Access 2010: The Missing Manual

Formatting a Report

So far, you’ve learned to create simple reports that show all the information you want in a compact table. The only problem with these reports is that they all look the same. If you’re working in a cubicle farm for a multinational insurance company, this drab sameness is probably a good thing. But those who still have a pulse may want to jazz up their reports with borders, exotic fonts, and a dash of color.

Applying a Theme

The quickest way to apply formatting is to use one of the prebuilt themes (shown in Figure 10-16) from the Report Layout Tools | Design→Themes→Themes list. Each theme applies a combination of fonts and colors. Themes let you transform the entire look of your report in one step, but they don’t give you the fine-grained control to apply exactly the details you want.

Figure 10-16. Every report begins by using the crowd-pleasing Office theme, but you have a long list of other options. As you hover over a new theme, your report adjusts itself automatically using a feature called live preview. Click the theme to make your change permanent.

Frequently Asked Question: Different Ways to Export Data

Is it better to export the results of a report, or the entire contents of a table?

There are several ways to transport data out of Access. You can take data directly from a table, or you can export the results of a query or a report. So which approach is best?