Tables and Graphics

Tables Gallery offers a number of preformatted tables

Quick Start

7 includes many images of tables. From the Insert tab of the Ribbon,choose Table Quick Tables for a view what is shown in Figure 9-1.

Basics

o think about a table is as a container for information. The container consists of vertical columns and rows. If someone speaks of a five-by-four (5 4) table, by convention and agreement, they mean a table thats ns wide and four rows high

g tables from scratch

hree basic methods for creating a table from scratch: sert tab of the Ribbon, click Table. Release the mouse button and then draw the mouse down through the table u move the mouse, the selected table dimensions change. d method for creating a table from scratch is by using the Insert Table dialog box. To get its attention, choose nsert Table on the Insert tab of the Ribbon d method for inserting a table from scratch is to draw it using the Draw Table tool. To begin, choose Insert Draw Table. Drag a rectangle to inscribe the outer boundary of your table shell, and then use the Draw Table n) to carve out the desired cells.

rkers and Gridlines

printing formatting marks are displayed (Ctrl+Shift+8), cell markers display in each cell, showing where the s indicated in Figure 9-2. You might wonder why cell markers are needed if thetable borders show the cells. Thats because not every table has borders. If a borderless tables gridlines arent displayed, you might now a table is there! Toggling the cell markers might provide just the clue you need. Cell markers, y, display whenever paragraph marks do. When a table has no border, its a good idea to display table These are nonprinting marks that show the cells dimensions. To display gridlines, click the Show Gridlines left end of the Table Tools Layout tab on the Ribbon

4 table is selected in the Table tool grid, a 5 4 Live Preview appears in the document window.

Cell marker

Table Borders

rting tables from scratch

second method for creating a table from scratch is by using the Insert Table dialog box. To get its attention, cho e Insert Table on the Insert tab of the Ribbon

e third method for inserting a table from scratch is to draw it using the Draw Table tool. To begin, choose Inser e Draw Table. Drag a rectangle to inscribe the outer boundary of your table shell, and then use the Draw Tab or pen) to carve out the desired cells.

oFit behavior

e the AutoFit behavior options shown in Figure 9-3. These same AutoFit options are also available from the cut (right-click menu), as shown in Figure 9-4. Keep this in mind if you need to change the formatting once a ta ly populated.

ur hands arent steady, use the old-fashioned dialog box to choose the number of columns and rows using spin ols.

Fixed Column Width option is straightforward enough. When you choose this option, the column widths rema unless you explicitly change them by dragging or by using some other method. Note that fixed is not the same a . They might be equal also, but thats a different concept. middle option AutoFit to Contents is a formatting attribute that causes a table to automatically resize as y r remove material. Its not a temporary setting, so dont freak out when it acts like its made out of elastic when r remove text in existing cells. hird option AutoFit to Window is misnamed. It should be AutoFit to Left And Right Margins. This opti s that the table will remain as wide as the document text itself, regardless of how much text you stuff into the ce u add text disproportionately to any given column, that column will automatically resize, making the other colum spondingly narrower. But the table itself will maintain thewidth of the document text.

n the insertion point is inside a table, table-related options are displayed on the shortcut menu.

g tables based on existing data

knows that tab and table both have the same root. As a result, Word can readily convert your tab delineated o real tables. The easiest way is to select the table (although it might look like a table, Word doesnt agree). sert tab of the Ribbon, click Table Insert Table. Word instantly determine show many rows and columns and encloses your data in a table. As shown in Figure 9-5, the results are basic, but functional. For example, end up with the expected number of rows and columns, but one or both columns might be too wide. In this so wide that you cant see where it ends on the right.

Tabbed Table

Word Table

Convert Text to table

Alternatively, you can use the Convert Text to Table dialog box as an intermediary. Select the data to be converted and choose Table Convert text to table on the Insert tab. This displays the Convert Text to Table dialog box, shown in Figure 9-6. Figure 9-6. The Convert Text to Table dialog box guesses how many rows and columns to create

Converting tables to text

Handling tables
Word tables feature several kinds of handles and mouse pointers that enable you to manipulate and select cells, rows, columns, and entire tables. The table handle, shown in Figure 9-7, is displayed only when part of the table is selected, and only when All Formatting Marks are displayed (Office Button Word Options Display). Row and column sizing handles, on the other hand, are not affected by the display setting.

