Defining print specifications for a report

When you are satisfied with the look of the report, you can define its print specifications.

StepsTo define print specifications for a report:

  1. In the Report painter, select Properties from the report's pop-up menu to display the report's Properties view.

  2. In the Units box on the General page, select a unit of measure.

    It is easier to specify the margins when the unit of measure is inches or centimeters.

  3. Select the Print Specifications tab.

    The Print Specifications page uses the units of measure you specified on the General page.

  4. Specify print specifications for the current report.

    See Table 6-6 for more information.

Table 6-6: Setting print specifications for reports

Setting

Description

Document Name

Specify a name to be used in the print queue to identify the report.

Printer Name

Specify the name of a printer to which this report should be sent. If this box is empty, the report is sent to the default system printer. If the specified printer cannot be found, the report is sent to the default system printer if the Can Use Default Printer check box is selected. If the specified printer cannot be found and the Can Use Default Printer check box is not selected, an error is returned.

Margins

Specify top, bottom, left, and right margins. You can also change margins in the Preview view while you are actually looking at data. If you change margins in the Preview view, the changes are reflected here on the Print Specifications page.

Paper Orientation

Choose one of the following:

  • Default: Uses the default printer setup.

  • Portrait: Prints the contents of the report across the width of the paper.

  • Landscape: Prints the contents of the report across the length of the paper.

Paper Size

Choose a paper size or leave blank to use the default.

Paper Source

Choose a paper source or leave blank to use the default.

Prompt Before Printing

Select to display the standard Print Setup dialog box each time you make a print request.

Can Use Default Printer

Clear this check box if a printer has been specified in the Printer Name box and you do not want the report to be sent to the default system printer if the specified printer cannot be found. This box is checked by default if a printer name is specified.

Display Buttons - Print Preview

Select to display Button controls in Print Preview. The default is to hide them.

Display Buttons - Print

Select to display Button controls when you print the report. The default is to hide them.

Clip Text

Select to clip static text to the dimensions of a text field when the text field has no visible border setting. The text is always clipped if the text field has visible borders.

Collate Copies

Select to collate copies when printing. Collating increases print time because the print operation is repeated to produce collated sets.

Print Preview Shows Outline

Select to display a blue line that represents the margins in Print Preview.

Newspaper Columns Across and Width

If you want a multiple-column report where the data fills one column on a page, then the second, and so on, as in a newspaper, select the number and width of the columns in the Newspaper Columns box. See “Printing with newspaper-style columns”.