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Contents > Creating and managing layouts and reports > Creating and managing layouts > Creating a layout

Creating a layout
The New Layout/Report assistant helps you design reports, allowing you to create several types of layouts: Standard form, Columnar list/report, Table view, Labels, Vertical labels, Envelope, and Blank layout. For details on each layout type, see About layout types. You may also want to review one of the following Help topics before using the New Layout/Report assistant:
Considerations when you create a Columnar list/report layout
Considerations when you create a Labels layout
Considerations when you create an Envelope layout
Tip   You can also duplicate an existing layout and customize the new one to fit your needs. For more information, see Duplicating, deleting, or renaming layouts.
To create a layout:
1. Choose View menu > Layout Mode.
2. If you intend to print the new report in landscape orientation or on a special paper size, choose File menu > Print Setup (Windows) or File menu > Page Setup (Mac OS), confirm the orientation and paper settings, then click OK.
Note   Modified Print Setup and Page Setup settings affect all other layouts in the current file, so you may need to change these settings later to print other layouts properly.
3. Choose Layouts menu > New Layout/Report.
You see the New Layout/Report assistant, a series of dialog boxes, or panels, that assist you with creating the type of layout you choose in the first panel.
4. In each assistant panel, follow the instructions to create the type of layout you chose in the first panel.
To Do this
Accept the settings in the panel and continue to the next panel
Click Next.
Accept the settings in the panel but go back to the previous panel
Click Back.
See an onscreen Help topic that explains the choices in the current panel
Windows: Press F1.
Mac OS: Click the Help button or press ⌘-?.
Close the assistant without saving any of your choices
Click Cancel.
5. When you have completed the series of panels, click Finish to create the layout.
You can use the new layout right away, or further customize it using the tools and commands in Layout mode.
Notes
If your layout doesn't turn out the way you expect it to, you can go through the assistant again. Remember to delete the layout that you no longer need.
FileMaker Pro layouts are divided into layout parts, which are areas on the layout that control how and where to display and print data, text, and graphics. FileMaker Pro includes the body, header, and footer parts as needed on a layout depending on the choices you make in the New Layout/Report assistant. Columnar reports with grouped and totaled data also have subsummary parts, grand summary parts, or both. You have complete control over adding, removing, or modifying layout parts after you complete the assistant. For more information, see Working with layout parts.
In the New Layout/Report assistant, you can apply FileMaker Pro layout themes to enhance the appearance of a layout or report and to give all your layouts a consistent look. A theme affects characteristics of the layout, including the background color, field borders and fill, and text attributes in and outside of fields. A theme does not control the placement or behavior of fields or objects. You can apply themes only in the assistant.
If you include a field on the layout from another table or database (a related field), you should understand relational database concepts. For more information, see Working with related tables and files.
When you create a Table view layout and switch to Layout mode, you see a Standard form layout. Table view is not a layout type; it's just an arrangement of the data, like View as Form or View as List (on the View menu in Browse mode). In fact, you can choose to view any layout in Table view by choosing View menu > View as Table.
You can display a specified layout every time you open a FileMaker Pro file. For more information, see Setting file options.
Related topics
Working with layout parts
Adding fields to a layout
Troubleshooting layouts

Contents > Creating and managing layouts and reports > Creating and managing layouts > Creating a layout
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