Formatting panel stack title bars

Before you begin

You should be familiar with the different parts of a panel stack. See Defining the parts of a panel stack for detailed descriptions.

You can format the title bar of a panel stack separately from the panel stack container, which is the object that holds the actual panel stack. You can format the text alignment, font, and background of the title bar.

Prerequisite

This procedure assumes you have added a panel stack to the document. For instructions, see Adding panel stacks to documents.

To format the title bar

1. Open the document in the Document Editor. (How?)

2. Select the panel stack to format.

3. If the Property List pane is not displayed, click Property List at the bottom of the panel on the left. If the panel is not displayed at all, select Property List from the View menu.

4. If the panel stack does not yet have a title bar:

   • In the Property List: View section, set Show title bar to True.

5. To specify the height of the title bar:

   • In the Property List: View section, enter the height in the Title height property.

6. Do one of the following to open the Format Objects dialog box:

   • Right-click the panel stack and select Format.

   • Select Format from the Format menu.

7. You can align the text vertically and horizontally within the title bar:

   • Select Title in the object list on the left.

   • Click the Alignment tab.

   • Set the Horizontal alignment to Left, Right, or Center.

   • Set the Vertical alignment to Top, Bottom, or Center.

8. To change the amount of space between the text and the border of the control (padding):

   1. 1. Select Title in the object list on the left.

      2. Click the Alignment tab.

      3. You can add padding to the Left, Right, Top, and/or Bottom of the control.

9. To format the font (such as color, size, and style) of the title bar:

   1. 1. Select Title in the object list on the left.

      2. Select the Font tab.

      3. You can select the font name, script, size, and color; whether the font is bolded, underlined, or italicized; and whether strike out the text. As you make selections, the Sample area updates to provide you with an example of your choices. For instructions, see Format the font.

10. Use the Border tab to add and format a border to the title bar. For instructions, see Format borders.

11. To format the background fill of the title bar:

    1. 1. Select Title in the object list on the left.

       2. Select the Background tab. As you make changes, the Sample area changes to show a preview of your selections. Choose one of the following:

       • To use a single color as the background, set the Background style to Solid. Use the Fill color drop-down list to select the background color.

       • You can instead shade the title bar using gradient colors, which combine two colors. For instructions, see Applying gradient colors.

12. To allow what is behind the title bar to show through, set the Background style to Transparent.

13. Click OK to return to the document.