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PetrusK
Participant
May 14, 2025
Question

Table Stroke Issues

  • May 14, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 126 views

I also have huge problems with table strokes: they seem to behave totally erratically. I can't control them even in Cell Styles any more. I've been trying to define a cell style where the sides and the top would be transparent and the bottom stroke black. But deactivating the unwanted sides doesn't work, and making them transparent with the new "Stroke" panel doesn't work either. It's a mess.

2 replies

Mike Witherell
Community Expert
Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 14, 2025

Hi Petrusk,

Bear these facts in mind:

Tables attributes can be confusing because up to 5 situations can be overriding what you think you should see.

Table original attributes

Table Style

Cell Styles

Overrides to Table Style

Overrides to Cell Styles

 

The easiest way to dress tables is to make Table Styles with its complement of Cell Styles. Make these without selecting anything in the table (so that they are clinically pure). When done, apply the Table Style all at once with a click.

 

Finish it up by seeing the + plus sign next to "None" in Cell Styles panel. Remove those overrides by clicking either of the two buttons at the bottom of the Cell Styles panel that remove extra attributes not defined in the style.

 

Study this:

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/table-cell-styles.html

which includes this revealing info:

 

Formatting precedence in styles

If a conflict occurs in formatting applied to a table cell, the following order of precedence determines which formatting is used:

Cell style precedence

1. Header/Footer 2. Left column/Right column 3. Body rows. For example, if a cell appears in both the header and the left column, the formatting from the header cell style is used.

Table style precedence

1. Cell overrides 2. Cell style 3. Cell styles applied from a table style 4. Table overrides 5. Table styles. For example, if you apply one fill using the Cell Options dialog box and another fill using the cell style, the fill from the Cell Options dialog box is used.

Mike Witherell
    P
    PetrusKAuthor
    Participant
    May 14, 2025

    Well, as usual, as soon as I posted my complaint, I found the way to do it. So:

     

    1. Using Stroke panel, make all strokes no-colour.

    2. In Cell Styles, choose sides and top and make them white

    3. Unchoose those three and choose only bottom, make it black

     

    This works but seems more complicated than it should be, doesn't it? Simply unactivating the sides and top doesn't result in anything at all and this choice doesn't stick.

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