Introduction.
Whether it’s a Form or a Report, a well-crafted design always draws the attention of both the user and any onlooker. Everyone designs forms and reports—but if you give the same task to five different people, each will produce a unique result based on their individual skills and sense of artistry unless they all rely on the same built-in wizards.
Most users focus primarily on the information presented in a report and want it organized and accurate. However, how that information is presented is entirely up to you—and it often depends on how much time you can invest in the design process. Remember, you typically design a report only once as part of a project, so it’s worth doing it thoughtfully.
Your report may eventually circulate far and wide, through faxes, emails, or shared databases, and reach a much wider audience. When compared with other reports circulating around, you’d want someone to pause and ask, “Who designed this one?” Fortunately, Microsoft Access provides all the tools you need to create visually appealing, professional-quality reports and forms. With just a bit more time and creativity, you can achieve remarkable results using the simple yet powerful tools Access offers.
Precision Positioning of Data
Here, I’d like to introduce you to a few important properties of TextBoxes and Labels on a report—and show you how a few simple design adjustments can transform an ordinary layout into a professional, visually appealing report.
The image below shows a Tabular Report created using the Report Wizard in Microsoft Access.
Wizards are excellent tools for quickly laying out all the objects on Forms or Reports with default formatting for font type, size, and style—saving a significant amount of design time. All that’s left is to fine-tune the layout to suit your preferences.
A Sample Project.
If you’d like to try this simple design step by step, import the Shippers table from the sample database at
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Samples\Northwind.mdb. (That path is for Access 2003 — if you’re using a different version, look for the appropriate \Office##\ folder.) After importing, select the Shippers table, choose Report from the Insert menu, and pick Auto Report: Tabular from the options. Access will generate the report in moments. A preview of the report in Print Preview is shown below:
The modified version of the same Report in Print Preview below:
The transformation was easy with only a few changes to the above design, and I know which change you have noticed first. If I have turned on the borders of the TextBoxes and Labels alone, then the Print Preview will look like the one below:
Make the following changes to the above design:
Delete the thick line under the Header Labels.
Point the Mouse on the vertical ruler to the left of the Header Label Shippers, so that it turns into an arrow pointing to the right, and then click and drag along the ruler downwards so that you can select all the Labels and Text Boxes in the Report Header, Page Header, and Detail Sections together.
Alternatively, you can click on an empty area of the Report and drag the Mouse over all the controls to select them. Do not select the Page Footer Section Controls. We don't need them in this Report.
Display the Property Sheet (View -> Properties) and change the following Values:
- Border Color = 9868950
- Special Effect = Flat
- Border Style = Solid
- Border Width = Hairline
You need to change only the Border Color Value; others will be there as default. If not, then change them as given above.
Select all the Field Header Labels alone in the Page Header Section, as we did in Step 2 above. Select Format -> Align -> Left to arrange the labels close together horizontally without leaving gaps between them.
Display the Property Sheet of the selected Labels (View -> Properties) and change the Top Property Value to 0 and Height Property Value to 0.4167"
Centralizing Text Vertically.
Centralize the Text horizontally within the Labels by changing the Text Align Property Value to Center, while all the Labels are still in the selected state.
Select all the TextBoxes in the Detail Section together and select Format -> Align -> Left to arrange the TextBoxes close together without leaving gaps between them.
Display the Property Sheet of the TextBoxes (if you have already closed it) and change the Top Property Value to 0 and the Height Property Value to .2917" so that the data lines are not too close and crowded when Previewed/Printed.
If there is a gap below the Labels in the Page Header Section and below the TextBoxes in the Detail Section, then close them by dragging up the Detail Section Header and the Page Footer Bars.
Delete all the Page Footer Section controls. Close the gap by dragging the Report Footer Bar up.
Next, resize the Report Header label containing the Shippers heading so that it spans the combined width of all the field header labels in the Page Header section. You can do this either by adjusting it manually by eye or by opening the Property Sheet for each header label, noting their individual Width property values, adding them together, and then setting the Width property of the Shippers heading label to that total.
Change the Height Property Value to 0.416 and the Text Align Property Value to the Center.
Save your Report with a Name of your choice.
With the above modifications, the Report Print Preview image is shown below, and needs to be corrected.
The Report looks good, but with a few more cosmetic changes, it will look even better.
The Field Header Labels' Caption Text must be vertically centered.
The Shipper ID Numbers and other field values are too close to the Border Line, and they should be positioned a little away from the border.
Open the Report in Design View and select all the Field Header Labels together as we did earlier.
Display the Property Sheet and drag the right scroll bar of the Property Sheet down to the bottom. There, you will find the Inner Margin Properties that you can use to position the Text within the Controls.
NB: These Properties are available only in MS Access 2000 and later versions.
Change the Top Margin Property Value of Header Labels to 0.1".
Select the Text Controls together on the Detail Section and change the Top Margin Property Value to 0.0701".
Select the Shipper ID, TextBox in the Detail Section, and change the Right Margin value to 0.1".
Select the Company Name TextBox, and change the Left Margin Value to 0.0597" and set the same value for Phone Number also.
Save your Report and open it in Print Preview. It is similar to the 3rd Image from the top of this page.
Although the explanation may seem lengthy, once you understand the steps, you can complete the design in just a few minutes.
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