Table handle Resizing Pointer

Selecting tables, rows, and columns

Click on the table handle to select the entire table. You can also select an entire table by right-clicking anywhere in the table and choosing Select Table. If youre Ribbon-oriented, you can always select the table by clicking Select cell anywhere in it to reveal the Table Tools tab of the Ribbon, shown in Figure 9-8, and then clicking Select Select Table in the Layout tab. Select column

There is also a keyboard method for selecting tables, but its a nuisance to remember and to use. With the insertion point anywhere in the table, and NumLock engaged, press Alt+Shift+5 on the number pad. If NumLock isnt engaged, then press Shift+5 on the number pad instead. Unless its Thursday, of course, in which case. . . . To select a cell, you can use the method illustrated in Figure 9-8. Using the keyboard, selecting the cell marker selects the cell. Hold down the Shift key and use the arrow keys to expand the selection to other cells. Using the direct mouse method, move the mouse pointer so that it is the diagonal black arrow indicated in Figure 9-9. You can drag to expand the selection to include additional cells. Or, hold the Ctrl key and use the select cell pointer to select additional discrete cells. Words mouse pointer changes shapes to indicate what action a click will perform.

Select row

Copying table matter

When copying all or part of a table from one table to another, you need to consider the dimensions of the source and the target. If youre trying to paste a 4 5 set of cells into a table whose dimensions are 6 8, then copy the 4 5 source to the Clipboard, then select the desired 4 5 location in the receiving table, and then paste. Pasting without first selecting sometimes works, but sometimes doesnt. The situation can get ever weirder when pasting between Word and Excel, so have that Ctrl+Z (Undo) key standing by.

Moving and copying columns

To move one or more adjacent columns, select them and then drag to the desired column. Release the mouse button anywhere in the destination column. The selected column(s) will move to the position of the destination column, which will scoot to the right. To move one or more selected columns to the right of the right-most column, drop the selection at what appears to be outside the right edge of the table. As shown in Figure 9-9, there are cell markers to the right of the tables right boundary.

Table properties
If you prefer to manipulate tables nongraphically, click Properties in the Table Tools Layout tab, or right-click a table and choose Table Properties to display the dialog box shown in Figure 9-10. Use the Table tab to control overall layout and behavior; use the other tabs to control row, column, and cell characteristics.

Preferred width
Preferred width sets a target width for the table. Preferred width cant be absolute, however, because tables contain text and data, and are further constrained by paper and margin settings. Note that preferred width is overridden by AutoFit settings. Use Table Properties to control overall alignment, indentation, and positioning of tables.

Alignment
Table alignment affects the entire table with respect to the current left and right margins. If the table extends from the left margin to the right margin, which is the default for tables inserted in Word, then the alignment controls seemingly will have no effect. This makes it easy not to notice if theyre changed. If you later narrow the table, its placement on the page might suddenly seem askew. Thats the time to visit the Table Properties dialog box to see whats going on. Table alignment is a sore spot for some users due to the fact that table alignment and text alignment within cells are different things. Whereas table alignment can be set using the Alignment tools in the Ribbon, if the entire table is not selected, then the Home tabs Paragraph alignment tools affect only the selected portion of the table. The Cell Alignment option, shown in Figure 9-11, affects only selected cells. The Alignment tools in the Table Tools Layout tab also affect only selected cells.

Text wrapping

Table indent from left

This setting controls how far the table is from the left margin. There is no Ribbon control for this setting, and it cannot be set using the ruler line. Note that Indent from Left is available only when Text Wrapping is set to None (see Figure 9-10). When Around Wrapping is enabled, use Table Positioning to set the distance from the left, as shown in the section that follows. Cell Alignment affects only the text inside cells, even if the entire table is selected.

Tables and Graphics

Tables can be inserted in line with other text, or they can be moved/dragged so that text outside the table wraps around them, as shown in Figure 9-12. You can achieve wrapping by selecting the appropriate option in the Table Properties dialog box, or you can force it by dragging a table to the desired location, using its handle. This automatically changes the setting from None to Around.