Google Docs Tutorials - Part 12 - Tables: Column, Row and Cell Properties
In this Google Docs tutorial, we delve further into using tables in your Google Doc, specifically Column, Row and Cell Properties
In the previous section, you created a basic table in the Banana Tree document. If you do not have the document open, you will need to open it or create a new document with a basic table.
Even though you have a decent looking table, there is a lot more that you can do with it. You can make the table look a little fancier. If you take a look at the table we created at the end of the previous section, you can see that the “Rank” column takes up quite a bit of space in the table. When the table was first created. the columns were set to equal widths. As there are three columns, each of these columns measures one third of the table width, which as you can see, more than you need for the “Rank” column.
To change the column width, always begin by placing the cursor in a cell within the column you want to change. Click in the “Rank” cell (or any cell within the “Rank” column), and then click on the Table menu. Previously, you were working with the Modify table properties, but this time you are going to use the Modify column properties (as seen to the right). When the Change Column window appears, you can see the available options for modifying the column properties. Note that whatever properties you modify in this window, will only apply to the column in which you have set your cursor.
As you can see, the columns of our table are equally divided at 33.33 percent each. To reduce the width of this column, change the value to 10 percent (as seen below), and then click the Change button – you see that the “Rank” column is now narrower.
Because the table was set to span across half of the page, the remaining space that from the “Rank” column has been equally distributed between the two remaining columns. You can also follow the above steps to make the “Votes” column a little smaller. Click in the “Votes” cell, open the Table menu, and select Modify column properties again. Change the percent to 15 percent this time; click Change, and the “Votes” column is now smaller (as seen below). Overall, the table is looking better.
Another improvement to the table could be aligning numbers in the columns. For instance, the “Rank” numbers would probably look better if they were centered in their cells. This time, place your cursor back in the “Rank” cell, open the Table menu, and then choose Modify column properties. In the Alignment section, change the Horizontal alignment to Center. Then click the Change button. Follow these same steps for the “Votes” column. Your table should resemble the image below.
It is also possible to make changes to a table row. Although the header row in this table stands out with larger text, you can do more to improve the look. Place your cursor in any one of the three cells at the top, click on the Table menu, and this time, select Modify row properties. In the Change Row dialog box (see below), there are many changes you can make to the header row. To change the color of the background for this header row, for example, click in the Color: box under Background to see the color palette. Pick one of the pale yellows, click the Change button, and see the change to the table below – it is looking a better!
There is one more change we will make to our table in this exercise. Since you have the “Rank” and “Votes” titles centered, for consistency the “Recipe” title will look better if centered as well. As usual, place your cursor in the location you want to change – in this case, the “Recipe” cell. Open the Table menu, and this time chose Modify cell properties. In the Alignment, Horizontal: section, select Center, and then click the Change button. See the changes to the table below.
If for some reason, you decide that you no longer want a table in your document, you can delete the entire table by placing your cursor within the table and opening the Table menu. At the bottom of the menu, there are some delete options here: you can delete the entire table, delete one row at a time, or delete one column at a time. Feel free to experiment with these options, and remember to use the Undo button to reverse any un-wanted actions.
Congratulations, you have learned how to create, edit, and format nice-looking table in your document.
