Working with Controls on Your Report

Working with report controls in Report Design view is the same as working with controls in Form Design view. You might want to turn back to Lesson 11 to review how you manipulate controls and their labels. The following is a brief review:

• Selecting Controls Click the control to select it. Selection handles appear around the control.

• Moving Objects To move a control, first select it. Next , position the mouse pointer over a border so that the pointer turns into an open hand. Then, click and drag the control to a new location.

  

  Moving Between Report Areas You can't drag a control from one section of the report to another, but if you do need to move it, you can use cut and paste. Select the control (or label) and press Ctrl+X to cut it. Then, click the title of the section where you want to move it and press Ctrl+V to paste it into the newly selected section.

  
  

• Resizing Objects First, select the object. Then, position the mouse pointer over a selection handle and drag it to resize the object.

• Formatting Text Objects Use the Font and Font Size drop down lists on the toolbar to choose fonts; then use the Bold, Italic, and Underline toolbar buttons to set special attributes.

You can add any controls to the report that the Toolbox provides. For example, you might want to add a graphic to the report, such as a company logo. The next section discusses adding an image to a report.

Adding an Image to a Report

You can add graphics, clip art, or even images from a digital camera to your Access reports . For example, if you want to add a company logo to a report, all you need is access to the logo image file on your computer (or a company's network). If you want to include an image, such as a company logo, on the very first page of the report, you will want to add it to the Report Header. Any information or graphics placed in the Report Header will appear at the very top of the report. Images that you want to use to illustrate information in the report should go in the Details area.

To add an image to a report, follow these steps:

1. Expand the area of the report (such as the Report Header) in which you want to place the image. For example, to expand the Report Header, drag the Page Header's title bar downward using the mouse (the mouse becomes a sizing tool when you place it on an area's border).

2. Click the Image button on the Toolbox. The mouse pointer becomes an image drawing tool.

3. Drag to create a box or rectangle that will contain the image in the appropriate area of the report. When you release the mouse, the Insert Picture dialog box appears (see Figure 18.2).

   Figure 18.2. Use the Insert Picture dialog box to locate and insert your picture into the report.

   

4. Use the Look In drop-down list to locate the drive that contains the image file, and then open the appropriate folder by double-clicking.

5. When you locate your image, click the filename to select it, and then click OK . The image is inserted into the report.

You might find that the image file is larger than the image control that you have created. To make the image fit into the control, right-click the Image control and select Properties from the shortcut menu that appears. In the Properties dialog box, select the Format tab. Then, click in the Size Mode box and select Zoom from the drop-down list. This automatically sizes the graphic to fit into the control (which means that it typically shrinks the image to fit into the control). You can then close the Properties box. Figure 18.3 shows a picture that has been added to the header of a report. Note that in Print Preview the graphic appears at the top of the report.

Figure 18.3. Images can be placed on reports.

Check Your Report Design in Print Preview As you work on the structure of your report in the Design view, you can check to see how things will look by switching to the Print Preview mode. Click the Print Preview button on the Report Design toolbar.

Arranging and Removing Controls

As already mentioned, you can move or resize the controls on the report. This also goes for any new controls that you add from the Toolbox or by using the Field list. You can also remove unwanted controls from the report.

To delete a control, select it by clicking it, and then press Delete. Deleting a control from the report doesn't delete the field from the associated table.

Adding Text Labels

You can also add descriptive labels to your report. For example, you might want to add a text box containing descriptive text to the Report Header.

Click the Label button on the Toolbox. The mouse pointer becomes a label drawing tool. Drag with the mouse to create a text box in any of the areas on the report. When you release the mouse, you can begin typing the text that will be contained in the text label.