Using the Table tool

To get started creating a table on your page, get the Table tool from the Tools palette, as shown in Figure 12-1. Then follow these steps:

1. With the Table tool active, click and drag on your page to draw out a table the size you need.

   The Table Properties dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 12-2.

2. Enter the number of horizontal rows in the Rows field and the number of vertical columns in the Columns field, shown in Figure 12-2.

3. In the Cell Type area, shown in Figure 12-2, choose whether you want to fill the cells with Text or Pictures.

   You can change this for individual cells after creating the table.

4. In the Auto Fit area, shown in Figure 12-2, choose whether you want the text cells to expand as you add text.

   You can enable Auto Fit for Rows, Columns, or both.

5. If you want your text to flow from cell to cell (similar to linked text boxes), select the Link Cells check box and choose a Link Order from the Link Order drop-down menu, shown in Figure 12-2.

   Later, you can also control linking by choosing Table ⇒ Link Text Cells. Even if you don’t link the text cells, you can still press the Tab key to jump from cell to cell while entering or editing data.

Here are some other options you might want to select in the Table Properties dialog box:

• Tab Order: Normally, each time you press the Tab key, your cursor moves from cell to cell in this order: left-to-right then top-to-bottom. To change this order, select a different option in the Tab Order drop-down menu.
• Maintain Geometry: If you want the table to keep its overall size when you add or remove rows or columns, select the Maintain Geometry check box.
• Link to External Data: If you plan to import data from an Excel spreadsheet and want to maintain a link to that spreadsheet to update data, select the Link to External Data check box. (See the “How to import an Excel table” section, later in this chapter.)

Converting text to a table

If you have text on your page that is consistently formatted with a single tab, comma, or space between each “column” of text, and each “row” ends in a single paragraph return, you can quickly convert it to a table. Here’s how:

1. Get the Text Content tool from the Tools palette and select all the text you want to convert to a table.

   As is true of selecting text anywhere in QuarkXPress, you can select text by either dragging across it, double-clicking to select one word, triple-clicking to select a line of text, or quadruple-clicking (that is, four times) to select all the text in the cell. These techniques are similar in all word processing and page layout applications, so you may be familiar with them already.

2. Choose Table ⇒ Convert Text to Table.

   The Convert Text to Table dialog box displays, with QuarkXPress’s best guess for the number of rows and columns, as shown in Figure 12-3.

3. If you want the text to fill the table cells in anything other than the usual left-to-right then top-to-bottom order, select that order from the Cell Fill Order drop-down menu in the Convert Text to Table dialog box, shown in Figure 12-3.

4. In the Auto Fit area of the Convert Text to Table dialog box, shown in Figure 12-3, choose whether you want the text cells to expand as you add text.

   You can enable Auto Fit for Rows, Columns, or both.

5. Click OK.

   A new table is created at the same size as the original text box, slightly below and to the right of the original text box.

Importing Excel tables and charts

QuarkXPress has a special level of support for tables and charts imported from Microsoft Excel, which are explained in the following sections.

For example, when you import table data from an Excel spreadsheet, QuarkXPress can link to it, rather than copying its data onto your page. That way, if the Excel spreadsheet changes, you can update the table in QuarkXPress by choosing Utilities ⇒ Usage and clicking the Update button in the Usage dialog box.

Also, if you import an Excel spreadsheet as an inline table (as explained in this section), you can format it with a table style, which dramatically speeds the process of formatting of tables and ensures consistency in appearance when you have multiple tables.

QuarkXPress can import Excel spreadsheets only in the .xlsx format. If your spreadsheet is in the older .xls format, open it in Excel and resave it in the .xlsx format.

How to import an Excel table

You can import Excel data into a QuarkXPress table in several ways:

• Draw a table using the Table tool: See the “Using the Table tool” section, earlier in this chapter.
• Copy and paste from Excel: Select any portion of data in an Excel worksheet and copy the selected data; then switch to QuarkXPress and choose Edit ⇒ Paste. QuarkXPress creates a table for the data and inserts the text.
• As an Inline table: Use one of the following two techniques:
  • Place the cursor in the text where you want the table to be and then choose Item ⇒ Insert Inline Table. This creates an Inline table that behaves much like an anchored picture.
  • Draw a table using the Table tool and select the Inline Table check box. This creates a text box with the Inline table in it that behaves much like an anchored picture.

