Word's Elements Gallery comes stocked with a variety of table elements you can use, called Quick Tables. You can find everything from basic tables to more complex table structures. Word's Quick Tables are preset and preformatted, which means all you have to do is plug in your table text and rest assured it's going to look good. When you display the Quick Tables in the Elements Gallery, you can scroll through the list and pick the table element you want to apply. Click the Basic tab to view 12 different tables with various degrees of color and shading applied. Click the Complex tab to view more intricate tables for creating calendars, directions, invoices, or reports.

To assign a table from the Quick Tables library, follow these steps:

Wow. How easy was that? The hard part, as always, is adding your own data to the table cells. When you insert a table, the Formatting Palette adds the Table pane to the list of panes. You can use the tools on the Table pane to edit and work with your rows and columns.

Figure 8.2. Word inserts the Quick Table into your document.

If you want to insert a table with a little more planning and thought, use the Insert Table dialog box. Here you can find settings for specifying a table size, controlling how data fits with AutoFit, and applying AutoFormatting. You can learn more about using AutoFormat later in this chapter. The Insert Table dialog box has three AutoFit behavior radio buttons from which you can choose. The Initial column width radio button is set to Auto by default. If you want to set a precise measurement for column width, you can change this setting by typing a measurement. The AutoFit to contents radio button creates narrow columns that expand as you type in your table text. The AutoFit to window radio button spaces the columns evenly across the page.

If you know you're always going to be inserting the same table size, you can make the table settings you specify the default sizes for any new tables you create.

To insert a table, follow these steps:

Look on the Formatting Palette for the Table pane, a collection of tools for working with table elements.

Figure 8.5. Word inserts a blank table to your specifications.

If you're really after a custom table, you can design your own using Word's Draw Table tool. When activated, this tool opens the Tables and Borders toolbar, and you can use the various tools to draw your own table using a pencil tool. By drawing a table, you can control how big it is, how many columns and rows it contains, and the size and spacing of your columns and rows.

To draw a table, follow these steps:

You can edit your table at any time by drawing new lines or erasing existing ones. Table 8.1 explains each of the tools available on the Tables and Borders toolbar.

Table 8.1. Tables and Borders Toolbar Tools

Button	Name	Description
	Draw Table	Turns the drawing feature on or off.
	Eraser	Erases table lines you drag over.
	Line Style	Changes the line style.
	Line Weight	Changes the line thickness.
	Border Color	Assigns a color to the table borders.
	Border	Controls which borders appear on the table.
	Shading Color	Assigns a background color.
	Insert or Draw a Table	Inserts table elements, such as rows or columns, or open the Insert Table dialog box.
	Merge Cells	Merges two or more cells into one large cell.
	Split Cells	Splits a large cell into two smaller cells.
	Align	Aligns table cell contents.
	Distribute Rows Evenly	Evenly spaces your rows throughout the table.
	Distribute Columns Evenly	Evenly spaces your columns throughout the table.
	Table AutoFormat	Opens the AutoFormat dialog box and applies preset formatting to the table.
	Change Text Direction	Changes the direction of text inside a cell.
	Sort Ascending	Sorts the table in ascending order.
	Sort Descending	Sorts the table in descending order.
	AutoSum	Applies Excel's AutoSum formula to total a row or column.

These techniques help you utilize the toolbar buttons and tweak your freshly drawn table:

You can learn more about entering text and selecting table elements later in this chapter.

You can convert existing text within a document into a table. For example, if someone sends you a document with tabbed text, you can convert the text into a table. To make this technique work properly, the text should be in some sort of list format. When converting the text, you can choose to separate the text at the paragraph marks, commas, tabs, or another key. Even then, it might not turn out the way you might expect, so anticipate some editing afterward.

Follow these steps to convert document text into a table:

Note

You also can turn table text into regular text. Select the table, and choose Table

Figure 8.10. Word turns the selected text into a lovely table.

