Defining page breaks, numbering, and background fill

Contents > Creating and managing layouts and reports > Working with layout parts > Defining page breaks, numbering, and background fill

Defining page breaks, numbering, and background fill

You can set options for page breaks and page numbering when you add a layout part or change a part definition.

You can also create visual contrast when viewing lists of records by setting up an alternating background fill color and pattern for body parts. For example, to simulate the appearance of green bar paper (a once-common paper type used with dot-matrix printers), you could set up a body part to display every other record with a light green background.

Note Usually, pagination settings are associated with subsummary parts, but you can set page break options for any part on the layout (except headers and footers).

For information about creating a new part, see Adding a layout part.

To define page breaks and page numbering for a part:

1.	In Layout mode, choose Layouts menu > Part Setup.

2.	In the Part Setup dialog box, select the part, then click Change.

You can also double-click the part label on the layout.

3.	In the Part Definition dialog box, specify pagination options.

The following table describes the pagination options that are available. Dimmed options are not available for the selected part type.

To

Select

Start a new page before printing the contents of the selected part (for example, to print a trailing grand summary on a new page)

Page break before each occurrence.

Start a new page after printing the contents of the selected part a specified number of times (for example, to print five records in the body, and then start a new page)

Page break after every <value> occurrences, and enter the number of part occurrences that you want per page. (The default value of 1 prints one part occurrence per page.)

Reset the page number to 1 after the selected part prints (for example, to start page numbering after a title header if you want it to serve as a cover page)

Restart page numbers after each occurrence.

Allow the contents of the selected part to be split on different pages, printing a portion at the bottom of one page, and the rest on the next page.

(FileMaker Pro won't split the contents of a part across two pages unless you specify this option, or the height of the part won't fit on a single page.)

Allow part to break across page boundaries.

To keep the portion of the part that will not fit on the bottom of the page from printing at the top of the next page, also select Discard remainder of part before new page (for example, to print the information in a Notes field to the bottom of the page and truncate the rest).

Display a different background color and pattern in alternating records for the selected body part

Alternate background fill, and choose a fill color and pattern from the pop-up menus.

Note Even-numbered records use the alternate background fill specified here. Odd-numbered records use the background fill specified for the body part object. For information on setting the fill for the body part object, see Setting auto-resize options for layout objects.

4.	Click OK, then click Done.

Notes

The pagination changes that you make appear only in Preview mode and when you print.

If your layout is set up to print records in columns and you've specified to print records down the page, if you choose Page break after every <value> occurrences, FileMaker Pro starts a new column (not a new page) after the part when you preview or print. If the column setup is to print records across the page, the specified page break starts a new page. For more information about printing records in columns, see Setting up to print records in columns.

If the body or other layout part is too large to fit on the printed page, FileMaker Pro displays a page break as a heavy, dashed line on the layout to show where it will divide the part when you print. To fit more on the page, you can set sliding options to shrink fields and the enclosing part if the fields contain variable amounts of information. For more information, see Removing blank spaces in printouts.

Contents > Creating and managing layouts and reports > Working with layout parts > Defining page breaks, numbering, and background fill