Tables are a great tool for positioning data precisely in your documents without resorting to such horrors as groups of text boxes. Tables mostly behave pretty well, provided that you know what you're doing with thembut their complexities and occasional outré habits can be extremely problemable.
Compared with tables, columns and text boxes provide more moderate levels of problems but the end of the tutorial shows you how to deal with the curve balls these features can throw at you.
Tables are a great tool for positioning data precisely in your documents without resorting to such horrors as groups of text boxes. Tables mostly behave pretty well, provided that you know what you're doing with thembut their complexities and occasional outr¨¦ habits can be extremely annoying.
In this tutorial, you'll learn how to quell these various annoyances. We'll look at how to decide whether to use Word's fancy drawing features for tables; how to position tables and their contents exactly where you want them and prevent Word from adjusting column widths without your consent; how to use header rows, borders, and formulae; and many other table-related issues.
Compared with tables, columns and text boxes provide more moderate levels of annoyancebut the end of the tutorial shows you how to deal with the curve balls these features can throw at you.
The Problem:
What's the point of the Tables and Borders toolbar? All it does is complicate the process of creating tables, which I've been doing just fine using the Insert Table dialog box for 10 years now. I started back with Word 2, whenever that was.
The Solution:
If you can create the effects you need using the Insert Table dialog box, don't bother with the Tables and Borders toolbar.
How useful the Tables and Borders toolbar is to you will probably depend on the types of tables you create. If all you need are straightforward tables with the same number of cells in each column, simply use the Insert Table dialog box (Table 
Insert Table) to create your tables. But if you need to create complex tables that use cells with different widths or heights, drawing may be a better option. Start by drawing the outline of the table so that it occupies the amount of space you want to devote to it, and then draw the internal lines to create the columns, rows, and cells.
Another approach to creating a "complex" table is to insert a standard table, click the Eraser button on the Tables and Borders toolbar, and then knock out individual borders to create differently sized cells.
The Problem:
I can't stand the "artificial intelligence" built into Word's table feature. You can define how wide the table and/or each column should be in the Table Properties dialog box, but Word then changes the widths according to the text put in the cells.
PRODUCING COLUMNS OF DATA IN WORDWord offers three ways to lay out material in columns:
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The Solution:
Word always wants to help as much as it can, and resizing columns automatically to fit their contents must have seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately, AutoFit tends to give people fits automatically.
To prevent Word from resizing the columns, insert a table by using the Insert Table dialog box (see Figure 7-1) rather than by clicking the Insert Table button on the Standard toolbar and "painting" out a table grid. Choose Table Insert Table or click the Insert Table button on the Tables and Borders toolbar. Specify the number of columns and rows, select the "Fixed column widths" option, specify a width in the spinner box if you choose, and click the OK button.
If the table is already inserted in your document with AutoFit turned on:
Right-click in the table, choose Table Properties, and click the Table tab if it's not already displayed.
Click the Options button, uncheck the "Automatically resize to fit contents" box, and then click the OK button to close each dialog box (see Figure 7-2).
Figure 7-1. To prevent Word from resizing your table columns, select the "Fixed column width" option in the Insert Table dialog box.
Figure 7-2. You can also turn off AutoFit in an existing table.
The Problem:
I want to place a table at the top of a new page, but I don't want a paragraph mark to appear before it. Sometimes I can get this to work, but usually not.
The Solution:
Click in the first row of the table, choose Format Paragraph, click the Line and Page Breaks tab, and check the "Page break before" box. Don't put a hard page break (Ctrl+Enter) before the table, or you'll get that unwanted paragraph mark.
The Problem:
I created a new document and began a table right at the top of the page, and now I can't shift it. There must be an obvious way of moving it, but I'm not seeing it.
The Solution:
Position the insertion point in the first row of the table and choose Table Split Table or press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. Alternatively, enter a few carriage returns after the table (by pressing the Enter key), click in the table and choose Table Select Table, and then drag the table down a paragraph or two.
The Problem:
I'm struggling to get the tables in my document positioned just right on the page. I can drag the left and right borders to where I want them on the ruler, but I have to set the zoom level really high to get them exactly right. Too much coffee, and I tend to drag too far.
