2022.2

Table Of Contents
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Usinglocal formatting.Localformattingmeansstylinganelementdirectly,usingatoolbarbut-
tonoroneoftheformattingdialogs.
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UsingCascading Style Sheets(CSS).Stylesheetscandeterminetheappearanceofindividual
elements,aswellastheappearanceofelementsthathavethesameclassorHTMLtag.
Whetherappliedthroughstylesheetsorthroughlocalformatting,behindthescenesalllayoutprop-
ertiesintheDesignerareCSSproperties.Whenyouformatanelementlocally,aninlinestyleruleis
addedtotheelement.
Notethatwherelocalformattingconflictswithaformattingruleforthesameelementinoneofthestyle
sheets,thelocalformattingrulegetspriority;theruleinthestylesheetwillbeignored.
Itishighlyrecommendedtousestylesheetsintemplatesrightfromthestart.Evenmoresoifthecom-
municationsaregoingtobeoutputtodifferentoutputchannels,oriftheyconsistofdifferentsections
(forexample,acoveringletterfollowedbyapolicy).UsingCSSwithtemplatesallowsaconsistentlook
andfeeltobeapplied.Astylesheetcanchangethelookofmultipleelements,makingitunnecessaryto
formateachandeveryelementinthetemplate,timeandagain,whenthecompany'slayoutpref-
erenceschange.See"StylingtemplateswithCSSfiles"below.
Layout properties
Colorsandfontsmakeanimportantcontributiontothelookandfeelofyourtemplate.See"Colors"on
page288and"Fonts"onpage291.
Textandparagraphshaveanumberofformattingoptionsthatarenotavailableforotherelements:font
stylesandlineheight,forexample.See"Stylingtextandparagraphs"onpage271.
Boxesandanumberofotherelementscanhaveabackgroundcolorand/orbackgroundimage;see
"Backgroundcolorand/orimage"onpage284.
Severalelements,suchasboxes,images,paragraphs,andtables,canhaveaborder;see"Border"on
page285.
Boxes,images,tables,textandotherelementscanberotated;see"Rotatingelements"onpage277.
Spacing(paddingandmargin)helpstopositionelementsrelativetootherelementsinthetemplate;
see"Spacing"onpage296.
Thebestwaytopositionelementsdependsontheoutputchannelforwhichthetemplateisintended;
see"Howtopositionelements"onpage275.
Thelocalesettinginfluenceshowdates,numbersandamountsofmoneyaredisplayed;see"Locale"
onpage295.
Styling templates with CSS files
TheLayouttoolbarandtheFormatmenuoffermanypossibilitiestostyleeverypieceofatemplate.
However,stylingeverysingleelement,oneafteranother,isalotofworkand,moreimportantly,can
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