Part I: Access Building Blocks
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Tip
You can resize a control in very small increments by holding the Shift key while pressing the arrow keys (up,
down, left, and right). This technique also works with multiple controls selected. Using this technique, a con-
trol changes by only 1 pixel at a time (or moves to the nearest grid line if Snap to Grid is selected in the Layout
ribbon’s Control Layout group).
When you double-click on any of the sizing handles, Access resizes a control to a best fit the text
contained in the control. This feature is especially handy if you increase the font size and then
notice that the text is cut off either at the bottom or to the right. For label controls, note that this
best-fit sizing adjusts the size vertically and horizontally, though text controls are resized only ver-
tically. This is because when Access is in Form Design mode, it can’t predict how much of a field
to display — the field name and field contents can be radically different. Sometimes, Access
doesn’t correctly resize the label and you must manually change its size.Sizing controls automatically
The Size and Ordering group on the Arrange ribbon tab has several commands that help the
arrangement of controls:l To Fit: Adjusts control height and width for the font of the text they contain.l (^) To Tallest: Makes selected controls the height of the tallest selected control.
l To Shortest: Makes selected controls the height of the shortest selected control.
l (^) To Grid: Moves all sides of selected controls in or out to meet the nearest points on the
grid.
l (^) To Widest: Makes selected controls the width of the widest selected control.
l To Narrowest: Makes selected controls the height of the narrowest selected control.
Tip
You can access many commands by right-clicking after selecting multiple controls. When you right-click on
multiple controls, a shortcut menu displays choices to size and align controls.
Moving a control
After you select a control, you can easily move it, using either one of these methods:
l Click on the control and hold down the mouse button; the cursor changes to a four-
directional arrow. Drag the mouse to move the control to a new location.
l Click once to select the control and move the mouse over any of the highlighted edges;
the cursor changes to a four-directional arrow. Drag the mouse to move the control to a
new location.
l (^) Select the control and use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move the control. Using this
technique, a control changes by only 1 pixel at a time (or moves to the nearest grid line if
Snap to Grid is selected in the Layout ribbon’s Control Layout group).