Add a background picture to a form

1. Open a form in Design view.
   
   
2. Double-click the form selector to open the property sheet.
   
   
3. In the Picture property box, type the path and file name for a .bmp, .ico, .dib, .wmf, or .emf file. If you've installed graphics filters for other applications, you can use any file supported by those filters. If you're not sure of the path or file name, click the Build button .
   
   
4. In the PictureType property box, specify whether you want the picture to be embedded or linked. When you embed a picture, it's stored in the database file. If you embed the same picture in another form, it's added to the database file again. When you link a picture, you don't store it in the database file, but you must keep a copy of it on your hard disk. If you want to use your hard disk space efficiently, specify the Linked setting.
   
   
5. After you add the picture to the form, you can size or clip it by clicking one of the following settings in the PictureSizeMode property box.

   Setting	Description
   Clip	Displays the picture at actual size. If the picture is larger than the Form window, the image is cut off.
   Stretch	Sizes the picture to fit the Form window. This setting may distort the image.
   Zoom	Sizes the picture to fill either the height or width of the Form window. This setting won't clip the picture or distort its proportions.

6. If you want to change the alignment of the picture, click one of the settings in the PictureAlignment property box.

   Note   If you want to center the background picture, and you want the background picture to resize when you size the window, click the Center setting. If you don't want the background picture to resize when you size the window, click the Form Center setting.

7. If you want to repeat the picture across the background of the form, set the PictureTiling property to Yes. Tiling starts at the position that is specified in the PictureAlignment setting.

   Note   Set the PictureSizeMode property to Clip if you want to tile the background picture. The background picture will not be tiled if the PictureSizeMode property is set to Zoom or Stretch.

Notes

• If the colors in your picture don't look the same as the original colors, you can specify that Microsoft Access use the colors from the application you used to create the picture.

  How?

• If you're creating your own background pictures and you have access to a graphics program that creates metafiles, you may want to use a metafile rather than a bitmap as a background picture. For more information, click .