Each table cell can contain the content of your choice, such as text, clip art, photographs, drawn shapes and objects, hyperlinks, and so forth. The easiest way to enter text is to click in the first cell and start typing. You can use keyboard shortcut keys to navigate the table as you type so your fingers never have to leave the keyboard. Table 8.2 lists the keyboard navigation keys you can use.

Depending on how you set up your table, the cells may expand to fit the text, or the text may wrap to the next line when it reaches the cell's right margin. If the table is set to AutoFit, the column resizes to fit the text you enter. To turn on the AutoFit feature to resize as you type, choose Table

Figure 8.11. If AutoFit is turned on, Word expands the table cell to fit the text you type.

If you set up specific measurements for your table columns in the Insert Table dialog box, any text that exceeds the column width is wrapped to the next line in the cell, an action known as text wrapping. In Figure 8.12, the same text now wraps to the next line in the cell. If you don't want text to wrap in the table cells, you can turn off the text wrap feature. To do so, you must open the Table Properties dialog box by choosing Table

Figure 8.12. If text wrapping is on, Word wraps the lines of text to fit the cell width.

If you're typing along and get to the end of the table and need to add another row, just press Tab, and Word inserts it for you so you can keep typing.

Adding text to tables is pretty easy. Adding other types of content is just as easy. Word's tables expand to fit any graphic objects you might add. For example, to add a photo to a cell, click the cell and choose Insert

Figure 8.13. You can add all sorts of graphical elements into your table cells, such as photos.

You need to learn how to select table elements in order to edit them or apply formatting. Selecting parts of a table is sometimes a tricky endeavor. You can select a single cell, groups of cells, columns, rows, or the entire table. You can select text within a cell just like you select any other document text; see Chapter 6 to learn more about basic text selection techniques. Use the following tips and techniques to select table elements:

Figure 8.14. You can use the table's selection box to select and move the table as a whole.

When you add a table to a document, the Formatting Palette adds a Table pane to the list of formatting panes, as shown in Figure 8.15. You can find a variety of tools in the pane for working with tables, columns, and rows. If the Formatting Palette is not displayed, click the Toolbox button on the Standard toolbar. Click the Table pane heading to expand the pane and view the tools. To activate a tool, simply click it, or in the case of the Height and Width fields, click the spinner arrows.

Table 8.3 explains the table-oriented tools you can find on the Table pane. Many of these tools can also be found on the Tables and Borders toolbar.

Table 8.3. Using the Table Pane

Button	Name	Description
	Insert or Draw a Table	Inserts table elements, such as rows or columns, or opens the Insert Table dialog box.
	Delete Table	Deletes the selected table.
	Draw Table	Turns the drawing feature on or off.
	Eraser	Erases table lines you drag over.
	Distribute Rows Evenly	Evenly spaces your rows throughout the table.
	Distribute Columns Evenly	Evenly spaces your columns throughout the table.
	Sort Ascending	Sorts the table in ascending order.
	Sort Descending	Sorts the table in descending order.
	AutoFit to Contents	Changes the width of the column to accommodate the text.
	Table AutoFormat	Opens the AutoFormat dialog box and applies preset formatting to the table.
	AutoSum	Applies Excel's AutoSum formula to total a row or column.
	Cell Row Height	Increases or decreases cell height.
	Cell Column Width	Increases or decreases cell width.
	Merge Cells	Merges two or more cells into one large cell.
	Split Cells	Splits a large cell into two smaller cells.
	Align	Aligns table cell contents.

Figure 8.15. When working with tables, you can quickly access table tools using the Table pane in the Formatting Palette.

You can resize the columns and rows in a table, making rows shorter or taller, or making columns thinner or wider. To manually resize columns and rows, move the mouse pointer over the border of any row or column and drag to resize the row or column. Figure 8.16 shows a column resizing by dragging the selected column border.

Figure 8.16. To manually resize a row or column, just drag its border.

