Table and cell styles

Just as you use text styles to format text, you can use table and cell styles to format tables. A table style is a collection of table formatting attributes, such as table borders and row and column strokes, that can be applied in a single step. A cell style includes formatting such as cell insets, paragraph styles, and strokes and fills. When you edit a style, all tables or cells to which the style is applied are updated automatically.

[Basic Table] and [None] styles

By default, each new document contains a [Basic Table] style that can be applied to tables you create and a [None] style that can be used to remove cell styles applied to cells. You can edit the [Basic Table] style, but you can’t rename or delete either [Basic Table] or [None].

Using cell styles in table styles

When you create a table style, you can specify which cell styles are applied to different regions of the table: header and footer rows, left and right columns, and body rows. For example, for the header row, you can assign a cell style that applies a paragraph style, and for the left and right columns, you can assign different cell styles that apply shaded backgrounds.

Cell style attributes

Cell styles do not necessarily include all the formatting attributes of a selected cell. When you create a cell style, you can determine which attributes are included. That way, applying the cell style changes only the desired attributes, such as cell fill color, and ignores all other cell attributes.

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:

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.

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.

Table/Cell Styles panels overview

Use the Table Styles panel (Window > Styles >Table Styles) to create and name table styles, and to apply the styles to existing tables or tables you create or import. Use the Cell Styles panel (Window > Styles > Cell Styles) to create and name cell styles, and to apply the styles to table cells. Styles are saved with a document and appear in the panel each time you open that document. You can save table and cell styles in groups for easier management.

When you position the insertion point in a cell or table, any style that is applied is highlighted in either of the panels. The name of any cell style that is applied through a table style appears in the lower left corner of the Cell Styles area. If you select a range of cells that contains multiple styles, no style is highlighted and the Cell Styles panel displays “(Mixed).”

Open the Table Styles or Cell Styles panel

Change how styles are listed in the panel

• Select Small Panel Rows to display a condensed version of the styles.
• Drag the style to a different position. You can also drag styles to groups that you create.
• Choose Sort By Name from the panel menu to list the styles alphabetically.

Define table and cell styles

Load (import) table styles from other documents

You can import table and cell styles from another InDesign document into the active document. During import, you can determine which styles are loaded and what should occur if a loaded style has the same name as a style in the current document. You can also import styles from an InCopy document.

Apply table and cell styles

Unlike paragraph and character styles, table and cell styles do not share attributes, so applying a table style does not override cell formatting, and applying a cell style does not override table formatting. By default, applying a cell style removes formatting applied by any previous cell style, but does not remove local cell formatting. Similarly, applying a table style removes formatting applied by any previous table style, but does not remove overrides made using the Table Options dialog box.

In the Styles panel, a plus sign (+) appears next to the current cell or table style if the selected cell or table has additional formatting that isn’t part of the applied style. Such additional formatting is called an override.

Base one table or cell style on another

You can create links between similar table or cell styles by creating a base, or parent, style. When you edit the parent style, any changed attribute that appears in the child styles will change as well. By default, table styles are based on [No Table Style], and cell styles are based on [None].

Edit table and cell styles

One of the advantages of using styles is that when you change the definition of a style, all of the tables or cells formatted with that style change to match the new style definition.

Delete table and cell styles

When you delete a style, you can select a different style to replace it, and you can choose whether to preserve the formatting.

Redefine table or cell styles based on current formatting

After you apply a style, you can override any of its settings. If you decide you like the changes, you can redefine the style to retain the new formatting.

Override table and cell styles

After you apply a table or cell style, you can override any of its settings. To override a table style, you can change options in the Table Options dialog box. To override a cell, you can change options in the Cell Options dialog box or use other panels to change the stroke or fill. If you select a table or cell that has an override, a plus sign (+) appears next to the style in the Styles panel.

You can clear table and cell overrides when you apply a style. You can also clear overrides from a table or cell to which a style has already been applied.

Preserve or remove overrides while applying a table style

• To apply a table style and preserve cell styles but remove overrides, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you click the style in the Table Styles panel.
• To apply a table style and remove both cell styles and overrides, hold down Alt+Shift (Windows) or Option+Shift (Mac OS) as you click the style in the Table Styles panel.

Remove overrides while applying a cell style

Clear attributes not defined by a cell style

Clear table or cell overrides

Break the link to table or cell styles

When you break the link between tables or cells and the style applied to them, the tables or cells retain their current formatting. However, future changes to that style won’t affect them.