PagePlus

Manipulating tables

You can select, move, resize, delete, and copy a table and its contents, just as you would with a text frame. Cell properties can also be modified.

To manipulate a table object:

• To resize a table, select it then drag a corner or side handle.

• To move, drag the selected table by using its  Move button.

• To delete a table, select its bouning box and press the Delete key (you can also choose Delete Object from the Edit menu).
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  Select any part of its text and choose Delete from the Table menu, then Table from the submenu.

• To duplicate a selected table and its text, drag its  Move button with the Ctrl key pressed down.
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  First make sure no text is selected by clicking the selected table’s bounding box and use the Copy and Paste commands.

To select and edit text in cells, rows, and columns:

• To select text in a single cell, double- or triple-click text (for word or paragraph selection) or drag over the text. See Editing text on a page.

• To move to the next or previous cells, use the Tab or Shift+Tab keys, respectively, or the keyboard arrow keys.

• To enter text, simply type into a cell at the insertion point. Cells expand vertically as you type to accommodate extra lines of text. To enter a Tab character, press Ctrl+Tab.

• To select a row or column, click its header along the left or top of the selected table. To select more than one row or column, drag across their headers. You can also select cell(s) first, then choose Select from the Table menu (Table>Select from the right-click menu), then either Row or Column from the submenu.

• To select all text (all rows and columns), choose Select>All from the Table menu (Table>Select from the right-click menu, then All from the submenu).

• To copy, paste, and delete selected table text within the same table (or between different tables), use the Copy, Paste and Delete commands as you would for frame text. You can also right-click on a cell containing text and choose Copy&emdash;select a new cell then pick Paste from the Edit menu.

  Fill Right or Fill Down will respectively replicate the contents of a row or column’s first cell across the entire selected row or column. Click the row or column header’s  button, and choose the option from the flyout menu (or via Table>Fill Cells or right-click). To create a sequence of numbers or entries across cells, see Using QuickFill and QuickClear.

  The copy and paste of Microsoft Excel spreadsheet cell contents into any PagePlus table is also possible.

•  To move cell contents within the same table, select the cell(s), and hover over the cell border(s) until the move cursor is shown&emdash;click and drag the cell to its new cell location.

• To format selected text, apply character and paragraph properties or text styles as with any text, from the Text context toolbar (or Format menu).

• To rotate selected text, right-click and choose Table>Cell Properties. On the Orientation tab, use the rotation dial to set a rotation angle or enter a specific value into the input box.

•  Table text can be sorted by row, column, multi-row, multi-column regions or entire table using the Sort button from the context toolbar. See Sorting tables.

• Characters as part of table text can take line, gradient, and bitmap fill properties.

• Table text shares default properties separately from other text types (artistic, frame, or shape). For details, see Updating and saving defaults.

•  To format numbers and insert formulas, switch on the Spreadsheet functions button on the Table context toolbar.

To change the table’s structure and appearance:

• To select a cell, click on the edge of a cell. To select more than one cell, click in one cell and drag across the others, one row or column at a time.

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• To adjust row or column size, drag the  cursor shown when hovering over the separating lines in the table row or column headings. Note that you can adjust a row’s height independent of the amount of text it contains. For absolute row/column sizing, choose Set Column Width(s) or Set Row Height(s) from the Table menu (or use the right-click menu). For individual columns, click the column or row header’s  button, choosing Set Width or Set Height. You can resize your columns without affecting the overall table width by adjusting the column heading with Ctrl-drag.

• To distribute rows or columns, select the entire table or just a selection of rows or columns, then choose Evenly Distribute>Rows or Evenly Distribute>Columns from the Table menu (or use the right-click menu). To honour table width, a cell’s text may wrap when distributing columns.

  To evenly distribute rows in a column, click the column’s   button and choose Evenly Distribute Rows. Conversely, use the equivalent button (and Evenly Distribute Columns command) at a row header to distribute columns on the chosen row.

• Choose Autofit to Contents>Column(s) from the Table menu (or right-click menu) to reduce or increase the size of selected columns to fit to the text of the greatest width. An equivalent option exists for rows.

  For an individual column or row, click its header’s  button, choosing Autofit Row to Contents or Autofit Column to Contents, respectively.

• To delete multiple rows or columns, select them (or cell text), then choose Delete from the Table menu (Table>Delete from the right-click menu), then either Row(s) or Column(s) from the submenu. For an individual column or row, click the header’s  button and choose Delete.

• To insert/remove columns in an existing table, click and drag left/right on the header after the end of the last table column; columns are added or removed as you drag. For insertion of rows, drag up/down on the header at the end of the last row.

     

  Alternatively, select one or more cells, then choose Insert from the Table menu (Table>Insert from the right-click menu), then either Rows… or Columns… from the submenu. In the dialog, specify how many to add, and whether to add them before or after the selected cells.

• To merge cells into larger cells that span more than one row or column (for example, a column head), select a range of cells and choose Merge Cells from the Table menu (Table>Merge Cells from the right-click menu). The merged cell displays only the text originally visible in the top left selected cell. The original cells and their text are preserved, however—to restore them, select the merged cell and choose Separate Cells from the Table menu (Table>Separate Cells from the right-click menu).

  To merge all cells in an individual column or row, click the column or row header’s  button, choosing Merge Cells. Do the equivalent with the Separate Cells command to split cells.

•  To copy cell contents (including text, formatting, borders, and colors) to a new cell in the same table, select the cell(s), press the Ctrl key and hover over the cell border(s) until the copy cursor is shown—click and drag the copied cell to its new cell location.

•  To apply a colored background to a whole table, hover over the top-left hand corner of the table until you see a cursor&emdash;click once, and then use the Color tab or Swatches tab to apply a color fill. (See Applying solid colors).

• To apply a colored background to specific cells, select the cell(s) and again use the Color tab or Swatches tab to color the cells.

Using AutoFormat

To use style presets to customize the table’s appearance:

1. Choose AutoFormat… from the Table menu (Table>AutoFormat… from the right-click menu). The dialog presents a list of table formats, which differ in their use of cell styles (lines, fills, font, and alignment).

2. Select a format from the Format list. To restore plain formatting, choose [Default].

3. (Optional) Check Preserve local formatting to retain any local formatting applied over the original table’s format.

4. Click OK.

You can modify a table format at any time, saving it for future use. See Creating custom table formats for more information.

Setting Cell Properties

To customize the appearance of one or more cells “by hand”:

1. Select the cell(s), row(s) or column(s).

2. Click the  Cell Properties button on the Table context toolbar.
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   For a whole column or row only, click the column or row header’s   button, choosing Cell Properties….
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   Choose Cell Properties… from the Table menu.
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   Table>Cell Properties… from the right-click menu.

3. Use the dialog’s Border, Fill, Transparency, Margins, and Orientation tabs to apply cell formatting, then click OK.

Tab
Border	Select a preset edge line configuration at the right. This is previewed in the Edge Selection box, with bold lines showing lines to be applied. · Click the empty (lower-left) preset to remove all border lines. · Click the Line Style… button to set line properties for the border. Any lines indicated with arrows in the Edge Selection box will take on the new properties.
Fill	Choose a solid, gradient, or bitmap fill from the Type drop-down list.
Transparency	As for Fill but applies a level of transparency instead of a color fill.
Margins	Set Left, Right, Top, and Bottom margins around the inside of the cell’s boundary.
Orientation	Rotate selected text by a chosen preset, angle dial or a custom angle (using direct input).

Manipulating tables