Layout is a program supplied with RTG Bills. It can make more extensive changes to the bill formats than the choices available from within RTG Bills. However, using Layout is very much like writing a computer program -- you can do a lot but you can also make mistakes very easily.

We have detailed instructions for the following changes:

Removing The Billing Summary From Bills

Adding A Heading To The Bills

Adding an Amount to the Attorney Summary

Adding the bill amount to the Billing Summary

As a simple example, we will go through the procedure for making one small change: using boldface for the firm name and address on the first page of each bill.

Note: For RTG Bills Version 2.05 and above, this is no longer very useful. The Letterhead Design feature makes it easy to create a letterhead without using Layout. However, it does show how to use Layout.

After you change a bill format with Layout, you cannot use the formatting features of RTG Bills to make further changes. So first make as many changes as possible in RTG Bills, then use Layout for the additional changes which only it can handle.

1. To start Layout, start RTG Bills and choose:
   File > Tools > Layout > OK
   
   
2. In the RTG Layout window, click on the bill format you want to change, then click Edit.
   
   
3. In the Edit A Bill Format window, click the Edit Sections button.
   
   
4. In the Edit A Section window, choose the section of the bill you want to change from the drop-down list. The firm name and address can appear in two places, the First-page header and the Subsequent-page header. We will assume that you only print the firm name and address on the first page of the bill, not on the subsequent pages. So choose First-page header from the drop-down list. Actually, since it is the first section, it should be chosen when you begin.
   
   
5. Click on Firm name & address in the second row of the table. This highlights the row. Click Insert Row and then click Edit Row.
   
   
6. In the Edit A Row window, choose Special instead of Print Data for the Command. From the drop-down list, choose Bold on. You will have to scroll down the list to see it. Click Close to go back to the previous window.
   
   
7. So far you have added a command to turn boldface on before the firm name and address is printed. Next you must add a second command to turn boldface off after the firm name and address. In the Edit A Section window, click on the row after Firm name & address, then click Insert Row and Edit Row.
   
   
8. In the Edit A Row window, choose Special for the Command. From the drop-down list, choose Bold off (last time you chose Bold on). Click Close to go back to the previous window.
   
   
9. In the Edit A Section window, you should see the Bold on and Bold off commands which you have added before and after the Firm name & address. Click Close.
   
   
10. In the Edit A Bill Format window, notice the Sample Bill frame. Click the View button inside this frame. If you were successful, the sample bill should have the firm name and address in boldface on the first page. Press Esc to leave the RTG Viewer.
    
    
11. In the Edit A Bill Format window, click Save. A message asks if you want to prevent the standard Bill Format program from changing this format. The standard Bill Format program would remove the changes made here, so we do want to prevent that from happening. Click Yes.
    
    
12. In the RTG Layout window, click Close to exit the Layout program.

If you want to delete this format:

1. Start Layout: File > Tools > Layout > OK
   
   
2. Select the bill format you want to delete, then click Edit.
   
   
3. In the Edit A Bill Format window, choose File > Delete from the menu. Click Yes to confirm that you want to delete this format. Click Yes again if you are absolutely certain that you want to delete it.