Align Elements

Report Designer has several features to help you easily align your report elements. All can be found in the View menu.

Grids show a graph-paper-like grid on the report canvas. This can make it easier to evenly space elements by counting the exact number of hash marks between them. Grids can also make it easier to line up elements, but you may find it easier to rely on guides instead.

Guides are markers you create by clicking on the rulers on the top and left of the report canvas. Once you have guides in place, it's easier to align report elements vertically and/or horizontally. To turn off guides, go to the Guides submenu in the View menu, then un-check the Show Guides item. You can remove individual guides by right-clicking them on the ruler, then selecting Delete from the context menu.

Perhaps the most useful alignment feature in Report Designer is Element Alignment Hints. When you enable this option, each report element's outer borders will extend to the edges of the canvas, allowing you to easily line up multiple elements.

The Snap to Elements feature will add a kind of magnetism to elements so that they are easier to align with adjacent elements.

If elements are not horizontally aligned with column borders, the affected columns may be merged into one in the report output.