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There are times when you will have data that is best organized in a table. This section will show you how to do just that.

Introducing Tables

A table is a grid of lines, and the spaces formed by the grid are called cells.

Tables have rows and columns. A row is a single line of cells that stretches horizontally across the page. A column is a vertical row. See the illustration below.

Figure 2.18: Rows, columns, and cells

Inserting a table is easy. First determine the size of the table you want, for example 3 x 5. Find the calendar-like Table button and click it. A table appears under the button. Move the mouse so that the appropriate number of "cells" are highlighted, then click again. If you wanted a larger table, for example a 9 x 12, you can click and drag to the right and down and release the mouse button when the table is the size you want.

Figure 2.19: Inserting a table

Now that you've got your table, you will probably want to put something in it. (Unless you like having empty grids sitting around your documents.) To type something in a cell, click it in about the middle of the cell and start typing.

NOTE
There is a big difference between a table and a spreadsheet. For just organizing and displaying simple data inside a Word document, a table is fine, but for complex data a spreadsheet is better. Spreadsheets are covered in Chapter Three.

There are times when you want to select a cell and not the text inside it, and also times when you want to select an entire row or column. To select a cell, move the cursor to the lower left-hand corner of the cell, until the cursor turns into a small black diagonal arrow. Click, and the whole cell is selected. To select a whole row, move to the left end of the row, until the cursor turns into a large white arrow and click. To select a column, move to the top of it, until the cursor turns into a small black down arrow, and click.

Tables have their own toolbar and menu. Right-click the toolbars, and click Tables and Borders to display the T&B toolbar.

Adding and Deleting Rows And Columns

Whoops! You needed a 3 x 5 table and you selected a 3 x 4 one. Rather than Undoing and inserting the table again, just choose Table > Insert > Rows Above or Rows Below, whichever seems more appropriate. Rows Above and Rows Below insert a row above or below the row that the insertion point is currently in.

NOTE
You can also find the Insert Table button on the T&B toolbar, click the arrow next to it, and from the menu that appears, choosing Rows Above or Rows Below. This works a bit like the Font Color and Highlighting buttons (see Section 2-1).

You can insert columns as well, by choosing Columns to the Left and Columns to the Right. Then there are times when you want to remove a column or row. In that case, you can select the column or row and hit BACKSPACE.

Resizing Rows and Columns

If you were creating a table of, say, the names and prices of various products you had for sale, youd want to have something like an 18 x 2 table. However, youd probably want the column for the product names to be wider than the price column. To resize row or column, just grab a column or cell boundary (the cursor will change to a double-headed arrow) and drag it in any direction.

Jazz Up Your Table

A plain grid is pretty boring. Why not add flavor to your document simply by spicing up your tables with color and style? The easiest way to do this is to use the Table > Table AutoFormat tool to apply one of 42 styles to your table. You can choose to apply the nine aspects of each style. Below is a table with the Colorful II style applied.

Maybe this overall approach isn't right for you. Perhaps you'd like to color individual cells, rows, or columns. Easy! Just bring up the Tables & Borders toolbar, choose the row, column, or cell you'd like to color, click the arrow next to the Shading Color button (the spilling paint bucket), and choose your color. This works just like the Font Color button.