October, 2007
In this tutorial you will build an Invoice form and you will use a table to build the main body of it.
1. File > New > Document (Ctrl – N)
2. We are going to use a document that is 8.5 x 11.625. This will incorporate the .625 stub at the top of the form. Once your setting match you can hit Enter or Ok for the new document to open.
3. First we want to mark where the stub is so we will drag a guide down from the top measurement area to .625 on the form. You can also click on the guide and type .625 into the Y field to make sure the measurement is precise.
4. Next we will label what type of form this is. With the Type Tool (T) create a type box in the upper right hand corner of the document just below our guide indicating the stub. Then type the word INVOICE in your type box.
5. Now with the Rectangle Tool(M), the Rectangle Frame Tool (F) and the Type Tool(T) we are going to build some boxes for the Invoice No. that will need to be written in. I used the Rectangle Tool filled with black from the Swatches Pallet to make a smaller box. Then used the Rectangle Frame Tool to make the areas to be filled in. Last I used the Type Tool to label the box with text filled with white from the swatches pallet.
6. To the left of the title INVOICE is a good place to put the company name and address for whom the form will belong to. Again, using the Type Tool (T) we will make a type box and fill it with some information.
7. Next we will need to have a place to write in the information for whom the service or product was sold to and also where it was shipped.. Once again with the Type Tool(T) we will set up two areas we can fill in. We will also use the Line Tool.
8. Now we are up to the body of the form and this is where we will learn how to use a Table to set it up quickly. This is in place of having to duplicate lines and create a bunch of separate type boxes. First thing we want to do is take the Type Tool(T) and create a box as big as the body of the form needs to be. This includes the space for any headers we will use.
9. This is where you are going to need to do a little preplanning for your form. You will need to know how many headers you want and how many lines you want the table to go down on the form. After you figure that out, with the type tool clicked in the new type box you will go up under Table > Insert Table (Alt+Shift+Ctrl+T).
10. A window will appear asking you how many rows you wish to have and how many columns. For this form I have decided to go with 4 columns for headers and 30 rows for information.
11. Once you hit enter or select Ok you will see something like the image below. Now you have a table inserted in the body of the form.
12. Now we need to enter the text that we wish to have as our headers. As you can see I have entered Quantity in the first cell and centered it.
13. Next enter Description, Unit Price and Total Price in the next three cells. You can move across the table from cell to cell using the Tab key.
14. Now we are going to adjust the width of the cells so we have more area to write descriptions and less space for the other three headers. To do this just have the Type Tool(T) selected and roll your cursor over the verticle lines of the cell and you will see a special cursor appear with arrow heads going left and right.
15. It will take some adjusting but you will be able to make the description area the biggest so it looks like the image below.
16. Now we will change the color of the header area. The easiest way to do this is to click in your table with the Type Tool(T) and then scroll your cursor just to the left of the header row. You should see a black arrow appear. Click once and it will highlight the entire header row.
17. Next we will want to change the color of our text. We will have black as the background color for that row so we will need to change the text color to paper. With the row selected pull up your swatches and select the T to change the text color to paper.
18. With the row still selected we will change the option to the fill. We will change the fill color to black.
19. As you can see now with the row not selected, the text is white and the background is black for the header row. This makes it stand out better against the other rows in the form.
20. On the bottom of the form we want to add a place for subtotal, tax and total. These numbers will be plugged into the last column but the text will be placed in the second to last column. To enter the text just click with the Type Tool in the cell you want the word. I have chosen to make the word Total 2pt sizes larger and bolder so it stands out.
21. To make the form look cleaner we are going to eliminate the extra cells to the left of these words. We won't really delete the cells but instead we will just make the frames white. To do this we will first select the row with the word Total in it. To do this you will use the Type Tool(T) take the cursor just to the left of the row and click when you see the big black arrow.
22. Holding down shift you can select more than one row. Select the bottom three rows.
23. With the three rows selected go to the top area and change the stroke to 0. This will eliminate all the lines around these words and to the left. Don't worry we will put the ones back around words.
24. Select the last row before those final three words and change the stroke back to 1pt. That will get your bottom line back.
25. To get the lines back around the words and to the right you will need to select those two columns. To do this go to the top and watch for the cursor to change to the arrow again but this time pointing downward. Hold shift to select both columns. Then go to the top and change your stroke back to 1pt.
26. So there you have it! Now you have an Invoice to use for billing clients with the body set up by using a table.
Download the original source files from this tutorial in Zip format Here
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