Whichever way you create the table, the Table Link dialog box, shown in Figure 12-4, appears.

To import the Excel table data, follow these steps:

1. Click Browse to locate and select an Excel file to import.

2. If the file includes multiple worksheets, choose the one you want to import from the Sheet drop-down menu.

   If you want to import only a portion of the data, you can specify a cell range in the Range field or choose a named range from the drop-down menu.

3. In the Options area, select the attributes you want to import.

Some Excel worksheets have thousands of cells, which can create a giant table. When possible, preview the worksheet in Excel before importing it so that you know the range of cells to include.

Because you can update tables just as you can update pictures, you need to make a very important choice when importing from Excel:

• If you select Include Formats in the Table Link dialog box, the table’s Excel formatting is preserved in QuarkXPress. If you later update the table, any local formatting that you applied in QuarkXPress is removed and replaced with the formatting from the Excel file.
• If you don’t select Include Formats in the Table Link dialog box, the table’s Excel formatting is discarded. If you later update the table, QuarkXPress attempts to preserve the local formatting that you applied in QuarkXPress.

QuarkXPress doesn’t import formulas and references. Instead, it imports their final values. Inserted pictures are not imported. Text with Auto Filter or Advance Filter applied (in Excel, choose Data ⇒ Filter to apply these options) is imported as static text.

Using table styles on inline tables

Unfortunately, in contrast to other styles in QuarkXPress, you can’t create a table style from an existing table — yet. Instead, you must build it from scratch or append an existing table style from another QuarkXPress layout.

To create or edit a table style, follow these steps:

1. Choose Window ⇒ Table Styles to display the Table Styles palette.

2. To create a new, unformatted table style, click the New (+) button.

   The Edit Table Style dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 12-5.

3. Give your new table style a name and make the following formatting choices:
   • To define the table-wide appearance of the frame, gridline, and cells: Select the controls in the Table Wide Formatting section.
   • To apply different attributes to various rows and columns: Click the New (+) button under the Condition area, as shown in Figure 12-5. You can choose Even, Odd, or specific rows, columns, or headers. Then use the controls in the Format For Selected Condition area.
   • To append table styles from another QuarkXPress layout: Choose Append Table Styles from the palette menu.

After you create a table style, it is listed in the Table Styles palette and is available to apply when you insert an inline table.

To apply a different table style to an inline table, select the Inline table and click the new Table Style or choose Apply Style and Remove Local Formatting from the Table Styles palette menu.

Navigating through a table

If you’ve ever used a spreadsheet or database application, you’ll be familiar with navigating through a table in QuarkXPress.

To navigate through a table, get the Text Content tool from the Tools palette, click a cell, and then do the following:

• To move to the next cell: Press the Tab key.
• To go back to the previous cell: Press Shift+Tab.
• To move through the text in a cell and from cell to cell: Press the arrow keys.

Adding text and pictures to tables

Table cells are similar to regular text boxes or picture boxes. You can type text into them, import text or a picture, or just give their background a color or blend. You can link text cells together like text boxes, and you can convert a text cell to a picture cell by choosing Item ⇒ Content ⇒ Picture.

Selecting cells, rows, and columns

QuarkXPress provides three ways of selecting cells, rows, and columns. Each requires you to use the Text Content or Picture Content tool. Although you can select rows and columns by carefully (very carefully!) clicking your mouse pointer just barely outside the row or column, you may have better success (and sanity) by choosing the appropriate menu option from the Table menu or the Table context menu. (To display the context menu, Control-click on a Mac or right-click in Windows on the table.) These menus contain the options shown in Figure 12-6.

If you prefer to select rows and columns by clicking, do the following:

• To select all the text in a row: Click outside the right or left edge of the table.
• To select all the text in a column: Click outside the top or bottom edge of the table.
• To select all the text in several rows or columns: Drag along an edge of the table.
• To select text in nonadjacent rows or columns: Shift-click the rows or columns.

The Select commands in the Table menu are helpful for applying different formatting to alternating rows or columns.

Editing table text

Editing text in a table cell is exactly like editing text in a text box, but with these additions:

• To enter a tab character in a text cell: Press Control+Tab.
• To enter a right-indent tab: Press Option-Tab (Mac) or Control+Shift+Tab (Windows).

