>But the properties window for a rectangle on a report doesn't seem to include any formatting options...
Sharon, bring the Color Palette toolbar (Menu/View/Toolbars), select your rectangle on report, cick on toolbar's Background Color button, click on desired color.
You may check also Menu/View/Format/ and see what Fill, Pen and Mode options do.
Nick Neklioudov
Universal Thread Consultant
3 times Microsoft MVP - Visual FoxPro
"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work." - Thomas Edison