How can I reduce column spacing on a multi-column report in SSRS?

Question

How can I reduce column spacing on a multi-column report in SSRS?

caesar 0

Hi,

I have built a multicolumn report with SSRS Report Builder. I need to narrow the column spacing down to 2mm aprox but if I set "Column spacing" to even 0 mm, I get 4,5 mm.

Is there any way to further reduce it?

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Answer 1

Michael Taylor 60,161

That's pretty small. I'd argue that if you're worried about 2mm then maybe you are bored :} But let's try to solve the problem.

Column spacing is only part of the layout. That would determine the spacing between columns (but I don't know that an SSRS report has a column spacing property so I'm curious what you're setting). You also have to take into account the padding and border styling. The padding is the space between the contents and the cell boundary. This is so that the column content doesn't start exactly on the edge of the column (nor end on it).

The border is inserted between each column so that adds space as well. If you're getting 4-5mm spacing between columns then I'm going to guess that your padding is 2mm and your border is 1mm. That would be 2 + 2 + 1 = 5. But by default things sizes are measured in points, not mm. A point is 1/72 inch so you can do the math as to what that would be in mm.

If you can provide a repro RDL then maybe we can identify where the spacing is coming from. Note that ultimately the renderer will determine the actual spacing so you might see some differences between, say, the HTML version and the PDF version of your report.

caesar 0 Reputation points

2023-02-15T17:32:40.56+00:00

Hi Michael and thanks for your answer,

The report is a 11x5 label sheet and spacing between labels must be about 2 mm if I want the info for each label to fit within it. On the image below you can see the Columns settings.

I'm attaching a report PDF printout sheet.pdf. I need the label borders to know whether the data for each label fits or not. The physical one is identical. The 4.5 mm is the blank spacing between cell borders.

Here is the rdl file RegalosPG_Etiq.xml
Michael Taylor 60,161 Reputation points

2023-02-15T18:15:46.9766667+00:00

Ahh labels (and envelopes), I hate trying to get reports to fit into them...

What is the padding for each of the columns? Ensure it is 0 on all sides if you don't want that getting in the way. Take your 1pt border into account though. Also look at the Size property of the columns. You may need to set the size explicitly rather than letting SSRS calculate it.
caesar 0 Reputation points

2023-02-16T13:16:19.3966667+00:00

Thanks Michael,

I have managed to fit the labels quite well because, as you can see on the report, the label content does not reach the borders. The only problem is that, due to such a wide column spacing, the content shifts along the rows and I would like to keep it centered on each label. I have reviewed the settings and there are no paddings to remove. The minimum borders width is 0.25 pt; I would get 1.5 pt which is 0.53 mm. I will remove them to gain some mm when I go to production. I tried playing with the column size but I did not get better results.
Michael Taylor 60,161 Reputation points

2023-02-16T15:07:47.9533333+00:00

Can you provide the RDL you're using to generate this template?

the content shifts along the rows and I would like to keep it centered on each label

Are you talking about the borders around the labels or the text within the labels here?
caesar 0 Reputation points

2023-02-20T14:29:38.0666667+00:00

Hi Michael,

I provided it at the end of my first comment. I changed the file extension because it seems that rdl files are not allowed here. The contents are what shift. I have managed to keep them inside the corresponding label by playing with margins and minimizing column spacing. I think the result may be acceptable but it is not perfect at all.
Michael Taylor 60,161 Reputation points

2023-02-21T15:41:11.6233333+00:00

In the RDL you have a single column with a bunch of rows. Each row has a rectangle in it. Other than the last row I don't see any textbox where you're inserting your text. Are the rectangles supposed to be textboxes? Are you having an issue getting the content to align center inside the textbox? If the content is too long then you're going to have a wrapping issue even with centering but there isn't much that can be done there.
caesar 0 Reputation points

2023-03-02T08:53:37.68+00:00

Sorry Michael, I overlooked your comment. This has to do with the method I worked out to build the report. You have to look at the label sheet as if it was a grid made up of 55 rectangles (11 rows x 5 columns). The first 54 are blank cells. The last rectangle has an image and two text boxes. When printing the report, the first text box shows the value of a parameter given by the user which repeats on all labels. The second text box includes the values of a field whose range is determined by two parameters (start value and end value). There are two additional parameters which indicate the cell (row and column) where the report (i.e., the first field value) should start, in order to avoid paper waste. Visibility of the previous 54 cells is determined by these two last parameters. If the report should start in cell 45, the hidden property of the previous 44 cells wil be set to false and the one of the 9 remaining will be set to true. This way, if the report should start in row 4, column 3, it should start in cell 26, so that blank cells 1 to 25 will be visible and 26 to 54 invisible. From cell 26 on you will have cells filled out with the image, the parameter and the field values. I hope I have explained myself well.

I have set the content of the cells to be centered and it is centered in the rectangles. The problem is that since I can't play with column spacing, the rectangles, let's say, shift over the "cells" from the left to the right. If I could narrow more the spacing I think I could keep it in place. But as I said before, even though I set it to 0 there is a considerable spacing. I have played with column width, etc. so that I keep it close to the center in central rectangles but it shifts to the left in rectangles towards the left and to the right in rectangles towards the right. Since my content is not too wide, it keeps within the cells but I would like to have it centered everywhere.
Michael Taylor 60,161 Reputation points

2023-03-07T22:13:42.7533333+00:00

At this point I'm afraid I'm out of ideas. I'm not sure what is causing the spacing. After you eliminate padding and margins then there is nothing left. Perhaps as a debugging tool you could color the control backgrounds to see where the extra spacing is coming from. For example if you color the rectangles you drew and the extra spacing doesn't include that then it is unlikely the rectangles, except maybe the margins if they have one. But I'm just going through some debug thoughts in my head at this point.

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How can I reduce column spacing on a multi-column report in SSRS?

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