Objective 5. Format a Table

Format tables to make them more attractive and easier to read. When you type numbers, for example, they line up on the left of a column instead of on the right until you format them. With Word's formatting tools, you can shade cells, format the table borders and grid, and center the table between the document margins. All of these features make a table more inviting to the reader.

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Activity 3.18. Formatting Text in Cells

1.	Click anywhere in the cell containing the word Age, hold down the left mouse button, and then drag to the right until the second, third, and fourth cells in the top row are selected. Apply Bold , and then click the Center button . Compare your screen with Figure 3.52.   Figure 3.52.
2.	Click in the cell containing the word Toddler and then drag down to select the second, third, fourth, and fifth cells in the first column. Apply Bold .
3.	In the third column, click in the cell containing Free, drag down and to the right until all of the cells in the last two columns, except the first row, are selected. On the Formatting toolbar, click the Align Right button , click anywhere to deselect, and then click Save . Compare your screen with Figure 3.53.     Figure 3.53.

Activity 3.19. Shading Cells

Add backgrounds to cells to differentiate them from other cells.

1.	Click in the cell containing the word Age, and then drag to the right to select the second, third, and fourth cells in the top row. From the Format menu, click Borders and Shading, and then click the Shading tab.
2.	Under Fill, in the first row under the No Fill option, click the third button, and then compare your screen with Figure 3.54.   Figure 3.54. (This item is displayed on page 451 in the print version) The name of the shading optionGray-10%displays to the right of the shading option buttons, and the Preview area shows what the shading will look like in the table.
3.	Click OK. Click in the cell containing the word Toddler and drag down to select the second, third, fourth, and fifth cells in the first column. From the Format menu, click Borders and Shading. Under Fill, click the same shading option you chose for the row headingsGray-10%. Click OK. Click anywhere in the document to deselect so you can see the shading. Compare your table with Figure 3.55.   Figure 3.55.
4.	Save the document.

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Activity 3.20. Changing the Table Border

You can modify or remove the border from the entire table, a selected cell, or individual boundaries of a cell.

1.	Click in any cell in the table. From the Format menu, display the Borders and Shading dialog box, and then click the Borders tab. Under Setting, click Grid. The Preview area in the right portion of the dialog box displays the current border settings, and the line width is displayed in the Width box.
2.	Click the Width arrow. From the displayed list, click 1 ½ pt, and then compare your screen with Figure 3.56.   Figure 3.56. Notice under Preview, the outside border is changed to a thicker 1 ½ pt width, while the inner grid lines remain at 1 ½ pt width. If you choose All, rather than Grid, all of the linesthe outside border and the inside grid lineschange when you change the line width.
3.	Click OK. In the empty cell at the upper left of the table, click once. From the Table menu, point to Select, and then click Cell.
4.	Display the Borders and Shading dialog box and be sure that the Borders tab is selected. In the Preview area, point to and then click the top border twice to remove all borders. Compare your screen with Figure 3.57.   Figure 3.57. The first click returns the border to ½ pt and the second click removes the border.
5.	In the Preview area, click the left border two times, until there is no border displayed. Click the Width arrow, and from the displayed list, click 1 ½ pt. In the Preview area, click the bottom border one time. The bottom border is widened to 1 ½ pt.
6.	In the Preview area, click the right border one time to widen the right border to 1 ½ pt. Click OK. Click anywhere in the document to deselect the cell. Click Save , and then compare your table with Figure 3.58. If a faint line still displays around the cell, view the table using Print Preview instead.   Figure 3.58.

Activity 3.21. Centering a Table

1.	Click anywhere in the table. From the Table menu, click Table Properties, and then click the Table tab. Under Alignment, click Center. Compare your screen with Figure 3.59.   Figure 3.59.
2.	Click OK to center the table horizontally between the left and right margins. Click to place the insertion point in the blank line just below the table and press . There should be only one empty paragraph before and one empty paragraph after the table.
3.	Click the Show/Hide ¶ button to hide the nonprinting characters. Compare your table with Figure 3.60.   Figure 3.60.
4.	Click the Show/Hide ¶ button to redisplay the nonprinting characters. Save the document.

[Page 455 (continued)]

Objective 6 Create a Table from Existing Text