Editing Forms

Editing Forms

The follow points may be helpful when modifying forms in Design View.

1. Grid lines - By default, a series of lines and dots underlay the form in Design View so form elements can be easily aligned. To toggle this feature on and off select View|Grid from the menu bar.

2. Snap to Grid - Select Format|Snap to Grid to align form objects with the grid to allow easy alignment of form objects or uncheck this feature to allow objects to float freely between the grid lines and dots.

3. Resizing Objects - Form objects can be resized by clicking and dragging the handles on the edges and corners of the element with the mouse.

4. Change form object type - To easily change the type of form object without having to create a new one, right click on the object with the mouse and select Change To and select an available object type from the list.

5. Label/object alignment - Each form object and its corresponding label are bounded and will move together when either one is moved with the mouse. However, to change the position of the object and label in relation to each other (to move the label closer to a text box, for example), click and drag the large handle at the top, left corner of the object or label.

6. Tab order - Alter the tab order of the objects on the form by selecting View|Tab Order... from the menu bar. Click the gray box before the row you would like to change in the tab order, drag it to a new location, and release the mouse button.

7. Form Appearance - Change the background color of the form by clicking the Fill/Back Color button on the formatting toolbar and click one of the color swatches on the palette. Change the color of individual form objects by highlighting one and selecting a color from the Font/Fore Color palette on the formatting toolbar. The font and size, font effect, font alignment, border around each object, the border width, and a special effect can also be modified using the formatting toolbar:

8. Page Header and Footer - Headers and footers added to a form will only appear when it is printed. Access these sections by selecting View|Page Header/Footer on the menu bar.