You also can let Word handle all the resizing for you using the AutoFit and Distribute commands. Both of these commands and their subcommands can help you adjust column width and row height to make the table look the way you want. Use any of the following methods to activate the commands:

If you prefer to control how big your columns and rows are in a table, you can set your own measurements using the Height and Width fields in the Formatting Palette's Table pane, as shown in Figure 8.17. Simply type a measurement in the appropriate field, or click the spinner arrow buttons to set a measurement.

You also can set the row height, column width, or cell width using the Table Properties dialog box, as shown in Figure 8.18. Choose Table

Figure 8.17. You can set precise measurements for row height or column width using the Table pane.

Figure 8.18. You can set precise measurements for a row, column, or cell using the Table Properties dialog box.

You can make edits to any of the table elements to modify the table structure. For example, you may find you didn't make your table big enough the first time and you need to add some more rows and columns. Or perhaps you were much too ambitious with the number of cells you created and need to remove some. You find plenty of tools in Word to help you edit the various parts of your tables.

Inserting columns and rows

If your table needs more columns and rows, you can quickly insert them using the Table menu or the Tables and Borders toolbar. If the Tables and Borders toolbar is not displayed, choose View

Start by clicking where you want to insert a new column or row, and use any of the following techniques:

• To insert a column, choose Table

  

• To insert a row, choose Table

  

• To insert multiple columns or rows, select the number you want of existing columns or rows and apply the Insert Columns or Insert Rows command.

• If the Tables and Borders toolbar is displayed, click the Insert Table arrow icon, as shown in Figure 8.19, and choose what you want to insert. You can insert columns to the left or right or rows above or below.

Figure 8.19. You can use the pop-up menu to designate how you want columns or rows inserted.

Inserting and deleting cells

You can insert and delete cells in a table. When you insert cells, Word automatically adds a row or column, not just a cell. When you delete cells, Word can literally delete just the cell, leaving a hole where the cell once resided. Whether you're inserting or deleting cells, the steps are the same. The only thing different is the name of the dialog box.

When you add or delete cells, you must tell Word how you want to handle the remaining cells in the column or row. Do you want them to shift left or right, or shift up or down to fill the void? Depending on your location in the table, the option names may vary slightly. Follow these steps to remove cells:

1. Click where you want to delete a new cell.

2. Choose Table

   
   Delete
   
   Cells. You also can click the Eraser arrow button on the Table pane and choose Delete Cells.

   The Delete Cells dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 8.20.

3. Choose how you want to remove the cells.

   • To move the existing cells left or up to fill the void, choose a shift option.

   • To remove the entire row or column, click the Delete entire row or Delete entire column radio button.

     

     Figure 8.20. The Delete Cells dialog box lets you get rid of unwanted cells.

4. Click OK.

   Word removes the cells as specified. Figure 8.21 shows an example of a table with one cell removed.

   

   Figure 8.21. This table is missing one cell.

To insert cells, choose Table

Creating nesting tables

You can insert tables within tables in Word, thus creating nested tables. Nested tables are handy when you're using a Word table to create a page layout, or need to present other table information within your main table. To create a nested table, just click inside the cell in which you want to add a table and use any of the table creation methods you learned earlier in this chapter. Figure 8.22 shows a nested table.

Figure 8.22. You can place a table within a table to create nested tables in Word.

Another way you can manipulate a table's structure is by merging or splitting cells. When you merge cells, you take two or more cells and combine them to create one large cell. When you split cells, you're taking a single cell and splitting it into two smaller cells.

To merge cells, follow these steps:

To split cells, follow these steps:

You also can activate the Draw Table features and simply draw a line to split a cell or erase a line to create a larger cell.

To begin, you'll find options geared just for tables in the Tables and Borders toolbar. You can quickly assign a border; change the line style, thickness, and color; and add shading behind the cell text. To view the toolbar, choose View

Figure 8.23. Use the Border control to set different kinds of borders in your table.

To control the line thickness, click the Line Weight arrow button, as shown in Figure 8.24, and choose a thickness setting from the menu that appears. You can choose from 1/4-point thickness to 6-point thickness.

