Layout Designer
QuickBooks 5 includes the
Layout Designer, which is accessed XE
"Layout Designer" XE
"Designer:Layout" by clicking that
button in the Customize
[Form] window. Wait: The
selection of data, including column order,
should be completed first, in the Customize
window.
The illustrations, for Layout Designer, are each composites of several screens, and can’t be duplicated when
running QuickBooks.
Field,
within layout design, is any block of data, including the columns (one field,) and those in the header and
footer, as well as those called “fields.”
Label
fields contain the permanent information, declaring the content of the data field below.
Data
fields take the information unique to each invoice (or other form) as named in the label field above.
Selection
of a field is by clicking within it. A border appears, outside the field, which is the area inside of the
border. The type and name of the field appears at the bottom of the window. Multiple fields can be selected
by holding down the Shift
key while clicking the second and following fields.
Sizing handles
are the black dots in the border. Grab one (point the mouse and hold down the button) and a
side can be moved. The corner sizing handles move two sides. Size is shown in a box at the bottom of the
window.
Moving
a field is done when the selection border is showing. Put the cursor inside the field, and hold down
the mouse button. The Move Cursor
appears, and moving the mouse moves the field. The position, actually
the position of the upper-left corner, is shown at the bottom of the window.
Columns
(illustration below) are all one big field. The width can be adjusted in Layout Designer. Order is set
in Customize [Form.]
Footer
(not in illustration) contains information set up under the footer tab, and is adjusted as with other parts
of a form.
Properties
button allows individual control of the printing properties of each field.
Justification (try it and
see what that means) can be set, horizontally and vertically.
Font
controls type styles and sizes in each field.
If you have a color printer, colors can be selected. (Please be moderate; this is a business. Also, color
cartridges are expensive.) Border lines can be controlled.
Make Same
buttons can be used to make one field the same size as another (illustration below.) This
operation is quite intuitive, but hard to follow from a description.
Select the reference field.
Holding down the shift key, click on the field to be changed.
Click one of
Height, Width, or Size
buttons, to make the second field the same height, width, or height and
width, as the first.
Center
is a bit tricky. If one field is selected, it will be centered across the page. If multiple fields are selected
, their relative positions will stay the same, but the left-most and right-most borders will be placed equal
distances from the margins.
Undo
is handy, for “Try it, you’ll like it.” If you don’t like it, just
Undo
it, as many as fifty actions. In the
highly unlikely event that you make a misteak, Undo is also useful.
Redo
is useful, should you decide you did not really want to
Undo
it. It re-instates actions that were undone.
Zoom In
gives an enlarged view of less of the form. The zoom factor appears at the bottom of the view.
Zoom Out
gives a reduced view of more of the form.
Margins
button does the obvious, with care. Most printers have a minimum margin on each edge of the page
. Trying to print beyond them means that borders or a few characters will not be printed.
Grid
means the paper is covered by a grid of imaginary lines, up and down, and across, used for locating the
features.
Show Grid
displays a dot at each intersection of vertical and horizontal grid lines.
Snap-to-grid
forces each feature of the form to be located on one of the grid dots.
Grid spacing
can be adjusted to the various fractional-inch sizes in the illustration. (Foreign users should
know that metrication has been pushed several times in the USA, and has always failed.)
Show envelope window
lays a gray shading on the form, where copy would show through the windows of a
double-window envelope.
Columns
(illustration below) operate as one large field.
Column width
can be adjusted by dragging the dividing line between columns. This action is different from
adjusting report columns. The change affects the columns on each side, adding to one, and reducing the other.
Order of columns
is set up in the customize [Form] window, and can’t be changed here.
After a form has been set up for learning, another can be developed for production.
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