access

[opal]

Which is used to produce more attractive output?

 

[Randy]

Which is used to produce more attractive output?

Opal, when you say "output" are you talking about "Reports". In that case,
producing a more attractive report relies on your own artistic,
document-designing skills, and the time you are willing to spend on it.

I have seen all kind of reports: difficult to read, pleasant to read,
beautiful and hard to read, etc. But Access is pretty flexible for the user
to design almost any report. They way you present the data to the user
should follow organization guidelines, allowing the user to easy read an
locate any information without delays or confusion.

The font type also plays an important roll. Times New Roman is a font type
that is not as easier to read as Arial. However for short sentences may be
OK. On the other hand you can over report, when offering lot of information
that is no relevant to the data itself, as lots graphics, lines, boxes,
colors, etc. When using shadows, remember that many printers will come up
with different pattern-results and will cause unreadable text if the
shadows/or colors are behind the text.

I could keep adding and adding, but again, the organization of the data and
how easy is to read and navigate it is the most important. You may also get
additional important feedback from other users.

-Randy

 

[opal]

thanks for your input randy...would you use form to create an attractive
output? I can't figure out the difference between the 2?

 

[Jeff Boyce]

Pardon my intrusion ...

Access forms are optimized for display on a computer screen.

Access reports can be designed to handle attractive "paper" design.

When you say "output", do you mean screen or paper?

You CAN "print" a form, but unless you make the form look like a paper
version (not always a wise design for computer screens), it won't look as
good as a well-designed report.

Just one person's opinion...

Jeff Boyce
<Access MVP>

 

[Randy]

Opal, when you say "output" are you talking about "Reports". In that case,
producing a more attractive report relies on your own artistic,
document-designing skills, and the time you are willing to spend on it.

I have seen all kind of reports: difficult to read, pleasant to read,
beautiful and hard to read, etc. But Access is pretty flexible for the
user to design almost any report. They way you present the data to the
user should follow organization guidelines, allowing the user to easy read
an locate any information without delays or confusion.

The font type also plays an important roll. Times New Roman is a font type
that is not as easier to read as Arial. However for short sentences may be
OK. On the other hand you can over report, when offering lot of
information that is no relevant to the data itself, as lots graphics,
lines, boxes, colors, etc. When using shadows, remember that many printers
will come up with different pattern-results and will cause unreadable text
if the shadows/or colors are behind the text.

I could keep adding and adding, but again, the organization of the data
and how easy is to read and navigate it is the most important. You may
also get additional important feedback from other users.

-Randy

Opal, as Jeff mentioned (and as I mentioned originally), you have to clarify
us what you refer to when saying "output." Forms in Access are design for
data-entry; They provide a very poor printing option that Microsoft should
consider to eliminate, since it confuses users (perhaps you are one of
them). To print data, Access users should create a report, by using the
option on the Report tab. That is the right way to print data in Access.

So, Forms are for data-entry only, and Reports are for outputting data to
printer or to create documents for electronic exchange.

-Randy