How to work with the Layout Tools
palette
The Layout Tools palette is used to work with text blocks and
geometric objects that can be added to
report and invoice layouts.
You can set the left and top of any selected object by typing a value in the
corresponding field of the tool palette.
You can set the width and height of filled and unfilled rectangles, and text
blocks, by typing a value in the corresponding field of the tool
palette.
You can set the width (length) of a
horizontal line by typing a value in the Width field of the tool
palette.
You can set the height (length) of a
vertical line by typing a value in the Height field of the tool
palette.
You can set the line width and
line color for filled and unfilled
rectangles, for vertical or horizontal lines, and for text blocks
that don't have their Transparent value set. To set an object's
line width, select it in the report layout and choose a width from
the line width popup menu. To set an object's line color, select it
and click the Line radio button on the
right side of the palette, then click the Color rectangle to its
left and make a choice in the color selector dialog.
You can set the fill color of filled
rectangles and text blocks that do not have their Transparent value set. To set an object's fill
color, select it in the report layout and click the Fill radio button on the right side of the palette,
then click the Color rectangle to its left and make a choice in the
color selector dialog.
Text block properties
Additional settings are available for text blocks.
Text Font: Change the font by selecting
it from the Font popup menu.
Text Size: Enter a value in the Size
text entry box to the right of the Font popup menu.
Line spacing: Available for manually
added text blocks. Set line spacing by entering a value in the
Spacing text entry box.
Offset: You can set a horizontal and
vertical offset for manually added text blocks. This can be useful
when showing text within a rectangular box. Enter values in the H
and V text entry boxes respectively for horizontal and vertical
offsets.
Text styles: You can set the text
styles of all text fields and text blocks. Click Bold, Italic and
Underline to turn text styles on or off. A text style affects all
the text in the field.
Alignment: You can set text alignment
of manually added text blocks to Left, Center or Right. Left and
right alignment honor the horizontal offset value you set for a
text block. To change alignment, select one of the options from the
Alignment popup menu while the text block is selected.
Text color: You can set the text color
of manually added text blocks by clicking the Color rectangle in
the Text attributes section of the
palette and choosing a color from the color selector dialog.
You can find more information on report text blocks in the section
Working with text blocks and
fields.
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