Learning Microsoft Word 2007

By Greg Bowden

Chapter 13

Using the Table

Tools

Guided Computer Tutorials

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© Greg Bowden

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 Chapter

13
Using the Table Tools
In the last chapter you used TAB STOPS to create simple tables. When more detailed
tables are required, Microsoft Word’s TABLE TOOLS can be used. Basically the TABLE
feature is a simplified spreadsheet that can be inserted anywhere in a Word document.
Its use can save you having to set margins and indents using the Ruler. Let’s create a
simple roster to illustrate the use of the table tools.

Entering the Heading

1 Load Microsoft Word, or close the current file and start a NEW BLANK DOCUMENT.
2 Enter the heading:
MAKE BELIEVE HIGH SCHOOL
and press the <enter> key twice to add some space after it.

3 Highlight the heading and set it to

14 POINT and BOLD.

Inserting the Table

1 Position the cursor on the blank line

after the heading.

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Learning Microsoft Word 2007

2 Open the INSERT tab of the RIBBON

and click on the TABLE icon.

3 Move the pointer down 3 rows and

across 2 columns to highlight a 3 x 2
table and click the mouse button.

4 A 2 x 3 table is inserted at the cursor

position.

Changing Column Widths

The widths of columns can be adjusted.

1 Move the pointer over the border

at the centre of the table until
it changes to a cross hair with
horizontal arrows.

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 Using the Table Tools 13

2 Drag the border to the left so that

COLUMN A is 4 cm wide.

3 COLUMN B is now much wider.

Merging Cells
A heading will be entered in the top row, but it will need to extend across the top of the
table, so the top two cells will be merged into one.

1 Drag the I-BEAM across the top two

cells to highlight them.

2 Open the TABLE TOOLS - LAYOUT

tab in the RIBBON and click on the
MERGE CELLS icon to combine the
two cells into one.

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Learning Microsoft Word 2007

3 Click in the top cell and enter:

Yard Duty Roster, 15 March 2009

4 Highlight the text and set it 12

POINT, BOLD and CENTRE to centre
the text across the two columns.

NOTE: You can click to the left of a row to highlight the whole row.

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 Using the Table Tools 13

Shading Cells
Cells within the table can be shaded.
1 Open the TABLE TOOLS - DESIGN tab in
the RIBBON.

2 Click on the SHADING icon and select a

light colour to fill the top cell.

NOTE: You can set the text in the top cell to a different colour if you
wish using the HOME tab or the MINI TOOLBAR.

Row Heights
You can change the height of rows. In this case it would look better to have the top row
of the table larger than the others.

1 Move the pointer over the bottom

border of ROW 1 until it changes to
vertical arrows.

2 Drag the bottom border down by

about half a centimetre to increase
the ROW HEIGHT.

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Learning Microsoft Word 2007

Vertical Alignment
The vertical position of the text in a cell can be set to TOP, BOTTOM or CENTRE. Let’s
vertically centre the text in ROW 1.

With the text selected click on the

ALIGN CENTRE icon in the TABLE
TOOLS - LAYOUT tab of the RIBBON.

NOTE: The ALIGNMENT buttons in the ALIGNMENT group of the

TABLE TOOLS LAYOUT tab also sets the horizontal alignments.

Completing the Table

1 Click in cell A2 and enter:

Julie Etheridge, 7-1

2 Press the <tab> key to move the

cursor to cell B2.

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