Entering Text

After a table has been inserted into a slide, you can enter the text that you want the table to display. To enter text in a table, simply position the cursor in the appropriate cell and begin typing.

Formatting Text in a Table

Formatting text that is in a table is pretty much the same as formatting any other text object. There are one or two tricks, however, that make this task a little easier. There is even an option to center the text vertically in a cell in addition to the standard center option.

Selecting the Table, Columns , Rows, or Cells

The best shortcut to formatting text in a table is to select the entire column or row you want to format (you can even select multiple columns, rows, or cells or the entire table to format). Table 28.1 lists available selection options.

Table 28.1. Selecting Parts of a PowerPoint Table

Table Part	How to Select
Table	Click in the table and then select Table, Select Table from the Tables and Borders toolbar.
Row	Click in the row and then select Table, Select Row from the Tables and Borders toolbar.
Column	Click in the column and then select Table, Select Column from the Tables and Borders toolbar.
Cell	Click in the cell. To select multiple cells, drag through them using the mouse. Use this method to select multiple rows or columns as well.

Select the text, cells, rows, or columns you want to edit.
Choose Format, Font from the menu, to display the Font dialog box.
Make any changes you want from the Font dialog box.
Click the OK button.

You might want to change the alignment of the text in the cells of your table. To change the alignment, use the following steps:

Select the cells where you want to change the alignment.
Select Format, Alignment to open the Alignment submenu. Choose Align Left, Center, Align Right, or Justify from the menu.

You can also vertically align text in a cell, either at the top, center, or bottom of the cell. The center option frames the text nicely in the cell and gives a much more professional appearance. To vertically align text in a cell, use the following steps:

Select the cells where you want to change the alignment.
Click either the Align Top, Center Vertically, or Align Bottom button from the Tables and Borders toolbar, as shown in Figure 28.3.

Figure 28.3. Select a vertical alignment option from the Tables and Borders toolbar.

Selecting Cells , Rows, Columns , and the Entire Table

Before you can truly customize the look of the table, you should take a moment to consider how you want the final product to look. Figures 28.4 and 28.5 show the same information in two tables with completely different looks.

Figure 28.4. A Green Earth table with custom formatting.

graphics/28fig04.gif

Figure 28.5. The same Green Earth table with different formatting.

graphics/28fig05.gif

When you create custom tables, you may want to format the entire table or parts of that table. To format a part of a table, you select the part you want to format.

Selecting Tables Properly

When the table is selected, nothing is highlighted. The table placeholder border will change from diagonal dashed lines to a dotted line.

When the table is selected, all formatting changes ”that is, border, shading, font, and so on ”will affect the entire table.

To select multiple columns, rows, or cells, use the mouse to drag through the items you want to select.

You can also select a column by placing the mouse pointer above the column (so that the pointer becomes a down-pointing black arrow, as shown in Figure 28.6) and clicking.