Changing the theme of a layout

You can change the theme of an existing layout. When you change a layout’s theme, the attributes of the new theme are applied to all objects on the layout, with the following exceptions:

  • For objects containing text, the font color and font family change to the default style defined in the theme. However, all other text properties, such as text size, are retained.
  • Buttons created using versions of FileMaker Pro earlier than version 12 retain their original formatting.
  • If objects on the layout and the layout background are filled with an image, the image is retained. However, layout parts filled with an image display the fill defined in the new theme.

To change the theme of a layout:

  1. In Layout mode, display the layout you want to change.

    You see the name of the current theme in the layout bar.

  2. In the status toolbar, click Layout Theme button to display the Change Theme dialog box.

    3. To apply a theme

    Do this

    From this file

    Select a theme in the Layout themes list to display a preview of each theme.

    From another FileMaker Pro file

    Click Import Themes, choose the file containing the theme(s) you want to import, and click Open. Select one or more themes in the Import Themes dialog box, and click OK. Then select a theme in the Layout themes list.

Notes 

  • The styles of layout objects are controlled by the layout’s theme. If the predesigned themes do not display the object styles you want, you can create a custom theme. For information about creating a theme, see Saving and managing layout themes.
  • If you change the theme of a layout and then undo the change, you have two levels of undo. The first undo keeps the new theme but reveals any attributes previously applied to your objects that were not saved as styles. The second undo reverts to how the layout looked before you changed the theme.
  • When you change the theme of a layout:
    • if the same name is used for saved custom styles in the old and new themes, the attributes of the new theme's style will be used (style names are not case sensitive)
    • any unsaved changes to styles stored at the layout level are deleted
  • Some themes have additional predefined styles for some objects. If you switch to a theme that doesn’t support additional predefined styles, any objects formatted with additional styles are reset to default styles. If you later switch to a theme that again supports additional predefined styles, objects retain the default style setting. You can use the Styles Styles tab in the Inspector to reapply the additional predefined style.
  • Occasionally FileMaker Pro software updates include formatting changes for the predefined themes. If a custom app uses an older version of a predefined theme (or a custom theme based on an older version of a predefined theme) and you have write permission for the file, formatting changes are applied automatically when you switch to Layout mode, switch to a different layout, or change the layout's theme.

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