Printing Forms (A2K)

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The primary function of one of my DB’s is to make data entry easy for a user, I.e. using Combo’s and calculated fields, it is then printed out and used as a job sheet attached to many other documents that cannot be maintained electronically. I can print out each form with no problem but is there a way that I can make this look good on the screen by using a background but surpressing the background when printing?. Currently I have all my backgrounds white which is fine but I just want it to look better on screen.

I am sure that I will have caused Charlotte to have a heart attack by now by saying that I want to print forms but I spend hours making sure that the forms look good and I do not want to duplicate this work by playing around with reports, also all of the information I want is uniquely on the form.

Any advice welcome

Steven Paul

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Steven,

If you use an image control for your background, you can use its DisplayWhen property to determine when the object is visible. The choices are Screen Only, Print Only, and Both.

Hope this helps.

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Thanks Tom,

“If you use an Image Control for your background”

Sorry, does that mean like an imported background, I was only trying to play with the windows colours when you right click on the form. I had already gone to the ‘forms’ properties and selected screen only but this just prints a blank page and the property sheet for the background does not have the DisplayWhen function.

Cheers

Steve

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Steve,

I was thinking along the lines of adding an image object “control” to your form, size it to the size of the form section and then make sure it’s “behind” everything else. When you add the image object, Access will ask for a file name (the picture you want to display). This can be a simple MS Paint bmp file with the color (or design!) you want — make it tiny, say 5×5 pixels — then with the object’s SizeMode property set to Stretch, it will fill the full extent of the object.

Another way to skin this cat, if you’re into VBA, is to have a Command Button “Print This Form” control on your form. In its OnClick event routine, change the background color property, use DoCmd.Printout to print the form, then change the color back. Something like:

Me.Section(“Detail”).BackColor = 16777215 ‘ White
DoCmd.PrintOut
Me.Section(“Detail”).BackColor = -2147483633 ‘ Original color

Of course, you probably want this button’s DisplayWhen property set to Screen Only.

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