| After you place all your information on the form (that is, the controls you want to include and labels to display any titles or explanatory text), the next step is to make the form look more appealing. All the formatting tools you need are on the Formatting toolbar (the top toolbar in the Form Design view). Table 13.1 describes several of the formatting tools. To format a control or label, select it, and then click the appropriate formatting tool to apply the format to the control or label. Table 13.1. Tools on the Formatting Toolbar | Tool | Purpose | | | Toggles bold on/off | | | Toggles italic on/off | | | Toggles underline on/off | | | Left-aligns text | | | Centers text | | | Right-aligns text | | | Fills the selected box with the selected color | | | Colors the text in the selected box | | | Colors the outline of the selected box | | | Adds a border to the selected box | | | Adds a special effect to the selected box | Some tools, such as the Font and Size tools, are drop-down lists. You click the down arrow next to the tool and then select from the list. Other tools are simple buttons for turning bold and italic on or off. Still other tools, such as the Color and Border tools, combine a button and a drop-down list. If you click the button, it applies the current value. You can click the down arrow next to the button to change the value. You can change the color of the form background, too. Just click the header for the section you want to change (for example, Detail ) to select the entire section. Then right-click and choose Fill/Back color to change the color. Plain English AutoFormat You can use a shortcut for formatting your form. Choose Format, AutoFormat . You can choose from among several premade color and formatting schemes. If you don't like the formatting after you apply it, press Ctrl+Z to undo.
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