Aligning items in a report
CCH Smart reports include various alignment tools so that you can fine tune the report for readability and presentation.
For example, when used in conjunction with the standard justification options (that is left align, centre, right align and justify) the alignment options allow data to be visually aligned for ideal presentation. It makes sense to insert the required items in the header, detail and footer areas, and then to multiselect items that need consistent alignment.
The Alignment toolbar
You align items in the Report Designer window. The alignment options appear on the horizontal toolbar. Some are only active when you have selected more than one item for alignment.
Each of the alignment options displays a tool tip if you hover the mouse over an icon whilst active.
Alignment options include:
- Vertical alignment by side or centre.
- Horizontal alignment by top, centre or bottom.
- Adjust to same height, size or width.
- Adjust space between items.
- Centre vertically or horizontally.
Align Items in a Report
- Open the Report Designer window for the report you are editing.
- In the detail area of the window, select the first item you want to align.
- Hold the [Shift] or the [Ctrl] key down to multiselect adjacent or non–adjacent items.
- Click on the appropriate alignment icon in the alignment toolbar to align the text box, field or label box
- Click on one of the justify icons (AlignLeft, Centre, AlignRight, Justify) to consistently align the contents of a text box, field or label.
- Close the Report Designer window to save the report layout.
Tip! When aligning financial data within a report, it is best to right align the text box and right align its contents.
Note: Remember that you can hold down the [Shift] or [Ctrl] buttons to select multiple objects. To select all the objects within a work area, you can move the cursor to the left of a work area, the cursor displays as an arrow, and click once to select all items.