Layouts, pages and tabs
The four ways a report lays out its pages, how readers move between pages, what tabs add inside a page, and the paper sizes for print.
Every report has one layout, shared by all its pages. The layout decides how elements are placed, what happens on a narrow screen, and how the report prints. You pick one when you create the report and can change it later.
The four layouts
| Layout | Best for | Elements are placed | On a narrow screen | On paper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dashboard grid | Dashboards and scorecards | In whole cells of a grid | Stack in reading order, keeping their heights | Flows onto landscape letter sheets |
| Free-form canvas | Designed pages, slides and wall displays | By pixel, on a page of a fixed size | Scale to fit, and stack on a phone | One sheet per page, at the canvas's size |
| Paged document | Printed reports and board packs | By pixel, inside the margins of a sheet | The sheet shrinks to fit | One sheet per page, on the paper you choose |
| Long-form | Reports that read like an article | In rows that flow down the page | Each element takes the full width | Flows onto portrait letter sheets |
A paged report with one sheet on screen, two scorecards above a column chart, and Previous and Next under the page
A long-form report that reads like an article, with a heading, text and charts in rows down the page
The same long-form report on a phone, with each chart taking the full width
To change it, select nothing, then use Pages are laid out as in the inspector's Layout section. Switching moves every element into the new layout as one step, so undo switches back.
Each layout's settings
Dashboard grid
Columns across the page (12 by default, up to 24), Row height (40 pixels), Gap (12 pixels) and Padding. The grid fills the width it's given. It answers to its own width rather than the window's, so a report embedded in a narrow column stacks too.
Free-form canvas
Width and Height (1280 by 720 pixels by default) and On screen, which is Fit the window's width, Fit the whole window or Actual size. Later elements in the stacking order draw on top.
Paged document
Paper, Orientation (Portrait or Landscape), a margin for each side (48 pixels, half an inch, by default) and Bleed, how far backgrounds print past the cut, for a print shop.
| Paper | Size |
|---|---|
| Letter | 8.5 × 11 in |
| A4 | 210 × 297 mm |
| Legal | 8.5 × 14 in |
| Tabloid | 11 × 17 in |
| Custom size | Width and height in pixels, at 96 per inch |
Long-form
Measure, the width normal rows grow to (880 pixels by default), and Gap (24 pixels). Each element's Row width is Narrow, Normal, Wide or Full width. Elements at the same height share a row.
Pages
A report has up to 100 pages, and the Pages tab in the builder lists them. Add page makes a new one, and each page's menu can Rename, Duplicate page, Move up, Move down or Delete page.
A page can have its own filters, on top of the report's. See Filters and parameters.
Hide from navigation takes a page out of the report's navigation. Buttons and drill-through still reach it, which suits a detail page behind a chart, and it still prints.
How readers move between pages
With nothing selected, the Navigation section sets Pages are reached by:
| Choice | What readers get |
|---|---|
| Tabs | Tabs across the top or bottom of the page. The default |
| Sidebar | A list of pages down the side |
| Previous and next | A pager, above or below the page |
| None | No navigation, for a one-page report or pages reached by buttons |
Current page styles tabs and the sidebar as Underline or Pill, and Position puts tabs or the pager Above the page or Below. Printing ignores all of this and shows every page in order.
Tabs inside a page
The Tabs element is different from tabs for pages. It holds other elements behind tabs in one spot on a page, so two views of the same subject can share one space. Its neighbors on the page stay where they are, and a page's filters reach what's inside it. Add one with Add, then Tabs, and set Open first and Style in the inspector.
| Use | When |
|---|---|
| Pages | The content is a different subject, or should print on its own sheet |
| Tabs | A few views of one subject should share a spot on the page |
| Accordion | Sections fold open under each other, such as notes or definitions |
| Container | Elements belong together, such as a panel with a background |
A printed tabs element shows the tab that opens first, and an accordion shows the sections that open first, so put what should print there.
Headers and footers
The Header and footer section adds a band repeated on every page. A new header starts with the report's title, and a new footer with Data as of and the page number. Select what's in them on the canvas, like any element.
Leave off the first page keeps a cover clean. A paged document draws its bands in the margins, and warns you if a band is taller than its margin. Other layouts draw them above and below the page. For how they behave on paper, see Printing and PDFs.