Linking table cells

You can link table cells just as you can regular text boxes. When you link table cells, text that you type, import, or paste into a table fills the first linked text cell and then flows into each subsequent linked cell. You can see the order of the linked text cells by getting the Linking tool from the Tools palette and clicking one of the linked text cells. Arrows then appear that show how text flows from one cell to another. Here are the various ways to link table cells:

• To link all the cells in a table when you create the table: In the Table Properties dialog box that appears when you create the table (see Figure 12-2), select the Link Cells check box.
• To link selected cells in a table: Choose Table ⇒ Link Text Cells. All but the first selected cell must be empty.
• To manually link table cells: Get the Linking tool in the Tools palette, click to select the starting cell, and then click the next cell you want to add to the chain of text cells.
• To redirect existing links: Get the Linking tool in the Tools palette, Shift-click the cell immediately before the place you want to redirect the link. With the Shift key still held down, click the new cell with the Linking tool. For example, to redirect cells 1, 2, 3, and 4 to become 1, 3, 4, and 2, Shift-click cell 1 and then, with the Shift key still held down, click cell 3, then 4, then 2.
• To unlink table cells: Get the Unlinking tool in the Tools palette, click one of the linked table cells, and then click the non-pointy (tail) end of the arrow that connects the cells you want to unlink. This technique is exactly the same as unlinking text boxes.
• To force text to begin in the next linked cell: Press Enter on the numeric keypad. This inserts the Next Column character.

In addition to linking table cells to each other, you can link cells to and from text boxes and text paths.

If you combine linked text cells (which you do by choosing Table ⇒ Combine Cells), the combined cells are removed from the text chain; the remaining links are unaffected. If you split a combined cell (by choosing Table ⇒ Split Cell), its links are maintained and text flows through the split cells according to the table’s link order.

Formatting tables

Formatting tables can be tricky but rewarding. In earlier versions of QuarkXPress, it was downright difficult to select and format a table, but now it’s straightforward — you just have to be careful to select the part you want to format, and then know where to find the controls. Here is where you find most of the controls:

• Mac: Go to the Table or Home tab of the Measurements palette, shown in Figure 12-7. When the Text Content or Picture Content tool is active, the Table tab appears. Otherwise, table options appear in the Home tab.
• Windows: Choose Item ⇒ Modify to open the dialog box, or go to the Classic tab of the Measurements palette. Different options appear depending on whether you select the entire table with the Item tool, select cells with the Text Content tool, or select gridlines, picture cells, or text cells.

Formatting gridlines

Gridlines are the horizontal and vertical lines between rows and columns, and can be formatted differently from the table border.

To format gridlines, you first select the gridlines you want to format by choosing among the Select options in the Table menu and Table context menu (shown in Figure 12-6). Then use the following controls to adjust the attributes of the selected gridlines:

• Mac: Use the controls in the Home or Table tab of the Measurements palette to adjust the line weight and style, color, tint, and opacity (refer to Figure 12-7).
• Windows: Choose Item ⇒ Modify to open the Modify dialog box and then click the Grid tab, as shown in Figure 12-8. Make your adjustments to the line weight and style, color, tint, and opacity.

Formatting cells

To format the background of one or more cells, think of them as regular text or picture boxes and use the color, tint, and opacity controls in the Measurements palette, the Colors palette, or the Color Blends palette, as described in Chapter 15. With some clever use of drop shadows and varying levels of opacity in blends, you can make a table as imaginative as the one shown in Figure 12-9.

Inserting and deleting rows and columns

To insert rows, click in a cell that is immediately above or below where you want to add a row. To insert columns, click in a cell to the right or left of where you want to add a column. Then choose Table ⇒ Insert ⇒ Row or Table ⇒ Insert ⇒ Column. A dialog box appears that lets you choose how many rows or columns to add, and whether to insert the row above or below the cell, or insert the column to the left or right of the cell.

To delete rows or columns, first select the rows or columns you want to delete. You can select rows and columns by clicking with the Text Content tool next to the cell or row (just outside the table) or by choosing among the Select options in the Table menu and Table context menu (refer to Figure 12-6). Then choose Table ⇒ Delete ⇒ Row or Table ⇒ Delete ⇒ Column.

