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jhagerty1952
jhagerty1952
Participant
February 11, 2019
Answered

Wonky table formatting in InDesign

  • February 11, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 813 views

Hello all -

I am a relative newcomer to InDesign, but not layout software in general.

My current book layout has several tables in it, and I can't seem to get them to format uniformly.  I just want the contents of each cell to be centered vertically and horizontally.  Horizontal works, but vertical seems to have a mind of its own.  Here's a screencap from the layout:

I've read through other answers and have implemented the suggestions such as creating both table styles and cell styles, but it always comes out as shown.  Further, when I either "distribute rows evenly" or move the horizontal borders by hand, the text doesn't move until the border collides with it.

These tables were originally created in MS Word where they format fine.  I even tried creating them from scratch.

What am I doing wrong?  I'm using InDesign CC 14.0.1 x 64

TIA - Jack

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Barb Binder

    Hi Jack:

    Are you selecting the entire table prior to Table > Distribute Rows evenly?

    In addition to Uwe's suggestions (select the table, Table > Cell Options > Text) you can also try Table > Cell Options > Rows and Columns and set the Row Height to Exactly and enter the value of your choice.

    Before:

    After:

    ~Barb

    3 replies

    jane-e
    Community Expert
    jane-eCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    February 12, 2019

    Hi

    In addition to what Uwe and Barb said, here's what I would check:

    Is there a baseline grid enabled for the text? That would cause this kind of spacing — I just tested and was able to reproduce it. If you are using Paragraph styles (you should be), then redefine the style in Paragraph styles > Indents and Spacing > Align to Grid.

    If you are not using Paragraph styles (start using them) or open the Paragraph panel from the Window menu. The two buttons in the bottom control whether the text is using the baseline grid. You can also find these in the Control panel.

    ~ Jane

    jhagerty1952
    jhagerty1952Author
    Participant
    February 12, 2019

    Hi Jane -

    My goodness, of course I'm using Paragraph Styles!  I created a Style just for Table text which was already set to "Align to Grid."

    I'm not sure what those two buttons are at the bottom of the panel opened through the Windows drop-down, but that seemed to fix it!  If that's the "Align to Grid" button, I'm not sure why it wasn't already doing it from the Paragraph style already.

    Thank's so much!

    - Jack

    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    February 12, 2019

    Hi Jack:

    Are you selecting the entire table prior to Table > Distribute Rows evenly?

    In addition to Uwe's suggestions (select the table, Table > Cell Options > Text) you can also try Table > Cell Options > Rows and Columns and set the Row Height to Exactly and enter the value of your choice.

    Before:

    After:

    ~Barb

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    jhagerty1952
    jhagerty1952Author
    Participant
    February 12, 2019

    Hi Barb -

    I wasn't selecting the entire table prior to distributing the rows since I had a slightly different format for the table title and header row.  But when I did select it all (by using the upper left corner arrow) and did the distribution, everything did line up!  I never thought I'd say this, but I wish the table formatting worked more like the Microsoft version in Word and Publisher.  They let you format partial selections within limits.

    I set the Row Height to Exactly and tried a few values, but it didn't quite work right, so I went back to the earlier settings since it's at least workable.

    Thank you!

    - Jack

      L
      Community Expert
      LaubenderCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      February 11, 2019

      Hi jhagerty1952 ,

      check all the values for cell insets.

      Also the value for first baseline of text in every cell.

      Regards,
      Uwe

      jhagerty1952
      jhagerty1952Author
      Participant
      February 12, 2019

      Hi Uwe -

      The cell insets were set to 0, but I upped that to .0625 (linked) and that seemed to help.  The First Baseline is set to "Ascent" but I have no idea what that means.  Changing it to the other selections didn't do anything.

      Thanks!

      - Jack

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