Massive Font for Race Bibs (1 Viewer)

[Lightwave]

Dear All

I'm thinking of putting together a simple database that can print out race numbers for athletic races. I'm using MS Access 2003 and from limited testing it seems I am limited to a font size of 127. The numbers on the bibs probably need to be quadruple that size. I am thinking of putting equivalent barcode beneath the number - probably in font size 72 which seems fine.

I would prefer to do this through the report writer rather than getting fancy and pushing out to word say - has anyone done this through the report writer - or do later versions of Access have better support for larger font or does anyone know of a font that specifically supports very large values.?

Much appreciated. From a quick google question does seem to regularly come up but haven't seen a good answer.

 

[isladogs]

I see nobody has responded to this perhaps because, like me, they don't know of an answer. Access isn't really intended for creating objects requiring huge displays.
I've only once needed to use a large font as part of an app intended for use on a data projector in classrooms. See http://www.mendipdatasystems.co.uk/countdown-timer/4594365457. I used the maximum 127pt available and accepted that.

In your case, have you considered using that font then using a zoom feature when printing or photocopying with a zoom.

 

[Micron]

there is an answer here that points to a site where the referenced control is here. Don't know how it is supposed to work and it's old and no longer supported. You could give one of the options shown a whirl or Google the creator and name of the control and see what you find. ActiveX controls can be problematic if the db is distributed.

You could also involve Word via automation and likely exceed the 127 point limit; if not by using Word fonts, then by using Word Art.

 

[isladogs]

If anyone had tackled that issue, it was bound to be Stephen Lebans!
Although his code is outstanding, it is very old and doesn't always work in newer versions of Access, particularly in 64-bit Access. However definitely worth looking into...

 

[Pat Hartman]

Maybe you can get past the point size by creating images that can be sized as large as you need them to be. If all you need are numbers, then you only need to create 10 .bmp's

 

[Lightwave]

Thanks everyone - this was largely the conclusion I had come to but was just checking.

I will have a go at something a bit more bespoke.

 

[statsman]

Is there any special reason why the bibs must be printed from Access?
It seems to me if you have 200 runners the bibs can be printed in any word processing software (like Word) that allows you almost unlimited sizing.
You could even do a mail merge to Word from Access.