If Maintain Geometry is selected in the Table menu when you insert or delete a column or row, existing columns or rows change size to fill the space of the deleted columns or rows. If Maintain Geometry is not selected, the table changes size as you delete or insert rows and columns.

Combining cells

To combine multiple cells into one, you get the Text Content tool from the Tools palette and Shift-click multiple cells to create a rectangular selection of cells. Then choose Table ⇒ Combine Cells. To revert combined cells, select the combined cells and then choose Table ⇒ Split Cells.

If you combine unlinked cells containing text or pictures, the content of the top-left cell is kept in the combined cell.

Breaking tables automatically

If you anchor a table in a text box, it will automatically break at the bottom of its column or box. To anchor a table in a text box, do this:

1. Get the Item tool and select the table.
2. Choose Edit ⇒ Cut.
3. Get the Text Content tool from the Tools palette and place the text insertion point where you want the table to be.

4. Choose Edit ⇒ Paste.

   The table now flows along with the text.

To add a repeating header, see the “Adding header and footer rows” section, later in this chapter.

If you want a table to break at the bottom of a column or box, the table must be the only thing in the paragraph. It can’t have text or anchored items in front of it or behind it in the same paragraph.

Breaking tables manually

If you add a table break to a table, you can force the table to break vertically or horizontally when it reaches the maximum size that you define. Adding a break is the only way to split a wide table horizontally, which you would do if you wanted to put some of the columns on one page and the other columns on another. Breaking a table this way maintains it as a linked table, so that if you add new rows or columns or change their formatting, all the table portions adjust to accommodate these changes.

To break a table, you first select it and then follow these steps:

1. Choose Table ⇒ Table Break to display the Table Break Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 12-10.

2. Select the Width check box to break the table when its width exceeds the value in the field.

   At first, the current width of the table displays, and decreasing this value breaks the table.

3. Select the Height check box to break the table when its height exceeds the value in the field.

   At first, the current height of the table displays, and decreasing this value breaks the table.

4. To add header rows, enter a value in the Header Rows field.

   If the table already has a header, you can turn on Continued Header to create a different version of it in continued portions of the table. For example, if the header on the first portion of the table is “Dog Costumes,” the Continued Header might be “Dog Costumes (continued).”

   To set the content of the Continued Header, click OK; then edit the header text in any continued portion of the table after the first portion. All the continued portions of the table will then use that text in their header.

5. To include footer rows, enter a value in the Footer Rows field.

6. Click OK.

   If the table is taller or wider than the values you typed into the Table Break Options field, the table separates into two or more linked tables. If not, the table may break and recombine later as you adjust it by resizing or adding rows and columns.

To sever the links between continued tables, select any portion of the table and choose Make Separate Tables from the Table menu.

Adding header and footer rows

You can make header and footer rows repeat automatically in continued portions of a table, which is why you set them up in the Table Break Properties dialog box, as described in the preceding section, “Breaking tables manually.”

To change the number of header and footer rows, either reopen the Table Break Properties dialog box (choose Table ⇒ Table Break to open that dialog box) or select the header or footer rows and choose Table ⇒ Repeat As Header or Table ⇒ Repeat as Footer.

Converting a table back to text

To convert a table to text, select the table and then choose Table ⇒ Convert Table ⇒ To Text. The dialog box shown in Figure 12-11 appears. You can select among options for how you want to separate the rows and columns, such as by paragraphs, spaces, commas, or tabs. You can also choose the order in which to extract the text from the cells (any combination of left-to-right or right-to-left and top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top), and whether to delete the original table.

If you ever need to reverse the order of columns or rows of tabbed text, temporarily convert it to a table and then convert it back to text using a different Text Extraction Order (refer to Figure 12-11).

Converting a table to separate items

Circling back to the beginning of this chapter, remember that a table is just a group of regular QuarkXPress text boxes and picture boxes with some intelligence connecting them. This means that you can, for example, duplicate the table and extract the separate boxes for use elsewhere. To remove the table’s intelligence and convert it to a group of separate text and picture boxes, choose Table ⇒ Convert Table ⇒ To Group. To work with the individual boxes after that, ungroup them by choosing Item ⇒ Ungroup.