Quick steps

These are the basic steps that explain how to change the background of an object on your document. They include:

• To change the background of an object
• To define a custom colour
• To save the changes to your document

Note: Quick steps provide the minimum amount of information you need. For further information, please refer to the Detailed steps section.

To change the background of an object

1. Report Designer > select the objects you want to change > Properties pane > Background > click the finder button .
2. Select the background options you require > OK.
   
   For details of the background options available, please refer to the Detailed steps section.

To define a custom colour

Note: When selecting a colour for the background options, you can choose from the drop-down list or choose Custom Colour to define a different colour for your background.

1. Background Style window > colour drop-down list > choose Custom Colour.
2. From the colour matrix, select the colour you require. Alternatively, enter the hue, saturation, luminosity, red, green and blue values for your colour.
3. If required, to change the lightness and darkness, drag the slider arrow up and down the luminosity scale.
4. Click Add to Custom Colors > OK.

To save the changes to your document

1. Report menu > Report Properties > enter a new name and description for the document > OK.
   
   Report Designer v1.3 and below > Report Explorer pane > select the document name > Properties pane > Name > enter a new name for the document > Enter.
   
   

   TIP: You can check your Report Designer version in Help > About > Application > File Version.

2. File > Save As > File name > enter a new file name for the document > browse to the required location for your document > Save.
3. File > Exit.

Detailed steps

The following detailed steps contain everything you need to help you change the background of an object on your document.

NOTE: If any of the panes mentioned in this section are not visible, open the View menu and select the required pane. If the pane doesn't appear, you can reset the Report Designer view to its default. 

To change the background of an object

1. In Report Designer, select the objects you want to change.

   Tip: To select a single object click it once. To select multiple objects, click the first object, press and hold the Ctrl key down then click all of the required objects in turn.

2. From the Properties pane, click Background then click the Finder button .

   Tip: If you have chosen to auto-hide any of your Report Designer panes, the name appears in a tab to the left or right of your window. To expand a pane, click on its name. If you have closed any of your Report Designer panes, to open them, from the View menu, choose the relevant pane.

3. From the Background Style window, select the background style you require. For information about the different styles available, please refer to the following section.
   
   
4. To accept your changes, click OK.

You have now changed the background of the selected objects. You should make any further changes you require to the document and then save your changes. For further information about how to save the amended document, please refer to the section To save the changes to your document later in this article.

The background options available

The following background styles are available to use on your selected objects:

Note: When selecting a colour for the above options, you can choose the required colour from the drop-down list or choose Custom Colour to define a different colour for your background. For information about defining a custom colour, please refer to the following section.

To define a custom colour

This section explains how to define a custom colour for use with the background options within the Background Style window. For information about selecting your background style, please refer to the section To change the background of an object.

1. In the Background Style window, from the colour drop-down list, choose Custom Colour.
   
   
2. From the colour matrix in the right-hand pane, select the colour you require. Alternatively, if you know the hue, saturation, luminosity, red, green and blue values for your colour you can enter these manually in the boxes provided.
   
   

   NOTE: The colour may not appear exactly as in the colour matrix due to the luminosity scale. To change the lightness and darkness specified in the luminosity scale, proceed to step 3. If you do not need to change the luminosity scale, proceed to step 4.

   From the right-hand side, change the lightness and darkness by dragging the slider arrow up and down the luminosity scale.
   
   
3. To add the defined colour to the colour palette, click Add to Custom Colors.
   
   
4. To accept the changes and return to the Background Style window, click OK.

You have now defined a custom colour and can choose the new colour for your background from the colour drop-down list.

To save the changes to your document

1. To save your changes, you must change the name and description of your document. To do this, open the Report menu, choose Report Properties, enter a new name and description for the document then click OK.
   
   Report Designer v1.3 and below - To save your changes, you must change the name of your document. To do this, from the Report Explorer pane, select the document name. From the Properties pane, in the Name box, enter your preferred description for the document then press Enter.
   
   
2. To save the changes, open the File menu and choose Save As. From the Save As window, in the File name box, enter a file name for your amended document. If required, browse to the required location for your document then click Save. For further information about where to save your document, please refer to article .
   
   
3. To close Sage Report Designer, open the File menu and choose Exit.

You have now saved your amended document.

TIP:  If you have any difficulty finding a recently saved document, you can open it from the Report Designer Recent files list and save it to the required location. To open a recently viewed report, from the main program, open the Tools menu, choose Report Designer then from the Recent files list, click your required report.

NOTE: If you are viewing this article from the Sage website, a list of Sage 200 Report Designer articles are now available.