Set color properties to Microsoft Windows system colors in forms and reports

Using the BackColor, BorderColor, and ForeColor properties, you can create a color scheme in Microsoft Access that matches the color scheme used in other Microsoft Windows applications. Creating a common color scheme is particularly useful if you're developing an application that you want to distribute to multiple users. Setting color properties to Windows system colors enables you to specify a single setting that can display different colors on different users' computers, depending on the colors they've chosen in Windows Control Panel.

1. Open a form in Design view or a report in Design view.
   
   
2. Open the property sheet for the section or control.
   
   
3. In the property sheet, click the BackColor, BorderColor, or ForeColor property.
   
   
4. In the property box, type one of the numbers that are listed in the following table. For example, if you want the background of your form to display the same color that you or another user uses for the Windows background color, set the BackColor property to -2147483643, the value for Window.

   Screen element	Value
   Scroll bar	-2147483648
   Desktop	-2147483647
   Active window title bar	-2147483646
   Inactive window title bar	-2147483645
   Menu bar	-2147483644
   Window	-2147483643
   Window frame	-2147483642
   Menu text	-2147483641
   Window text	-2147483640
   Title bar text	-2147483639
   Active window border	-2147483638
   Inactive window border	-2147483637
   Application background	-2147483636
   Highlight	-2147483635
   Highlight text	-2147483634
   3-D face	-2147483633
   3-D shadow	-2147483632
   Dimmed (disabled) text	-2147483631
   Button text	-2147483630
   Inactive window title bar text	-2147483629
   3-D highlight	-2147483628
   3-D dark shadow	-2147483627
   3-D light	-2147483626
   ToolTip text	-2147483625
   ToolTip background	-2147483624

Notes  

• The Windows system color value refers only to the color of the screen element listed, not to the type of object it can be assigned to. For example, you could set the BackColor property for a text box to the Windows system color for scroll bars, the desktop, or any other screen element.
  
  
• The values for the Windows screen elements are always the same, regardless of the user's color settings.
  
  
• You can also set the BackColor, BorderColor, and ForeColor properties to a Windows system color using Visual Basic for Applications.