How to Clean Up Reports in Microsoft Access

There are a few important and helpful things to watch out for in Access reports. They spring from the fact that, unlike most other database components, reports often have to stand on their own. So their formatting and layout have to be more complete and …

Using Master Pages in Adobe InDesign—Basics

The concept of master pages in Adobe InDesign is closely related to headers and footers in many other programs. Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, or even Excel and Access all have a similar feature. So if you’ve used headers and footers, you won’t be on totally …

Using Guides for Line-Up in Adobe InDesign

Although some people don’t think it’s vital, lining page elements up neatly—for which guides are very helpful—in Adobe InDesign can make a big difference in the final product. The eye is a better instrument than some people think. And visual neatness can greatly reduce perceived …

How to Create or Import a Table in Adobe InDesign

The table is just too useful to keep out of many business documents these days. It’s too good at organizing data. Luckily, even a desktop publishing program like InDesign has the feature handy. And we can even import an existing one pretty much as-is, to …

Using the Split Form and Datasheet Form in Microsoft Access

The idea of the split form in Access is rather like its cousin in Project. We set up a view with the “big picture” or large-scale view in one portion of the window (usually the top), and details in the bottom. Sometimes vice versa, but …

Using the Section Break in Microsoft Word

When putting together a complex document in Word, a section break can help us put together documents such as a book or manual, where one sometimes has to create multiple headers and footers, or allow for single columns, then multiple, then single again. A section …

Using Specified-Order Grouping in Crystal Reports

As we get into some of the more subtle ways to use grouping in Crystal Reports, we sometimes find that either groups of groups, or arranging them in a hierarchy, can improve the usefulness of the report. One key to a good report is to …

Kerning and Tracking Adjustments in InDesign

A while back, I posted an item about text layout in InDesign. There’s another aspect of it I wanted to mention which might be of some further interest, namely kerning. This is usually the fitting-closer-together of pairs of letters whose shapes make it aesthetically possible …

Using Multiple Sections in Crystal Reports

When “laying out” data in Crystal Reports, we usually think of written information. Graphics such as charts do enter into reports, but we don’t always use photographs or other non-data images, especially in the Details section where the data will go. If, for example, we …

Excel – Mixed Pivot Table Layout

Microsoft Excel Pivot Tables is one of the greatest inventions known to man; second only to those buttery mints they bring you in fancy restaurants. Even the greatest of ideas are not without their issues. Take for example the Report Layout feature in Pivot Tables. Excel gives the user three options with which to display hierarchically (wow; that’s a hard word to spell) related data.

Compact Form
Outline Form
Tabular Form

Let’s examine what makes each layout unique.

Compact Form

All row-based data is combined into a single column, one row per line item, and indented to reflect the position within the hierarchy.