Is there a way to "autofit" an InDesign table's columns to fit their content?

I don't know if anyone still needs this, but I wored out how to do it when I was trying to find out how to do it.

Select the cells you want to adjust, then go to the table settings in your top menu bar. Set it to 'At Least' then set the size bigger than you need it. Then use the arrows to reduce the table size down until they are all the minimum size they can be with thier contents. 

We want to create a JavaScript function that scans each cell in a given table, calculates the width of the text within each cell based on the number of characters, and then assigns that width to the cell.

There's a solution that works here! 
https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/fit-table-using-frame-to-content/td-p/13569286

simple things long discussions

Auto Column script by Gerald Singelmann will make it for you. Just select the "All Auto On" button.

https://github.com/gsingelmann/indd_autocolumn 

Rudi Warttmann said:

"Laubender: I really try to shorten the time for contributions"

Hi Rudi,

don't hold back!

Cheers,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

There is in fact no "straightforward" mechanism in InDesign. Trying to shrink the cells using "if ... cell.overflows" will make you end up banging your head against the wall because InDesign would need a recompose after each step, well, plus ideally an "idle" phase to reliably redraw the table.

My solution, based on the idea of my friend Martin Fischer, goes like this: I assess the largest cell entry in each column and then assign this value, plus an addition for rounding errors, to the column. Something like:

// Spaltenbreitenoptimierung
// --------------------------------------------

/*
	V 1.0 vom 17.11.2021
	Voraussetzung: Einfügemarke muss in der Tabelle blinken.
*/

// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Variablen, gerne zu bearbeiten
	var zugabe = 0.2  	// Zugabe in Millimetern
// ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

//	Variablen, intern
	var col, c = null;
	var textwidth, cwidth = 0;
	var t = null;

// Auswahl?
	if ( app.selection.length == 0 || app.selection[0].parent.parent.constructor.name != "Table") {
		alert ( "Bitte Einfügemarke in Tabelle stellen", "Keine Tabelle" );
		exit();
	}

// Tabelle ansprechen
	var t = app.selection[0].parent.parent;

// Spalten von rechts nach links durchgehen
	for ( var j = t.columns.length - 1; j >= 0 ; j-- ) {

		col = t.columns[j];

		// durch alle Zeilen durchgehen und die Textbreite feststellen
			for ( var i = 0; i < col.cells.length; i++ ) {
				c = col.cells[i];
				textwidth = c.texts.firstItem().insertionPoints.lastItem().horizontalOffset - c.texts.firstItem().insertionPoints.firstItem().horizontalOffset;
				cwidth = Math.max(cwidth, textwidth);
			}

		// der Spalte die ermittelte Maximalbreite zuweisen und um die Zugabe erhöhen	
			col.width = cwidth + zugabe;

		// und wieder auf Null
			cwidth = 0;
	}

alert ( "Fertig!", "Fertig!" );

where the cursor needs to blink somewhere in the table.

However, this solution shall only show the idea; you have to consider left/right cell insets, multiple rows in a cell, and so on.

Interestingly, this solution is quite performant; this table is optimised in "no time":

Hope this helps and gives you a kind of starting point.

@7707890 Laubender: I really try to shorten the time for contributions 🙂 

Set row height to 'at least' and type in a really low height like 2mm, it autofits

I did not say, that I have that old script available…

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

pensacola2013 said: "May I please get a link for the auto-fit table options - sorry I was late for the party :)))) thanks!"

Please note, that this thread started in September 2009. The said script is ( maybe ) from around 2015, also some years ago when tables were missing some features like graphic cells or footnotes for example. I would not expect it to run error free on any table done with InDesign 2021.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )