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Participant
October 8, 2026
Question

Dreamweaver MX spreading some cells when inserting an image in a cell

  • October 8, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 34 views

I am using Dreamweaver MX.  Sometimes when I add an image into a cell that is the correct size for the cell, it spreads some of my other cells horizontally and leaves white spots between some of my cells when I preview in my browser.  I have Cellpad and Cellspace set at zero.  I am an experienced Dreamweaver user.  Thank you for any help.

    3 replies

    Participant
    October 9, 2026

    Hi again. This screenshot shows my most recent work, with everything in place and the pieces slightly less separated.

    Thanks for your input, and I look forward to your next reply.

    Thank you, Tracy

     

    Participant
    October 9, 2026

     

    Thank you for your answer.  Where do I insert the 1x1 pixel gif file to do what you are telling me about?  I am not able to provide a link right now because this Dreamweaver file is not online yet and the domain for my website is parked at GoDaddy.com.  When I click to insert a file in this reply it will not let me attach a Dreamweaver file.  I could attach a screenshot of this webpage to show you how it looks when when some of the cells have white spaces between them,  but that probably wouldn’t be much help… but I will anyway.

    I have the same problems with some of the cells spreading horizontally leaving white spaces between them when I delete an empty cell or when I try to make a new cell with the cell drawing tool.

    Thank you,

    Tracy

     

    Community Expert
    October 9, 2026

    This is a fairly common issue with table-based layouts, especially when images occupy certain cells.


    Even if the image dimensions match the cell dimensions, the browser may expand other cells or columns to accommodate the content. Setting cellpadding and cellspacing to zero doesn't prevent this from happening.


    Back in those days, we used something called a shim.gif or spacer.gif. It was a tiny 1 × 1 pixel transparent image that could be given specific dimensions to help maintain the width or height of table cells, making the layout a little more rigid. You can find more information about this technique in the old Dreamweaver MX tutorials: https://doczz.net/doc/753081/dreamweaver-mx-tutorials


    Today, this approach became obsolete, table-based layouts is not recommanded at all, the CSS-based layouts is the way to go. CSS offers much more flexibility and control over page design, with the evolution towards responsive design, allowing websites to adapt to the wide variety of devices and screen sizes we face. Rigid table-based layouts became less suitable.


    If you could share a link to your page, we could take a closer look at the table structure and perhaps suggest a simple workaround without having to change your entire layout.