set the Text Align property value to Center.

To create a double-lined border effect:

1. Select the Box control from the Toolbox and draw a box around your design.

2. Set the box’s Border Color to Red.

3. Copy the box, then click outside it to deselect the original.

4. Paste the copied box, and move it slightly up and to the right, creating a double-line border effect that adds depth to the layout.

Now we come to the centerpiece of the design.

At this stage, you can insert any visual element you like—such as your company logo, WordArt, or ClipArt—to enhance the look and feel of the form.

If you're inserting objects, like WordArt or graphics copied from other applications (e.g., Word or PowerPoint), they must be converted into static images after pasting them into the form.

To do this:

1. Select the inserted object.

2. Go to the Format menu and choose Change To > Image.

3. A warning message will appear, informing you that the object cannot be edited after conversion.

4. Click Yes to confirm and proceed.

This ensures better compatibility and consistent display within your Access form.@@@

In our design, I used a 3D text Design, which we explored in an earlier topic.

To incorporate it into the form:

• I displayed the 3D text on a white background,

• Captured it using Alt + Print Screen,

• Pasted the screenshot into MS Paint,

• Cropped the relevant portion,

• Saved it as a .jpg file,

• And finally, inserted the image into the form design.

Whatever object you insert, change the following properties to the values given below:

Image Properties.

1. Name = OLE1
2. Size Mode = Zoom
3. Picture Alignment = Center
4. Picture Tiling = No
5. Back Style = Transparent
6. Back Color = 16777215 (White color or change to your design background color)
7. Special Effect = Flat
8. Border Style = Transparent

Save the form with the name “Startup”.

When viewed in Form View, it will resemble the sample layout shown once the programmed animation completes. At first, the center image remains hidden. After a brief delay, it smoothly zooms in from the center and settles into its original position and size.

Click to Enlarge

Animation Code.

Reopen the “Startup” form in Design View.

To access the form’s code module, click the Code button on the toolbar or go to Tools → Macro → Visual Basic Editor. Once the editor opens, copy and paste the required VBA code into the form’s module, then save and close the form.

Option Compare Database
Option Explicit
'Global declarations
Dim i As Integer, h As Long

Private Sub Form_Load()
   Me.OLE1.Visible = False
   h = Me.OLE1.Height / 10
   Me.OLE1.Height = h
   Me.TimerInterval = 100
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Timer()
Dim x As Long
i = i + 1
Select Case i
   Case 1 To 5
      'do nothing
   Case 6
      Me.OLE1.Visible = True
   Case 7 To 15
      x = Me.OLE1.Height
      x = x + h
      Me.OLE1.Height = x
   Case 40
      Me.TimerInterval = 0
      i = 0
      DoCmd.Close
 End Select
End Sub

Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
    DoCmd.OpenForm "Control", acNormal
End Sub

From the Tools menu, choose Startup. In the Display Form/Page dropdown, select your “Startup” form. To customize your application further, enter a title in the Application Title field—this will replace the default “Microsoft Access” title bar text. You can also assign a custom Application Icon, such as your company logo in .ico, or a small one .bmp format, to replace the default Access icon. If you prefer to hide the database window when the application runs, uncheck Display Database Window.

When the Startup Screen is closed, the last three lines in the VB Code will attempt to open the Application's "Control" Screen. You must have a Screen named Control (Switchboard), or you can change the name of the form you would like to open in the following code segment:

Private Sub Form_Unload(Cancel As Integer)
    DoCmd.OpenForm "Control", acNormal
End Sub

Try out your design. Close and open your application and see that your design works as planned.

Download Demo Database.

Download Demo Database

• Opening Access Forms
• Control Screen Menu Design