Using templates helps with one of the most important aspects of delivering quality products, being consistent. Crystal Reports 2008 ships with twelve built in templates, but the power comes from the ability to create your own templates. 

Report templates are existing Crystal Report (.rpt) files which will allow you to "inherit" many design related formatting settings including:

·         Page headers and footers

·         Color formatting

·         Charting settings

·         Lines, Borders and Boxes

·         Logos and images

·         Addition of Standard Functions

·         Addition of Special Fields

·         Field highlighting

Figure 1: A report that does not have a template applied

To apply a template, select the “Template Expert” found on the report menu.  

Figure 2: Crystal Reports Template Expert

To apply a custom template, select "Browse" on the Template Expert and navigate to an existing report you would like to use as a template for your new report. In our example we will use the "NorthwindTemplate.rpt" file.

Figure 3: A report with a custom template applied

The Northwind Template report file contained header information with company detail and a logo that our new report has now inherited.