Add a background picture to a report

By adding a background picture to a report, you can simulate a watermark. A background picture in a report applies to the entire page.

1. Open the report in Design view.
   
   
2. Double-click the report selector to open the property sheet.
   
   
3. Set the Picture property to a .bmp, .ico, .wmf, .dib, 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 or report, 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. You can determine the proportions of the picture by setting the PictureSizeMode property. This property has three settings:
   • Clip. Displays the picture at actual size. If the picture is larger than the area within the margins, the image is cut off.
     
     
   • Stretch. Sizes the picture to fit the area within the margins. This setting may distort the image.
     
     
   • Zoom. Sizes the picture to fill either the height or width of the area within the margins. This setting won't clip the picture or distort its proportions.
6. You can specify the position of the picture on the page by setting the PictureAlignment property. Microsoft Access aligns the picture within the margins of the report. The available settings are Top Left, Top Right, Center, Bottom Left, and Bottom Right.
   
   
7. You can repeat the picture across the page by setting the PictureTiling property to Yes. Tiling starts at the position specified in the PictureAlignment property.

   Note   Background pictures look best tiled when the PictureSizeMode property is set to Clip.

8. You can determine which pages of the report the picture will appear on by setting the PicturePages property. The available settings are All Pages, First Page, and No Pages.

Notes

• If the colors in the background 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 graphic.
  
  
• 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 as a background picture rather than a bitmap. For more information, click .
  
  
• The Employee Sales by Country report in the Northwind sample database has an example of a background picture. To view this report, open the Northwind database in your Office folder's Samples folder, and then open the Employee Sales by Country report in Design view. For information on opening Northwind, click .