Using a Table to Control Page Layout


Most people are accustomed to thinking of a table as a means of displaying data in a quick, easy-to-grasp format. But tables can also serve to organize your pages in creative ways. For example, suppose you want to display two tables next to each other. The simplest way to do this is to first create a table with one tall row and two wide columns and no gridlines. You can then insert one table in the first cell and the other table in the second cell. These nested tables then appear to be arranged side by side.

image from book

image from book
Deciding How to Insert Excel Data

To decide how to insert Excel data in a Word document, you need to understand how Microsoft Office system programs integrate data from outside sources. Understanding this will enable you to decide how to use information created in any other Office program, not just Excel.

If you don’t need to maintain a connection with the source Excel worksheet and the data is simple enough to be edited in Word, you can copy and paste the data.

If you do need to maintain a connection with the source Excel worksheet, or if you need to be able to manipulate the data in Excel after it is incorporated into the Word document, you can use the Microsoft linking and embedding technology to insert an object (a file or part of a file) created in Excel into a document created in Word. The object is sometimes called the source file, and the document into which you are inserting the information is called the destination file. The difference between linking and embedding is the type of connection that is maintained between the source and destination files, as follows:

  • A linked object is displayed in the destination file, but its data is stored in the source file. If you want to change the data, you do it in the source file. Then when you open the destination file, the linked object is updated to reflect the change.

  • An embedded object is displayed in the destination file and its data is stored there. If you want to update the data, you do it in the destination file using the source program.

Whether an object should be linked or embedded depends on whether you need the information in the destination file to always be the same as the information in the source file. If you do, it is best to link the object so that you don’t have to manually update the data in two places.

image from book

As with regular tables, you can create a nested table from scratch, by formatting existing information, or by inserting Excel data. And just like other tables, you can format a nested table either manually or using one of Word’s ready-made table styles.

Tip 

Tables can be used to organize a mixture of elements such as text, tables, charts, and diagrams. For more information, you might want to consult Advanced Documents Inside Out (Microsoft Press, 2007).

When creating a table to contain other elements, you might want to take advantage of the Word table-drawing feature. If you click Draw Table below the grid displayed when you click the Table button, the pointer changes to a pencil with which you can draw cells on the page. You can set up the container table visually, without having to fuss with dialog boxes and precise dimensions while you are designing the layout. Then after everything is set up the way you want it, you can use the Table Properties dialog box to fine-tune the table specifications.

In this exercise, you will draw a table to contain two other tables. You will then insert and format the nested tables.

Use the 06_Loan workbook and the 06_Memo and 06_TableAsLayout documents. These practice files are located in the Chapter04 subfolder under SBS_Office2007.

Be Sure To display non-printing characters before starting this exercise.

Open the 06_Loan workbook in Excel, and then open the 06_Memo document and the 06_TableAsLayout document in Word.

1. Before you begin, save a copy of the 06_TableAsLayout document in the Chapter04 subfolder as My Nested Tables.

Troubleshooting 

The operations you perform in this exercise use a lot of your computer’s resources. You will have better results if you save the My Nested Tables document regularly.

2. In the My Nested Tables document, on the Insert tab, in the Tables group, click the Table button, and then click Draw Table. image from book

The pointer becomes a pencil.

3. Point below the last paragraph mark in the document, and drag across and down to create a cell about 3 inches wide and 1 1/2 inches tall.

Tip 

The location of the pencil is marked with guides on the horizontal and vertical rulers. You can use these guides to help you draw cells of specific dimensions.

4. Point to the upper-right corner of the cell (you don’t have to be precise), and drag to create another cell about the same size as the first.

When you release the mouse button, Word joins the two cells to create the structure of a table.

image from book

5. On the View tab, in the Window group, click the Switch Windows button, and then click 06_Memo. image from book

6. Scroll to the bottom of the page, click anywhere in the Payment Schedule table, and on the Layout tab, in the Table group, click Select, and then click Select Table.

7. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the Copy button. image from book

8. Switch to the My Nested Tables document, right-click the first cell in the table, and then click Paste as Nested Table.

Word inserts the table you copied into the cell and adjusts the size of the container table to fit the size of the nested table.

9. On the Windows taskbar, click the Microsoft Excel button to activate Sheet1 of the 06_Loan workbook, select cells A1:B8, and then on the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the Copy button.

10. Switch back to the My Nested Tables document, click the second cell in the table, and then on the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the Paste button. image from book

Word inserts the worksheet data as a nested table in the cell.

Troubleshooting 

If the pasted table doesn’t appear in the container table, minimize the document window and then maximize it.

image from book

11. Move the pointer to the selection area adjacent to the container table, and then click to select its two cells.

12. On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click the Borders arrow, and then in the list, click No Border. image from book

Word removes the borders from the container cells.

13. Click anywhere in the left table, and on the Design contextual tab, in the Table Style Options group, select the Header Row and Total Row check boxes, and clear all the other check boxes.

14. In the Table Styles group, display the Table Styles gallery, and click the thumbnail of a table style that you want to apply to the nested table.

We used Light List - Accent 4.

15. Repeat Steps 13 and 14 to format the right table, perhaps using a similar table style with a different color.

We used Light List - Accent 6.

16. Turn off non-printing characters to see the results.

The nested tables now look as shown at the beginning of this topic.

Close the My Nested Tables document, saving your changes. Then close the 06_Memo document, and if you are not proceeding directly to the next chapter, quit Word. Finally, close the 06_Loan workbook without saving changes, and quit Excel.



2007 Microsoft Office System Step by Step
2007 MicrosoftВ® Office System Step by Step
ISBN: 0735622787
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 231

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