The Solution:
You can hold down Alt while resizing a column to display exact measurements in the ruler, but you'd probably be better off working in the Table Properties dialog box (see Figure 7-3). Right-click in the table and choose Table Properties from the shortcut menu to display the dialog box. Use the "Indent from left" spinner box on the Table tab to control how far from the left margin the table appears (set a negative indent if you want the table to start in the margin). Use the Alignment settings to specify the alignment for the table.
Figure 7-3. Use the Table Properties dialog box to set the indentation and alignment for a table.
The Problem:
Okay, the table is in place, and I've got most of the text in the cells. Now all I need to know is how to lay out that text properly.
The Solution:
The Table Properties dialog box is also the key to positioning the contents of the table accurately:
Right-click in the table and choose Table Properties from the shortcut menu to display the dialog box. Click the Table tab, click the Options button, and specify the default cell margins and any default cell spacing in the Table Options dialog box (see Figure 7-4, top).
To override those default settings in a cell, select the cell, click the Cell tab of the Table Properties dialog box, click the Options button, and work in the Cell Options dialog box (see Figure 7-4, bottom). You can also turn off text wrapping from here, on those rare occasions when you want to prevent the text from wrapping within a cell.
Figure 7-4. The Table Options dialog box lets you set default top, bottom, left, and right cell margins. The Cell Options dialog box lets you override the cell margins for particular cells.
To change the vertical alignment of a cell, choose the appropriate "Vertical alignment" option on the Cell tab of the Table Properties dialog box.
Within the cell, you can apply many types of standard paragraph formatting by using the controls on the Formatting toolbar or in the Paragraph dialog box (Format
Paragraph). For example, you can change the horizontal alignment, the indentation, and the line spacing.
The Problem:
I'd like my table to take up the full text width of the page. But whenever I change the page margins, I need to change the width of the table manually to match.
The Solution:
Right-click the table, choose Table Properties, click the Table tab, check the "Preferred width" box, choose "Percent" in the "Measure in" drop-down list, and specify 100% in the middle drop-down list. Word will then change the table's width automatically when you change the margins of the page.
The Problem:
I guess I'm still stuck in the Dark Ages of Word 97, because I miss the Cell Height and Width dialog box that you could use towellcontrol the height and width of a cell. It didn't offer all the fancy options of the Table Properties dialog box, but it was easy enough for me to understand.
The Solution:
You can still use the Cell Height and Width dialog box (see Figure 7-5) if you want. To pop it up just once for old times' sake and see if it matches up to your memories, choose Tools Macro Macros, type tableformatcell, and press Enter. To use it more frequently, choose Tools Customize, click the Commands tab, check that Normal.dot is selected in the "Save in" drop-down list, click All Commands in the Categories list, and drag the TableFormatCell item from the Commands list to your Table menu or other preferred location. After closing the Customize dialog box, Shift-click the File menu, choose Save All, and save the changes to Normal.dot if prompted.
Figure 7-5. Word 2000 and later versions suppress the Cell Height and Width dialog box, but dissenters like you can liberate it if you choose.
The Problem:
Today's report has an ugly six-page table in it. I'm cleaning it up, and every time I make an editeven applying or removing formattingthe rows bounce from one page to the next. That means the heading rows on the second and subsequent pages are now in the wrong place. I moved them back the first time I noticed it, but they keep jumping around. I guess I'd better leave 'em until I finish editing.
The Solution:
If they're moving around, they're not real heading rows: they're just normal rows formatted to look like heading rows. Word can automatically repeat one or more heading rows for you when the table goes to a second or subsequent page. Set up the row (or rows) on the first page, select it (or them), and choose Table Heading Rows Repeat. When rows walk from one page to another, Word keeps the header row or rows in the right place.
The Problem:
Call me anal, but I hate inconsistency in the Windows interface. Over the last couple of months, I've grown used to selecting what I want to delete and then pressing the Delete key to off it. (Yes, I've offed the Recycle Bin already.) It works in Explorer, works in Excel, and works in Word...but not for tables. When I try to delete the selected part of a table, all Word does is delete the contents of the cells. Pavlov would be rolling in his kennel.
The Solution:
There's no real fix, but understanding the rationale for Word's behavior might help you feel better. Word's designers decided to draw a distinction between deleting all or part of a table's contents and all or part of its structure. So a standard Delete command deletes contents, while the easiest way to delete the table's structure (with any contents that remain) is to select the appropriate part of the table and then press Backspace. You can also choose Table Delete and choose Table, Columns, Rows, or Cells (as appropriate) from the submenu.
