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. More information about Layout is here.

This article provides step-by-step instructions for using Layout to add a heading to a bill format. A typical use would be to add the heading Final Bill at the top.

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.

Our goal is to add four instructions to the First-page header section of the bill so that it will print a heading ("Final Bill") after the client name and address. These four instructions are:

1. Set the font (size and typeface)
2. Turn on boldface
3. Print the heading (a label), centered on the page
4. Turn off boldface

What follows are detailed, step-by-step instructions for accomplishing this change.

1. To start the program Layout, start RTG Bills and choose:

   File > Tools > Layout > OK

   For versions of RTG Bills prior to V2.11, start the program Layout.exe from Windows. To do that, open the RTG Bills folder, find the file Layout.exe, and double-click the file to start the program.
   
   You may have Windows set to hide known file extensions, in which case you will not see the exe extension, but you will see two files named Layout. The one with crossed yellow rulers for its icon is the Layout program. The other one is the help file for Layout.
   If RTG Bills was installed in the folder C:\Program Files\Rtgbills, you would open the folder by double-clicking My Computer, double-clicking the C drive, double-clicking the Program Files folder, then double-clicking the Rtgbills folder.
2. In the RTG Layout window, click on the bill format you want to change. Then click Edit.
   We are assuming you have already created a bill format, using Setup > Bill Formats in RTG Bills, that looks exactly the way you want, except that it does not contain a heading. The only change we will make with Layout is to add a heading after the client's name and address.

   If you want to keep the original format and create a new one with a heading, choose File > Save As from the menu to save the format with a new format number. Edit the new format. That way the original format is unchanged and the new one has the heading.

3. In the Edit A Bill Format window, click the General Features button.
   
   
4. In the General Features window, look on the Labels tab. Scroll down the list of labels to find one that says [unused]. Click on it to highlight it, then click the Edit button.
   
   
5. In the Change A Label window, enter the heading you want on the bill. For example, you might type Final Bill here. Click Save.
   
   
6. You are back at the General Features window. The heading you entered should now appear in the list. Click Save.
   
   
7. In the Edit A Bill Format window, click the Edit Sections button.
   
   
8. In the Edit A Section window, the First-page header section of the bill is already selected in the the drop-down list. This is section 1. Note that the section number appears on the right side of the window, below the Help button.
   
   
9. Look at the list of instructions and find the last one. It looks something like this:

   910 Use font 2, size = 12.00 points

   The font number and point size may differ, depending on choices you made when you created the bill format. Click on this line, code 910, and click the Insert Row button. There are now two copies of the last line, and the first one is highlighted. Click the Edit Row button.
   
   
10. In the Edit A Row window, in the Command frame, select Print Label. From the drop-down list below that, scroll through the labels and choose the heading that you just entered. For the Indent, enter 3.5. For Alignment, choose Center. For Skip, enter 2. Click Close.
    
    We have specified a label centered at 3.5 inches. You might need to change this number depending on the exact layout of your bill. Increase the number to move the label to the right on the page.
    
    
11. You are back at the Edit A Section window. The line you just edited should now show the label in quotes. There is more to do, but let's check the results so far. Click Close. At the Edit A Bill Format window, click the View button.
    
    The sample bill should now show your heading, centered on the page, below the client address and above the matter number and matter name. If the heading isn't centered the way you want it, go back and change the Indent value to move it.
    
    Click Close or press the Esc key to leave the viewer and return to the Edit A Bill Format window.
    
    
12. Most likely you want the heading larger, and perhaps you would like to use boldface as well. We will add those changes now. Click Edit Sections, highlight the label you added, and click the Insert Row button three times. This gives you four lines, all the same. Left this way, the label would print four times, but we are about to change three of the lines.
    
    Click on the first line that shows your label and click Edit Row. Click Special and choose (from the drop-down list) Set font. Change size to the point size you wish to use, say 14. Change the Font to the number of the font you wish to use. Note that the six numbered fonts are shown in this window. (The fonts are chosen in RTG Bills.) We'll enter 3 for Arial (although this may differ in your bill format). Click Close.
    
    
13. In the Edit A Section window, there are now three lines that print your label. Select the first one and choose Edit Row. Click Special and choose (from the drop-down list) Bold on. There are no other options. Click Close.
    
    
14. In the Edit A Section window, there are now two lines that print your label. Select the second one and choose Edit Row. Click Special and choose (from the drop-down list) Bold off. There are no other options. Click Close.
    
    
15. You have now added four lines to this section of the bill format. They look something like this:

     910 Use font 3, size = 14.00 points
     911 Bold on
    2304 "Final Bill"
     912 Bold off

    The line that prints the heading will also have Indent, Alignment, and Skip values. The code number of this line will vary, depending on which unused label you used to enter the heading.
    
    
16. When you have completed these changes, click the Close button. At the Edit A Bill Format window, click View to see what the bill will look like.
    
    
17. Click Save to save your changes. Click Yes to the warning that the standard bill formatter will not be able to change this format. Click Close to exit the Layout program.

Now that you have created the new bill format, you must edit the matter to tell it to use this bill format. This setting is on the Billing-1 tab of the Edit A Matter window.