I’m working with a table in InDesign and trying to create the appearance of a vertical line with gaps at the top and bottom between rows.Here’s what I’ve tried:Added a narrow column and applied a cell fill to mimic a vertical line.Added top and bottom cell insets (padding) via Table > Cell Options > Text.Tried adding spaces or soft returns inside each cell to force the padding to take effect.But the fill still runs full-height, and I can’t get the padding to create visible gaps at the top and bottom of the fill area.Is there a better method to achieve this effect using native table features (no manual lines)?See orange line below, I'm trying to create this with stroke, not add in manually. the arrow head I can add in manually.

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Question

InDesign Table – Can’t Get Cell Padding to Affect Fill or Vertical Line Appearance

Forum|Forum|8 months ago
June 16, 2025
2 replies
611 views

I’m working with a table in InDesign and trying to create the appearance of a vertical line with gaps at the top and bottom between rows.

Here’s what I’ve tried:

Added a narrow column and applied a cell fill to mimic a vertical line.
Added top and bottom cell insets (padding) via Table > Cell Options > Text.
Tried adding spaces or soft returns inside each cell to force the padding to take effect.

But the fill still runs full-height, and I can’t get the padding to create visible gaps at the top and bottom of the fill area.

Is there a better method to achieve this effect using native table features (no manual lines)?

See orange line below, I'm trying to create this with stroke, not add in manually. the arrow head I can add in manually.

How to

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

Another option is to create a custom stroke style in the Strokes panel wtih gaps at the top and bottom.

Then create a cell style (auto-applied to first column in table style) with the orange rule.

Note: I did not try to replicate your layout exactly.

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

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nelly@egdesignAuthor

Participating Frequently

I'm so close to getting this but I'm just not getting the gaps in still, I just can't for the life of me figure this out!! I don't suppose you could have a look at this .indd file and see where i've gone wrong?

🙂

NC_Calander_2025_orange.zip

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

Here you go.

(I don't know if this was just a quick sample, but you should learn to use styles to your advantage.)

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

DC_NC_Calander_2025_orange.zip

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nelly@egdesignAuthor

Participating Frequently

Screenshot_2025-06-16_at_6-30-36 pm.png

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

Instead of this you could try using paragraph rules for the Numbers

Normally they sit above or below - but you can offset the rule to the right and increase the pt size

Keeping them all even - you can then use a Paragraph Style going forward to make any global changes.

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nelly@egdesignAuthor

Participating Frequently

That's such a great idea thank you. I did think to place an I and right justify, and it would work except as I go through asjust the layout, the height of the cell is likely to change a few times and some cells higher than others too, so that's why I was looking for another way to do it where the height would adjust with hte cell height 🙂

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