The Problem:
Changing the width of one column affects all the other columns, too. Just when I get one column perfect, I need to change another column, and that screws up the perfect column. It'd be great to lock a column's width so it won't change unless I explicitly say so.
The Solution:
Your wish is grantedto some extent. Word tries to maintain the table width you specified, so if you drag one column border to widen or narrow a column, Word automatically adjusts the column to the right to compensate. To override this behavior, Shift-drag the column border. This makes Word maintain the width of the column to the right, but it means that your table's overall width will change.
Tip: To set column widths precisely, right-click in the first column, choose Table Properties, click the Column tab, and use the "Preferred width" spinner box to set the column width. Click the Next Column button to move to the next column and set its width.
The Problem:
What I need is to be able to change the widths of the cells in one row without affecting all the other rows in the table. But there doesn't seem to be any way to do this other than merging cells, which isn't what I want to do.
The Solution:
You can do this with minimal effort. If you want the cell widths in each row to be different, create each set of rows as a separate table, and then join them. When you create separate tables, it's usually best to put one or more blank paragraphs between them to ensure that Word doesn't get confused and start treating them as a single table when you drag a column border in one table close to the column border in another table. When your tables are finished, delete the blank paragraphs to bring them together. Word then treats the tables as a single table.
If you need different cell widths in only one set of rows, create a separate table for the row or rows that you want to have different cell widths. Select that table (Table Select Table), right-click it, and choose Cut from the shortcut menu. Right-click the appropriate cell in the main table, and choose Paste Rows from the shortcut menu. Make sure that you don't choose Paste as Nested Table, unless you want to nest the rows in the cell.
The Problem:
After struggling with this table for a couple of hours, I've realized that the second column should really be the first column. Please tell me I don't have to retype both columns!
The Solution:
It's okay, you needn't retype anything. You can move table columns either by dragging or by using Cut and Paste. Getting the hang of dragging columns can take a little practice, so if you have time, create a sample table in a new document and play around with moving the columns. The easiest way to select a column is to move the mouse pointer just above the topmost cell in the target column so that the pointer changes into a black arrow pointing downward, and then click; alternatively, you can click in the column and choose Table Select Column. Click anywhere in the selected column, and drag it to the column before which you want it to appear.
The Problem:
I get long membership listsdatabase dumpsthat I need to convert into Word tables. If they were separated with tabs, I could just use the Table Convert Text to Table command, but they're separated with regular old spacesas many of them as are needed to line up the columns.
The Solution:
You can fix this easily. Choose Edit Replace and replace ^w(whitespace) with ^t(a tab). Select the list, choose Table Convert Text to Table, make sure the Tabs option is selected and that the "Number of columns" box shows the right number of columns, and click the OK button to perform the conversion.
The Problem:
I can't print the gridlines in my table.
The Solution:
The table gridlines are there only for reference. They never print unless you apply borders. If you don't need to see the gridlines on screen, choose Table Hide Gridlines to remove them from the display and help eliminate any confusion.
If you want to print gridlines, add borders to the table. Right-click in the table, choose Borders and Shading from the shortcut menu, select the borders you want on the Borders tab (see Figure 7-6), and click the OK button. The key control here is the "Apply to" drop-down list, which lets you specify whether to apply the current border to the entire table, the current cell or selected cells, or the current paragraph.
Figure 7-6. Use the Borders and Shading dialog box to add a border to any gridlines that you want to print.
The Problem:
I chose Table Hide Gridlines, but they're still hanging aroundeven through the Table menu now has the Show Gridlines command instead.
The Solution:
Here's another reason why Microsoft isn't renowned for its design brilliance. What you're seeing are actually the text boundaries for the table. You're seeing boundaries for the page's margins as well, aren't you? Choose Tools Options, click the View tab, and uncheck the "Text boundaries" box. That'll do the trick.
The Problem:
The right and bottom borders of my table don't print, even through the other borders print okay.
The Solution:
It sounds as though you've placed the right and bottom borders outside the printable area for your printer. Most printers can print up to 0.2" or 0.4" from the edge of the paper, but some need wider margins. Try bringing the table borders back into the land of the living.
The Problem:
I need to use a table like a graphic. Can I put it behind the text in my document?
