Forms Design Window

Related topics

Design a form

Learn about Forms Design toolbars

Learn about Forms Design menus

Preview forms before printing them

Print a single form

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Perform other forms tasks

Read the forms design overview

The Forms Design window allows you to create new customized forms, or edit existing forms to match your business's needs.When customizing a form, you can move fields, delete fields, change the font and background color for the fields. You can also add fields and add a logo or other image to your form.

Selecting Fields

To select a single field:

  1. Click the Selection tool if you do not see a pointer on the screen.
  2. Click the field to select it.
  3. A blue outline with blue boxes or size handles will appear around the border of the field when it is selected.

To select multiple fields:

  1. Click the Selection tool if you do not see a pointer on the screen.
  2. Click the field to select it.
  3. While holding down the Shift or Ctrl key, click a second field.
  4. Continue holding down the Shift or Ctrl key and select as many fields as you want.
  5. When you are finished selecting fields, release the key.
  6. A blue outline with blue boxes or size handles will appear around the border of each field that is selected.

Tell me more about using the Selection tool to select fields.

Moving Fields
  1. Select the field(s) that you want to move.
  2. Click on a selected field and hold down the left mouse button.
  3. Move (drag with your mouse pointer) the selected field(s) to the desired location and release the left mouse button.

OR

  1. Select the field(s) that you want to move.
  2. Use the arrow keys to move the selected field(s) to the desired location.
Changing Fonts and Colors
  1. Double click on a field in the forms design window.
  2. A properties dialog should appear.
  3. You can change the font, the color of the data in the field, and the background color of the field.
  4. Make your font and color selections and click OK.
  5. The field will now have the font and color characteristics that you specified.
Editing Fields

The properties dialog will show you all of the changes that you can make to a particular field.

  1. Select the field you want to change and right-click. A menu should appear.
  2. Select Properties from the right click menu.
  3. The properties dialog for the field should appear.
  4. Make your selections and click OK.

OR

  1. Double click on the field you want to change.
  2. The properties dialog for the field should appear.
  3. Make your selections and click OK.

Learn more about properties for Data Fields

Learn more about properties for Column Data Fields

Learn more about properties for Text Fields

Deleting Fields
  1. Select the field that you want to delete.
  2. Press the Delete key.

OR

  1. Select the field that you want to delete.
  2. Right click on the field and select Delete from the right click menu.

Deleting a column data field

If you want to delete all of the columns on a form, you can select the column data object and follow the steps for deleting a field.

However, you may just want to delete a particular column from the column data object. To do so:

  1. Double click the column that you want to delete.
  2. The Column Data Options dialog for the column data object that contains the column should open.
  3. Select the column that you want to delete from the Edit Fields list.
  4. Select the Remove Field button.
  5. Click OK. on the Column Data Options dialog.
Adding Fields

Adding Data Fields

ClosedWhat are data fields?

Data fields are fields that pull data from the Sage 50 database to populate the field. These fields can only have one possible value on each form. An example of a data field on an invoice would be the Customer Name. Each invoice is created for one customer so there is only one possible value for this field on the form.

  1. Select the Add button on the object toolbar. (If you do not see the Object toolbar, go to the Options menu and select to show the Object toolbar.)
  2. Select Data from Sage 50 from the Add submenu.
  3. Click OK. on the Add Data Confirmation dialog if it appears.
  4. The Add Field dialog will open.
  5. Select the field that you want to add from the Individual Fields tab.
  6. Click OK..
  7. The field will appear on the form.
  8. Move the field to the desired location on the form.

Adding Column Data Fields

ClosedWhat are column data fields?

Column data fields are fields that pull data from the Sage 50 database to populate columns or lists on a form. These fields can have multiple values on the same form. An example of a column data field on an invoice would be Item Description. You could sell multiple items on the same invoice and each item would appear on the invoice with it's unique description.

  1. Select the Add button on the object toolbar. (If you do not see the Object toolbar, go to the Options menu and select to show the Object toolbar.)
  2. Select Column to table from the Add submenu.
  3. The Add Field dialog will open on top of the Column Data Options dialog.
  4. On the Add Field dialog, select the field that you want to add from the Columns tab.
  5. Click OK..
  6. The field now appears in the list of fields on the Column Data Options dialog.
  7. You can change the field heading if you want to. This is the heading at the top of the column.
  8. You can use the Move Up and Move Down buttons to change the position of the column on the form. For example, the first field in the list will be the first column on the form.
  9. Click OK. to add the field to the form.

Adding Text Fields

ClosedWhat are text fields?

Text fields are fields that display the exact text that you enter in forms design on the printed form itself. You could use a text field to create a label for a data field such as "Invoice Number:" or you could use a text field to create a message that prints on the form such as "Thank you for your business".

  1. Select the Add button on the object toolbar. (If you do not see the Object toolbar, go to the Options menu and select to show the Object toolbar.)
  2. Select Text from the Add submenu.
  3. A blank text field is added on the form.
  4. Type the text that you want to appear in the text box.
  5. Click out of the text box.
  6. Move the text field to the desired location on the form.
Adding a Logo or Other Image
  1. Select the Add button on the object toolbar. (If you do not see the Object toolbar, go to the Options menu and select to show the Object toolbar.)
  2. Select Image or logo from the Add submenu.
  3. Select the logo or image file that you want to add to the form. The file should be a bitmap (.bmp), JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg, .jpe, or .jfif), or GIF (.gif) file.

    4. Note: Bitmap, JPEG, and GIF files are typical image files. If you need to add a different type of file (such as a Microsoft Word document) to your form, you will need to insert the file as an OLE object. How do I add an OLD object to my form?

  4. Click Open.
  5. The image should appear on the form.
  6. Select the image and move it to the desired location on the form using the mouse or the arrow keys.
ClosedDo you want this image to be a background image?
  1. Right click on the image.
  2. Select Order from the right click menu.
  3. The object (image) should be highlighted in the order list.
  4. Use the Move Object arrow keys to move the object up until it is the first object in the order list. This ensures that the image will print in the background on the form.
  5. Click OK..

Published: March 11, 2019
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