Microsoft Access 2010 Bible

Part I: Access Building Blocks

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the model for the alignment. For example, suppose that you have three controls and you want to

left-align them. They’re aligned on the basis of the control farthest to the left in the group of the

three controls.

Figure 7.21 shows several sets of controls. The first set of controls is not aligned. The label controls

in the middle set of controls have been left-aligned while the text box controls in the right-side set

have been right-aligned.

FIGURE 7.21

An example of unaligned and aligned controls on the grid

Each type of alignment must be done separately. In this example, you can left-align all the labels or

right-align all the text boxes at once.

The sizing grid has been turned off in Figure 7.21. By default, Access displays a series of small dots

across the entire surface of a form while it’s in Design view. The grid can assist you in aligning con-

trols. Hide or display the grid by selecting the Grid command from the Size/Space gallery under

the Sizing & Ordering group in the Arrange ribbon tab. You can also hide or display the ruler

using the Ruler command in the same gallery.

Use the Snap to Grid command in the Size/Space gallery to align controls to the grid as you

draw or place them on a form. This also aligns existing controls to the grid when you move or

resize them.

As you move or resize existing controls, Access lets you move only from grid point to grid point.

When Snap to Grid is off, Access ignores the grid and lets you place a control anywhere on the

form or report.

Tip
You can temporarily turn Snap to Grid off by pressing the Ctrl key before you create a control (or while
sizing or moving it). You can change the grid’s fineness (number of dots) from form to form by using the Grid
X and Grid Y form properties. (Higher numbers indicate greater fineness.)