To set a line style, such as dashes, dots, or double-line, click the Line Style button, shown in Figure 8.25, and choose a style.

To change the border color, click the Border Color arrow button and select a color from the color palette, as shown in Figure 8.26.

Figure 8.24. Use the Line Weight control to set a line thickness for your table borders.

Figure 8.25. You can assign different styles to borders, including dashes and double-lines.

Figure 8.26. Use the Border Color control to choose a color for the border lines.

To add a color background, called shading, behind the table cells, click the Shading Color arrow button and choose a color, as shown in Figure 8.27. The palette looks shockingly like the Border Color palette.

Figure 8.27. Use the Shading Color control to set a background shading in your table cells.

To control the alignment of text within a table cell, you can use the Align button. You also can find table alignment controls on the Table pane in the Formatting Palette. When you click this button, shown in Figure 8.28, you can choose a horizontal or vertical alignment. Your alignment choices are:

Figure 8.28. Control alignment in your cells using the Align button.

To create vertical text, click the Change Text Direction button found on the Alignment and Spacing pane. Word rotates the selected cell's text, as shown in Figure 8.29. You can keep clicking the button to arrive at the direction you want to apply.

In addition to these table-specific formatting controls, you also can use the regular formatting tools to change the font, font size, alignment, text color, and so on.

Figure 8.29. You can create vertical text with the Change Text Direction button.

You can spend lots of time fine-tuning the appearance of your Word tables, tweaking border styles, adding shading, and trying this and that to see how it looks. But if you're short on time and creativity, let Word handle all the formatting for you. How? That's easy—AutoFormatting. The AutoFormat feature taps into a library of preset formatting you can apply to Word tables. The presets include shading for cells, borders, 3-D looks, and more. You can use the Table AutoFormat dialog box to browse through the library of table formatting styles and preview each one. You also can control exactly which formatting attributes to include and which table elements to apply the formatting to—all in one convenient location.

To apply AutoFormat, follow these steps:

The first row of a table is typically used as headings in your table structure. For example, your first row might contain labels in each cell for days of the week, financial quarters, category headings, and so on. You may have a table that lists a long inventory of products and prices, for instance. When the table exceeds a document page, you can no longer see the headings for each column. Word has a fix for this, called Heading Rows Repeat. To utilize this command, select the top row of your table and choose Table

When you create a table, Word assigns default margins inside the cells. You can set your own margins using the Table Properties dialog box. For example, you may want no margins in a cell containing a photo so you can resize it to fit the entire cell, or you may want extra space outside the cells if you're using a table to create a page layout for a Web page. A measurement of .1 or less can make for a very attractive appearance; anything more than this creates a table that resembles a waffle.

Figure 8.31. For fast table formatting, AutoFormat is the way to go.

To set cell margins and spacing for the entire table, follow these steps:

To set cell margins and spacing for a selected cell or group of cells, follow these steps:

You can sort a table based on a heading. For example, if your table's first row contains headings that describe the rest of the table, you can sort the entire table based on one heading in the table. Perhaps your table lists various types of flowers with headings for Latin plant names, bloom season, and flower color. You can sort the entire list by flower color using the Flower Color table heading.

To perform a sort, follow these steps:

If your table is much more complex, you can perform detailed sorts using the Sort dialog box. Choose Table

You can use the AutoSum tool to quickly insert a sum of cells in a table. For example, AutoSum automatically sums the row or column based on its location in the table. If you click in the last cell in a row and activate AutoSum, the function totals all the cells in the row to the left of the current cell. If you click in the last cell in a column and activate AutoSum, it totals all the cells above the current cell.

To apply the AutoSum function, follow these steps:

You can use other Excel functions in your Word tables as well. Choose Table

Figure 8.36. Use the Sort dialog box to perform more detailed sorts based on your table headings.

Figure 8.37. Use the AutoSum tool to add a sum total to a cell.

Figure 8.38. You can use the Formula dialog box to write formulas for your table.