Spacing between text-based objects

Use the grid and guidelines options to help evenly align text-based objects.

You can select the Snap To Grid option, set the grid to a maximum of one inch, and make the grid visible or invisible on the Design tab, Preview tab, or both. For more information on working with grids, see Using the grid.

You can also work without a grid, placing objects wherever you want them on a report. You may want to work in a free-form environment while retaining the ability to align objects, or to move or resize them as a group. You can do this using guidelines. See Using guidelines.

Using the grid

The grid is a series of row and column coordinates. When the grid is selected, Seagate Crystal Reports enables you to place text-based objects only at these coordinates, not between them. You can then space data on your report and align objects as needed. If you attempt to place an object between grid coordinates, the object "snaps" to the grid; that is, the object automatically moves to the nearest set of row and column coordinates.

Each report section contains a design grid. You can select the grid on or off, as well as set it to different sizes when required. By default, the grid is not selected. See Selecting the grid.

Once set, the grid remains the same size for all sections. It is measured from the upper-left corner of each section and continues down and to the right, until the end of the section. A new grid of the same size then starts from the upper-left corner of the next section, and so on, through the end of the report.

If you select the Snap To Grid option, the following conditions occur:

• The upper-left corner of all newly placed, text-based and OLE objects snap to a grid point.
• Objects placed on a report before the Snap To Grid option is selected do not snap to the nearest grid point. They remain in the same place.
• If you resize an object, the side or sides that you are resizing snap to the nearest grid point.