Adjusting the Appearance of Your Table

To select a cell, point just inside the left edge of the cell . When the mouse pointer becomes a black arrow, click once (or drag to select multiple cells ).

To add shading to a cell, select the cell, click the down arrow to the right of the Shading Color button on the Tables and Borders toolbar, and click the desired color.

To remove a line in a table and merge the cells on either side of the line, first click the Eraser button in the Tables and Borders toolbar.

The mouse pointer becomes an eraser. Drag over the line to highlight it, and then release the mouse button.

INTRODUCTION

Regardless of whether you create your table with the Insert Table button or you draw it with the Draw Table button, you can easily adjust the table and the text it contains with tools in the Tables and Borders toolbar. In this task, you first learn how to select a single cell or group of cells ”an essential part of formatting cells in your table ”and then you practice using some of the most useful tools in the Tables and Borders toolbar.

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No Tables and Borders Toolbar?

Remember that you can display the Tables and Borders toolbar at any time by clicking the Tables and Borders button in the Standard toolbar.

To change the vertical/horizontal alignment of text in your table, select the cell, click the down arrow to the right of the Align button, and click the desired option.

To change the direction of text from left-to-right to either bottom-to-top or top-to-bottom, select the cell and then click the Change Text Direction button one or more times.

Word applies the changes you've made. Make any further adjustments to your table until you're satisfied with its appearance.

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Making Rows the Same Height or Columns the Same Width

If you want to make multiple rows the same height or multiple columns the same width, select the rows or columns (see steps 2 and 4 of "Adding, Deleting, and Resizing Rows and Columns" earlier in this part), and then click the Distribute Rows Evenly or Distribute Columns Evenly button on the Tables and Borders toolbar.