InDesign for QuarkXPress Users [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Creating a New Table

In QuarkXPress 5, you create a new table by dragging out a rectangle the size of the table area with the Table tool. You can also select text which contains tab and return characters, and choose to convert the text to a table. For XPress, a table is a new kind of page item which works like a grid of text or picture boxes linked together.

For InDesign, a table is always an inline (anchored) object in a text frame. To create a new table, place a text insertion point in a frame and choose Insert Table from the Table menu (or press Command-Option-Shift-T/Ctrl-Alt-Shift-T). In the Insert Table dialog box (see Figure 74-2), you define the initial structure of the tablethe number of rows high, and columns wide. When you click OK, InDesign creates a table the width of the enclosing text frame. We describe how to adjust this initial structure of rows and columns in the next chapter.

Like XPress, you can also convert text which contains tab and return characters (a tabular structure) into a table. First, turn on Show Hidden Characters in the Type menu and make sure that there are tab characters where you want columns to be formed, and return characters at the end of each line where you want a row to be defined. Then select the text, and choose Convert Text to Table from the Table menu.

Entering Text in a Table

To enter text into your table, use the Type tool to place a text insertion point in a cell and start typing. You can press the Tab key to advance from cell to cell. (If you press Tab in the last cell, a new row will be created.) Press Shift-Tab to move to the previous cell. Press Return to add a paragraph return within a cell. As you add text (unless you have defined the cell to be a fixed size) the cell expands vertically, but not horizontally. You can also use the Left, Right, Up, and Down Arrow keys to move between cells.

You can also copy and paste text into cells, or use the Place feature to import text into a single cell. We'll talk about placing graphics, inline objects and other tables within a table cell in Chapter 77.