1.8

Note that where local formatting conflicts with a formatting rule for the same element in one of
the style sheets, the local formatting rule gets priority; the rule in the style sheet will be ignored.
It is highly recommended to use style sheets in templates right from the start. Even more so if
the communications are going to be output to different output channels, or if they consist of
different sections (for example, a covering letter followed by a policy). Using CSS with
templates allows a consistent look and feel to be applied. A style sheet can change the look of
multiple elements, making it unnecessary to format each and every element in the template,
time and again, when the company's layout preferences change. See "Styling templates with
CSS files" on the next page.
Layout properties
Colors and fonts make an important contribution to the look and feel of your template. See
"Colors" on page583 and "Fonts" on page587.
Text and paragraphs have a number of formatting options that are not available for other
elements: font styles and line height, for example. See "Styling text and paragraphs" on
page562.
Boxes and a number of other elements can have a background color and/or background image;
see "Background color and/or image" on page579.
Several elements, such as boxes, images, paragraphs, and tables, can have a border; see
"Border" on page580.
Boxes, images, tables, text and other elements can be rotated; see "Rotating elements" on
page570.
Spacing (padding and margin) helps to position elements relative to other elements in the
template; see "Spacing" on page591.
The best way to position elements depends on the output channel for which the template is
intended; see "How to position elements" on page567.
The locale setting influences how dates, numbers and amounts of money are displayed; see
"Locale" on page590.
Page 552