Working with Tables

Tables organize information in a structured grid of rows and columns.

Creating a Table

Choose the Table tool in the toolbar and click on the canvas. After the table is placed, the tool switches back to Select.

Table Action Toolbar

Double-click a table to show its action toolbar:

ButtonAction
Edit Cell TextEdit the text of the cell you double-clicked
Grid SettingsOpen the grid settings callout
Cell AttributesOpen the cell attributes callout
Add Row / Remove RowChange the number of rows
Add Column / Remove ColumnChange the number of columns

Grid Settings

The Grid Settings callout controls the table's lines:

  • Show Grid — show or hide the lines between cells
  • Show Table Frame — show or hide the outer border
  • Grid Line Width
  • Corner Radius — round the table's corners
  • Grid Color

Cell Attributes

The Selected Cell Attributes callout styles the selected cell:

  • Font Family, Font Size, and Font Typeface (bold, italic, underline)
  • Text Color
  • Text Align — left, center, or right
  • Text Angle — rotate the text inside the cell
  • Top, bottom padding and Left, right padding (in %)
  • Background Color

Tip: Turn on Apply to all table cells to style the entire table at once.

Resizing Tables

  • Drag the handles on the table's corners and sides to resize the whole table
  • Drag a grid line inside the table to change the height of a row or the width of a column

The Inspector's Arrange tab has a Table section that shows the number of rows, columns, and cells.

Tips for Effective Tables

  1. Clear headers — make the header row distinct with bold text or a background colour
  2. Adequate padding — don't let text touch cell borders
  3. Align numbers right for easy comparison
  4. Rotate header text with Text Angle for narrow columns