The Solution:
No, but you can make the text wrap around it. Right-click the table, choose Table Properties, and click the Table tab. Choose the appropriate alignment optionLeft, Center, or Rightand then click the Around option in the "Text wrapping" area. Click the Positioning button to display the Table Positioning dialog box (see Figure 7-7), which offers options similar to those for positioning pictures.
Figure 7-7. When you wrap text around a table, use the Table Positioning dialog box to position the table precisely where you want it.
The Problem:
I know how to embed an Excel spreadsheet in a Word document, but that seems like overkill when all I need is a simple formula to sum the contents of a column in a table.
The Solution:
What you can do is create a table formula in Word. Table formulas aren't very powerful (especially if you're used to Excel's capabilities), but they're powerful enough to prove handy in a pinch. Position the insertion point in the appropriate cell, choose Table Formula, and then choose the formula, number format, and any other options in the Formula dialog box (see Figure 7-8).
Figure 7-8. Simple formulas in Word's tables can save you from having to embed spreadsheet fragments in your documents.
The formulas you're most likely to want are =SUM(LEFT), which adds the cells to the left of the active cell, and =SUM(ABOVE), which adds the cells above the active cell. You can also use =SUM(RIGHT) and =SUM(BELOW) if needed, or create custom formulas by referring to specific cells in "row, column" format (for example, R1C2 refers to row 1, column 2) or by assigning bookmarks to cells and referring to those.
Each formula is a field, so it appears within the braces that Word uses to denote fieldsfor example, { =SUM(BELOW) }. Word inserts these braces, so you don't need to type them manually when using the Formula dialog box. You can also insert a formula quickly by pressing Ctrl+F9 to insert the braces and then typing the formula between them. Don't try typing the braces; that doesn't work, because they're special field braces rather than simply {} characters.
Warning: Check your table formulas to ensure that they're producing suitable results. Empty cells, or cells that contain text rather than numerical values, can confuse table formulas.
The Problem:
Tables in Word XP are slooooow! I don't remember this problem in Word 97even before I upgraded from my ancient 486. What's the problem?
The Solution:
Well, it's pretty much as you say: tables in Word XP (not to mention Word 2000 and 2003) are slower to load and redraw than tables in Word 97 and previous versions of Word. This is because the later versions of Word have to be able to create HTML tables, so they use a different (and slower) table engine. Nested tables slow things down even more, simply because they're more complex.
To minimize this annoyance, try the following:
Turn off automatic cell resizing if you've left it on for any table. Right-click the table, choose Table Properties, click the Options button, and uncheck the "Automatically resize to fit contents" box.
Keep tables short, if possible. If you have the choice of creating 10 short tables or a monster table with 10 subheadings, go for the 10 short tables. Eliminate merged cells if possible; they're useful for subheadings, but they slow down Word's handling of tables.
When editing tables for content rather than layout, work in Normal view rather than in Print Layout view or Print Preview. Also try turning off background repagination: choose Tools
Options, click the General tab, and uncheck the "Background repagination" box.Keep rows shallow if possible. Instead of putting a dozen paragraphs in a row, create a dozen rows. Use borders to differentiate them.
Keep your tables as simple as possible. Don't wrap text around tables unless you mustand if you must, do so when you've finished creating and editing the tables. Use as few graphics as possible in your tables, and when you do, put the graphics inline rather than having them float.
The Problem:
Our catalog is in an absurdly big table. It lists hundreds of parts, most of which have subcomponents. Each part takes up a row, and if there are subcomponents, the part is in a vertically merged cell, so that all the subcomponents are "under" it. Anyway, all was well until I was putting the finishing touches on the catalog. Then Word 2000 locked up, "experienced an error," and exploded the catalog into virtual shrapnel.
The Solution:
I'm guessing you touched on a sensitive nerve in Word 2000's handling of tables that have vertically merged cells (two or more cells in the same column merged together vertically) spanning two or more pages. Such cells make tables a minefield that you can set off by doing something as innocuous as moving from page to page in Print Layout view.
The fix is to update to the latest Office 2000 Service Pack you can find, or to update to a later version of Office.
The Problem:
More of a grumble, really: text in columns is difficult to control, and there aren't many changes you can make to the settings to make the text look the way you want.
The Solution:
It could be worse. The Columns dialog box (Format Columns) lets you choose the number of columns; control the width of each column, and the spacing between it and the column to its right; and choose whether to put a line between each column. If you're looking for more complex effects, you should probably be using a page-layout application rather than Word. But if you're stuck with Word, try the following:
Use heading styles and text styles as usual to differentiate the paragraphs in your columns.
