Microsoft Word 2007

Formatting Tables

Word 2007 makes it easy to format your table using table styles. Table styles are predefined formatting options that can be quickly applied to any table, greatly enhancing its appearance and readability. You can add table styles to your table in just a few clicks.

Applying Built-In Table Styles
Working with Custom Table Styles

Applying Built-In Table Styles

Word provides an extensive library of built-in table styles, which can quickly give your table a professional look by applying predefined combinations of borders, shadings, and fonts. You can control how these styles will appear in your table with the Table Style Options settings.

Place the insertion point inside your table
From the Design tab, in the Table Styles group, click MORE
The Table Styles scroll box appears.
From the Built-In section, select a style
NOTE: When you hover your mouse over a style, Word previews the style on your table.

To determine which aspects of the style are applied to your table, in the Table Style Options group, select or deselect the desired options
NOTES:
An option is selected if there is a check mark in front of it.
Options can be applied individually (as shown in the examples below) or in any combination.
These options will affect each table style differently; some options will not affect particular styles at all.

Example	Option	Function
	Header Row	Gives a special format to the top row
	Total Row	Creates a bottom row for column totals NOTE: This option does not create the formulas necessary to automatically calculate a total, but simply sets the last row slightly apart. To create a formula for the last row, please refer to Calculations within Tables.
	Banded Rows	Formats even and odd rows differently, improving readability
	First Column	Gives a special format to the first column NOTE: This option may not be visible in some styles.
	Last Column	Gives a special format to the last column NOTE: This option may not be visible in some styles.
	Banded Columns	Formats even and odd columns differently, improving readability

Working with Custom Table Styles

If Word does not have the right predefined style for your table, you can define and apply a custom style.

Creating a Custom Table Style

Place the insertion point within your table
From the Design tab, in the Table Styles group, click MORE» select New Table Style
The Create New Style from Formatting dialog box appears.
In the Name text box, enter a name for your style
From the Style type pull-down list, select Table
OPTIONAL: From the Style based on pull-down list, select a basic style upon which to base your custom style
HINT: To see a preview of a basic style, you must select it; Word then previews the style in the middle of the Formatting section.
In the Formatting section, from the Apply formatting to pull-down list, select the first part of the table to apply formatting to
Select desired formatting options for that part of the table
HINT: To apply more detailed formatting, click FORMAT » select the desired formatting options.
Repeat steps 7–8 until you achieve the desired results
Click OK

Applying a Custom Table Style

Place the insertion point in your table
From the Design tab, in the Table Styles group, click MORE
The Table Styles scroll box appears.
In the Custom section of the Table Styles scroll box, locate and select your custom table style
The custom table style is applied to your table.