Adding borders, fill, and baselines to fields

Adding borders, fill, and baselines to fields

To enhance the appearance and usability of your layout, you can add or customize:

  •

borders around fields

  •

the background color and pattern, or fill, of fields

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the dotted guidelines, or text baselines, that appears in a field at the base of the text to help you align it with other objects

To add borders, fill, and baselines to fields:

1.

In Layout mode, select one or more fields.

For more information, see Selecting objects. You can also specify attributes for fields you add later by starting with no fields selected.

2.

Choose Format menu > Field/Control > Borders.

3.

In the Field Borders dialog box, select the formats you want to use.

You see an example of the options you choose in the Sample area.

To

Do this

Add borders to fields and set their attributes

Select any combination of Top, Bottom, Left, or Right. From the format list, choose Borders and choose a color, pattern, and line width from the pop-up palettes.

Add text baselines and set their attributes

Select Text baselines. From the format list, choose Baselines, then choose a color, pattern, and line width from the pop-up palettes.

Add a fill color, pattern, or both to fields

From the format list, choose Fill, then choose a color, pattern, or both from the pop-up palettes.
Note  The checkboxes have no effect on fill attributes.

Add borders between repetitions in repeating fields

Select Between repeating values. From the format list, choose Borders, then choose a color, pattern, and width from the pop-up palettes.

Note  To also include borders around repeating fields, also select any combination of Top, Bottom, Left, or Right.

4.

Click OK.

If the current layout is set to show Field Boundaries in Layout mode, you may not be able to see some of the border effects that you have applied. To see the effects, do one of the following:

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Hide the Field Boundaries while in Layout mode: View menu > Show > Field Boundaries to hide them.

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Switch to Browse mode: Choose Browse from the Mode pop-up menu at the bottom of the document window.

Notes

  •

The settings you choose in the Field Borders dialog box affect the appearance of the field in all modes. If you just want to see field boundaries in Layout mode to, for example, align fields, choose View menu > Show > Field Boundaries instead of creating borders. For more information, see Showing text, field, or button boundaries.

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To quickly change a field’s fill and border formats, use the Line and Fill palettes in the formatting bar. (You must have already specified borders in the Field Borders dialog box.) Changes made in the formatting bar to the Line and Fill palettes replace settings in the Field Borders dialog box, and vice versa. For more information, see Setting auto-resize options for layout objects.

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You can also specify an object effect (Embossed, Engraved, or Drop Shadow) for fields with the Object Effects palette in the formatting bar. For more information, see About object effects.

To	Do this
Add borders to fields and set their attributes	Select any combination of Top, Bottom, Left, or Right. From the format list, choose Borders and choose a color, pattern, and line width from the pop-up palettes.
Add text baselines and set their attributes	Select Text baselines. From the format list, choose Baselines, then choose a color, pattern, and line width from the pop-up palettes.
Add a fill color, pattern, or both to fields	From the format list, choose Fill, then choose a color, pattern, or both from the pop-up palettes. Note The checkboxes have no effect on fill attributes.
Add borders between repetitions in repeating fields	Select Between repeating values. From the format list, choose Borders, then choose a color, pattern, and width from the pop-up palettes. Note To also include borders around repeating fields, also select any combination of Top, Bottom, Left, or Right.

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