Building Modified Forms   «Prev  Next»
Lesson 3 Adding a format to your form
Objective Add a format to an existing form.

Adding format to Access Form

When you generate a form by using the Form Wizard, one of the steps in the wizard is choosing a format for your form. By choosing a format for the form, you are setting the way controls are formatted with regard to font, special effects (sunken, raised, etched, etc.), and color. You will also be choosing a watermark a term used for a form’s background.
Setting the format for a form is very straightforward. Follow the steps presented here:
  1. Open the database you want.
  2. Click on the Forms button in the Database window toolbar.
  3. Either create a new form or open an existing form in Design view.
  4. Choose AutoFormats from the Format menu.
  5. Pick the format you want from the list of formats in the Form Autoformats list box. You can see this form below.

Format
AutoFormat --> Standard (Label:Data)
  1. Click OK. Your format will now reflect the format chosen.

Remember that all controls on your form will be affected, as will controls that you add to the form here on out.
To have your format be permanent, save the form by selecting Save from the File menu.
When you add a format to your form, you are adding a type of graphic. When you do so, you could affect performance of the form negatively. Therefore, be sure to test the form after you add the format. If it seems slower, remove the format by choosing the Standard format from the Form Autoformats list box, mentioned in step 5 of the exercise above.
In the next lesson, you will learn how to insert a graphic onto a form.