Creating and formatting tables

Hello students, welcome to Kwickprep. How would you type a class timetable neatly, using spaces? The columns would never line up. Today we learn to create a table in a word processor and make it look good.

First, some new terms. A table arranges data in rows and columns. A row is a horizontal line of boxes, going left to right. A column is a vertical line of boxes, going top to bottom. A cell is a single box where a row and a column meet, and we type data inside cells.

Here is a small marks table. The first row is the heading row, showing name, maths and science. The second row shows Riya with seventy eight and eighty two. The third row shows Aman with sixty five and seventy one. The last row shows Zoya with ninety and eighty eight. This table has four rows and three columns.

Now let us create one in LibreOffice Writer. Open the Table menu and choose Insert Table, or press Control plus F12. Type the number of columns and rows you need, for example three columns and four rows. Keep Heading ticked, so the first row is formatted as a heading. Then click Insert, and the empty table appears at the cursor.

There are other ways too. On the standard toolbar, click the table button and drag over the small grid to pick rows and columns. In Microsoft Word, the same thing is on the Insert tab, under Table. If you already typed text separated by tabs, select it and choose Table, then Convert, then Text to Table.

Typing in a table is easy with the keyboard. Press Tab to move to the next cell. Press Shift plus Tab to go back to the previous cell. Pressing Enter does not move to the next cell, it adds a new line inside the same cell. And pressing Tab in the very last cell adds a new row at the bottom.

Let us predict. A table has three columns and four rows. The cursor is in the bottom right cell, which is the last cell. You press Tab. What happens? The table gets a fifth row, and the cursor moves to its first cell.

Now formatting. A border is the line drawn around cells. Right-click the table, choose Table Properties, and open the Borders tab. There you choose which sides get lines, and the line style, width and colour. For quick changes, use the borders button on the table toolbar.

Colour helps readers. In Table Properties, the Background tab fills cells with a colour, sometimes called shading. Make the heading row bold, centred and lightly coloured so it stands out. Marks and other numbers look neat when centred or right aligned. All normal character formatting, like font and size, works inside cells too.

Two commands change the shape of cells. Merge Cells joins the selected cells into one big cell, like a single title across the top of a report card. Split Cells divides one cell into several rows or columns, like splitting a subject cell into theory and practical marks. Both are in the Table menu.

Finally, size and ready designs. Drag the border line between two columns to make a column wider or narrower. Table, then Size, then Optimal Column Width fits each column to its content. Table, then AutoFormat Styles, applies a ready made design with borders and colours in one click.

Let us recap. A table is made of rows, columns and cells. Create one with Table, then Insert Table, or Control plus F12. Tab moves to the next cell, and Tab in the last cell adds a new row. Borders and background colour are set in Table Properties. Merge Cells joins cells, and Split Cells divides a cell.