Access 2013

Formatting reports

Video: Formatting Reports

Watch the video (4:18). Need help?

One of the strengths of reports is that you can modify their appearance to make them look how you want. You can add headers and footers, apply new colors, and even add a logo. All of these things can help you create visually appealing reports.

Modifying report text

The bulk of the information in your report comes straight from the query or table you built it from, which means you can't edit it within the report. However, you can change, add, or delete label text, headers, and footers to make your report clearer and easier to read. For example, in our report we decided we didn't need the field headings to understand our data, so we simply deleted them.

Just like other Office programs, Access allows you to modify the text color and font, add shapes, and more. If you're not sure how to perform basic text and shape formatting, visit the Formatting Text and Shapes lessons in our Word 2013 course.

The report with simple text formatting applied

Modifying the page header and footer

To view and modify the header and footer that appear on each page of your report, select the View command on the Ribbon and switch to Design view. The header and footer are located in the white space beneath the Page Header and Page Footer bars.

The page header and footer in Design View

Depending on your report's design, sometimes you may find that there is no white space in the page header and footer, as in the image above. If this is the case, you must resize the header and footer before you can add anything to them. Simply click and drag the bottom border of the header or footer to make it larger.

Resizing the page header

To add text to a header or footer:

1. Select the Design tab, locate the Controls group, and click the Label command.
   Clicking the Label command
2. Click and drag the mouse inside the white area to create your label. Release the mouse when it is the desired size.
   Clicking and dragging to create a label
3. Click the text box, and type the desired text.
   Adding text to the label

To add the date and time to a header or footer:

1. Select the Design tab, locate the Header/Footer group, and click the Date and Time command.
   Clicking the Date and Time command
2. A dialog box will appear. Select the desired formatting options. A preview of the text that will be included in your report will appear.
3. When you are satisfied with the appearance of the date and time, click OK.
   
   Selecting the date and time format

By default, the date and time appear in the header. If you would like to move them to the footer instead, simply click the date and time boxes and drag them to the desired location.

To add page numbers to a header or footer:

1. Select the Design tab, then locate the Header/Footer group.
2. Click the Page Numbers command.
   Clicking the Page Numbers command
3. The Page Numbers dialog box will appear. Select the format of the page numbers.
   • Select Page N to display the number of only the current page.
   • Select Page N of M to display the number of the current page and the number of total pages.
4. Under Position, choose Top of Page or Bottom of Page to control where the page numbers appear.
5. Click the drop-down arrow to select the alignment of the page numbers.
6. When you are satisfied with the settings, click OK.
   Selecting page number settings