Hi there! In this video we’ll be learning how to create a table in InDesign, so let’s get started.
A table consists of rows and columns of cells. A cell is like a text frame,
in which you can add text, inline graphics, or other tables.
To create a table in InDesign, just go to the table menu, and select ‘create table’, to reveal
the pop-up settings. From here, you can make changes to the number of rows or columns you want.
You can even select the header and footer rows, which we’re going to learn a little later,
so let’s leave them at zero, for now. Since we haven’t created any table styles yet,
we’re going to stick to the ‘basic table’ style, and hit okay. You should find that your cursor is
now loaded, so all you need to do is, click and drag, and your table should be ready.
Another thing to note is that, if you pick the selection tool, and click and drag one of the
corners, to enlarge the table, you’ll find that only the frame gets enlarged, leaving
the table intact. What we learn from this is, in InDesign, even when you insert a table,
a frame is inserted automatically. In earlier versions of InDesign, you would have to first
create a text box, and only then, you could insert a table in it, which is not the case anymore.
To expand the width of the table to the size of the frame, you’ll have to double-click any
of the cells in the extreme right column, and when you find your cursor blinking,
take your cursor to the right edge of the column, until it changes to a bi-directional arrow,
and then, click and drag to the margin on the right, to expand that column.
Now take your cursor to the top left corner of the table, until you find your cursor
transforming into a bold diagonal arrow. Click it, to select the entire table, and then right-click,
and select ‘distribute columns evenly’ option, and all the columns shall be evenly spaced.
To add another row to your table, simply take the cursor to the last cell of the last row,
and hit the ‘tab’ key, and another row shall be added to your table.
To shorten the height of the row, take your cursor to the bottom edge of the row,
until it changes into a bi-directional arrow. Click and drag, to reduce the height. Same way,
click and drag to reduce the height of other rows as well.
To add a number of rows together, click the edge of the bottom row,
and then hold Option on a Mac, or Alt on a PC, and drag it down to add multiple rows together.
Mind you that these rows that you add will be the size of the last row you clicked and dragged from.
To distribute the rows evenly, take your cursor to the top left corner of the table,
until it changes into a bold diagonal arrow, and click once to select the table. Right-click,
and select ‘distribute rows evenly’, to have even rows.
Let’s select some of the rows from the bottom, and then right-click,
and select ‘delete’, and then ‘rows’, and the selected rows will be gone.
Another way to add rows to your table is to take the cursor to the cell of any row,
and then right-click, and go to ‘insert’, and then ‘row.’ In the popup menu,
select whether you want the rows to be added above, or below the active row, and then add
the number of rows you want added, and hit okay, and your rows will be added instantly.
Now let’s copy and paste some information from an excel sheet.
In fact, before doing that, let’s go to ‘preferences’,
and select ‘clipboard handling’, and in the pasting option, select ‘all information’,
and hit okay. What it does is, it pastes, not just the text, but the swatches or styles etc. as well.
Let’s switch to our excel sheet, and copy these five rows by selecting them,
and using Command C on a Mac, or Ctrl C on a PC.
Let’s get back to InDesign, and hit Command V on a Mac, or Ctrl V on a PC, to paste the selection,
and you shall find it pasting like this. Let’s move it to the pasteboard. Let’s also
extend its frame to cover the entire pasted table. Now double-click, and select the text,
and copy it using Command C on a Mac, or Ctrl C on a PC, and if you double-click the InDesign table,
and just hit Command V on a Mac, or Ctrl V on a PC, this is what happens. Let me zoom in. You see,
it looks more like a table, within a table, and this is not what we wanted, so let’s hit Command
Z on a Mac, or Ctrl Z on a PC, to undo the last action. The imported table has eight columns,
and five rows, so what we need to do is, click and select eight columns, and five rows on our table,
and only then, hit Command V on a Mac, or Ctrl V on a PC, and it shall be pasted perfectly.
The pink highlighter behind our text is because of a font mismatch, so select the text,
and change the font to ‘Raleway light’, and also reduce the size to 8 points.
I think the text is way too light. Let’s change the font style to ‘regular’, instead.
So that’s how you can copy, and paste from an excel sheet,
but what if we need to import an excel file to InDesign?
Let’s delete the table, so select it, and hit delete, or backspace.
Let’s also delete the text copied from excel. Now grab the type tool, and make a text box covering
the entire page, and while the cursor is blinking inside the text box, go to file, and then place,
and locate the excel file on the computer, and before hitting ‘open’,
ensure that you check the ‘show import options’ box, and only then hit ‘open.’
On the import options popup, select the sheet you’d like imported, so we need to import Sheet2,
so let’s select that from the dropdown list. We could also see the cell range here,
that tells us that that it has 8 columns from ‘A’ to ‘H’, and 55 rows. It’s an unformatted table,
with the ‘basic table’ style, which is the default style, applied to it, so just hit okay.
You’ll find the table imported, but we don’t have the entire table. How do we know that? You see the
red plus button at the bottom right corner. That tells us that there is more text unaccounted for,
so grab the selection tool, and click the red plus button once, to load the cursor with the
remaining text, and then click the top left corner of page 2, to throw the rest of the text there,
but hey it’s still showing the red plus button, which means that if I have to import an excel
file with thousands of rows I’ll have to keep doing it for hours. No I will not! Let’s undo
the last few actions, until all the text is gone, using Command Z on a Mac, or Ctrl Z on a PC. Grab
the selection tool, and let’s go to the ‘pages’ panel. Double-click the A master, to select it.
Now grab the type tool, and make a text box, so that every page copies it from the A master.
Let’s go back to page 1, and remember it’s a text box on our A master, which means to select
it on page 1, I’ll have to override it. Hold Shift and Command on a Mac, or Shift and Ctrl on a PC,
and then click the text box on page 1, and you will have overridden the A master.
Now double-click, to have the cursor blinking inside the text box on page 1,
and go to file, and then place, and locate the excel file on the computer.
Also ensure that ‘show import options’ is checked, before hitting ‘open.’
On the import options popup, select Sheet 2 from the dropdown, and hit okay,
and this time you’ll find that the entire table has been imported. Much like regular text,
this table is also connected, so any changes you make to the table on page 1,
will be reflected on the rest of the pages, as well. So if I drag this
column to expand it, you could see that it is getting expanded even on page 2.
Another thing to note is that the header is only showing on page 1. When you go to page 2,
you’ll find the information continued from page 1, but no header, so in order to copy the header on
all the pages, let’s go to page 1, and select the header, and then right-click, and select
‘convert to header rows’ option. Now when you go to page 2, you’ll find the header sitting there.
Another interesting feature is, being able to move the columns or rows, so let’s say I want to move
this column to the right, so I’m going to take my cursor to the top edge of this column, until it
turns into a bold arrow, facing downwards. Click it, to select the column, and it selects not
just the column on this page, but the rest of the pages as well, as you can see. Now click anywhere
on this highlighted column, hold, and drag to the right, where you want this column to move,
and release the mouse, and the column will have moved. Let’s move the column back to its position.
Same way, select a row, and then click, hold, and drag, to move it to wherever you want it,
in the table, and it shall move. One last thing to mention is that copying the entire column,
or row is as simple as moving the column, or row, so let’s say I want to copy this row, so I’m going
to select it, and now to copy it, I’m going to first click it, and then hold Option on a Mac,
or Alt on a PC, you shall find a small plus sign appearing right behind the cursor, which means
it’s ready to copy, so drag it to the location you want to copy it to, and ‘mission accomplished!’
Alright guys! That concludes this session. We’ll be talking
about formatting the table in the next video, so stay tuned!