To end a column early, choose Insert
Break, select the "Column break" option, and click the OK button.Use a text box overlapping one or more columns to add variety or impact to your layout.
You can insert a picture in a column as usual (Insert
Picture From File), and you can wrap text around it or even run text through it.To put a table in a column, choose Table
Insert Table, as usual.
The Problem:
I need to create a newspaper-style layout with a masthead across the top of the page, blurbs on the five top stories below that, and then a three-column layout for the rest of the page. But when I change the number of columns, everything I've laid out so far goes screwy.
The Solution:
This shouldn't happen unless you're selecting all of the text before you change the number of columns.
To fix this problem:
Select the first part of the text to which you want to apply a different number of columns, choose Format
Columns, specify the number of columns, make sure that "Selected text" rather than "Whole document" is selected in the "Apply to" drop-down list, and click the OK button.Select the next part of the text that needs a different number of columns, choose Format
Columns, and specify the number of columns for that text. Word automatically inserts a continuous section break between each section that has a different number of columns.
Tip: Press Alt+
to move to the top of the previous column on the page, and Alt+ 
to move to the top of the next column. The Problem:
I got my columns just perfect in the documentbut when I saved it as a web page for my site, Word lumped them together into a single column. Am I doing something wrong?
The Solution:
It depends on how you define "wrong." But no, not really. Microsoft designed Word to do this, even if you don't like it. What you need to do is use a table to create your columns rather than using newspaper-style columns. Word will maintain the table's columns when you save the document as a web page.
The Problem:
This is probably going to sound stupid, but never mind. I've been using Word for seven years now: letters, reports, even laying out a couple of novellas for a friend. I've used tables, pictures, frames, and more wizards than you can shake a staff at. But I've never used a text boxnor have I needed one. So I gotta ask: what are they for?
The Solution:
As you've figured out, text boxes are a fairly specialized item. They're most useful for laying out awkward little bits of text (pull quotes, teasers, jokes, you name it) that require precise placement. With the work you've described, you probably haven't needed themand you won't need them unless you start working with different types of documents.
Should you start creating more complex layouts in Word, such as newsletter or magazine pages that require carefully positioned boxes holding textor should curiosity overcome youhere's how to proceed:
Lay out the rest of your document. The best time to place your text boxes is when the rest of the document is close to its final state.
Choose Insert
Text Box. Word changes the insertion point to a crosshair, and if you're in Normal view, Word changes to Print Layout view so that you can see what you're doing. Click where you want one corner of the text box, and drag in any direction to specify the size and proportions.
Tip: As with most other drawing objects, you can hold down Shift to constrain the text box to a square instead of a rectangle, hold down Ctrl to draw the text box centered on the point you click rather than placing a corner there, and hold down Ctrl+Shift to do both.To format the text box, right-click its frame, choose Format Text Box, and work in the Format Text Box dialog box.
To format the contents of the text box, select the contents (or part of them) and use standard formatting commands (for example, Format
Font or Format Paragraph).
The Problem:
I'm using a set of six text boxes to present a case study alongside the main text of my report. The trouble is, I'm still writing the report, so the size of the text boxes keeps changing, and I'm forever having to bump text along from one of them to the nextor back to the previous one. It feels like I'm never going to get the darn thing finished.
The Solution:
The finishing is up to you, but Word can handle flowing the text from one text box to another if you link them together:
Create the text boxes (It sounds like you've done this step already.)
Enter the text in the first text box. In most cases, it's easiest to create and edit the text in a separate document in which you can see it all at once, and then paste it into the first text box when it's complete.
Right-click the frame of the first text box, and choose Create Text Box Link from the shortcut menu. The mouse pointer changes to a pouring jug. Click the next text box in the sequence to establish the link. Word flows the text to this text box.
Right-click the frame of the second text box, and repeat the linking procedure for the following text box. Repeat as necessary.
Once you've linked text boxes, you can navigate from one to another by right-clicking and choosing Next Text Box or Previous Text Box from the shortcut menu, or by using the Next Text Box and Previous Text Box buttons on the Text Box toolbar. To unlink a text box from the next text box, right-click its frame and choose Break Forward Link from the shortcut menu.
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