Awesome InDesign Tables (and Layouts with Tables That Don’t Look Like It)

Jason Hoppe will show you how to build and edit tables from the simple to the complex. Newbies will be able get their feet wet in tables, while the more experienced can learn tips and tricks to make working with tables easier and faster.

Tables are one of Jason's favorite features in InDesign. He thinks of tables as boxes in which he can put any content, and emphasize the “any” content portion. Understanding how to format tables quickly and effectively is key to Jason's presentation. Knowing and working with all the attributes can help you create incredibly complex tables. The unexpected bonus of knowing tables is that those same attributes can solve layout dilemmas that, at first glance, might not be so obvious. Tables often offer solutions beyond what people think of tables.

Takeaways from this presentation:

• Think of tables as a grid, like a spreadsheet.
• Add, duplicate, move and remove rows and columns.
• Resize rows and columns individually or proportionately.
• Flow long tables over multiple pages.
• Control headers and footers.
• Split and merge cells in numerous combinations.
• Turn on and off table row and column strokes in endless combinations, including the new features of adding paragraph shading and borders.
• Discover how table cells can have a variable height that changes with the content.
• Find out how to insert images into table cells.
• Learn to think of table cells as packages in which you can put any content for easy alignment of items.

And most importantly:

• These features can be used for layouts that you don’t want to look like a table and can be used as a simple way of inputting and aligning content.

Bonus: All attendees get a copy of Jason Hoppe's Table Shortcut Sheet.

Location and Free Parking

The Ventana is a residental complex on the west end of the Playa Vista community. The Club Room is located on the first floor directly off the lobby. (You can see it from outside before you enter the building.) There is ample free parking on both sides of the street that borders the park in front of the complex.

Meeting Notes

By Alvin Takamori

On a rainy evening in January, the Los Angeles InDesign User Group gathered in a living-room like setting at The Ventana Club Room in Playa Vista.

To begin, we heard a brief presentation from Dave Roberts. No, not the Dodgers Manager. This was the Community Engagement Program Manager for Extensis. Among other things, they make the font management software, Suitcase.

The main presenter for the evening was Jason Hoppe, an Adobe Authorized instructor, an Adobe Max master, and founding instructor of Creative Live. Obviously, he is qualified to teach numerous topics regarding Adobe software. For the LAIDUG, his subject was InDesign Tables.

Jason broke the ice by entertaining us with the first video he ever made, which was about  pumpkin carving and included his hairless cats. After this brief insight into his personal life, Jason dived into tables. He described them very succinctly. They are just a set of text boxes. Containers into which things can be placed.

One of the challenges for anyone unfamiliar with tables is figuring out how to resize it. Trying to grab the edges with an arrow tool, the way you would grab and resize a rectangle, doesn’t work. You have to hold the Command key (on a Mac), then you can pull the edges to resize the table.

Resizing a single row or column is another challenge. Trying to grab the edge of a row or column with the arrow tool is futile. You need the text tool, which can be accessed by double clicking the arrow tool. The text tool cursor allows you to pull on the edges of rows and columns and resize them.

To navigate from one cell of a table to the next, you can use arrow keys. To select multiple cells, hold the Shift key and select cells with the text tool. Be sure to select the entire cell, not just the content.

Jason explained how to create a table using data from an Excel sheet. Use Place and check the box for Show Import Options. Choose the Excel file you want data from, then select Unformatted Tabbed Text from the pop-up window. Place the text then, select it and go to the Table menu and choose Convert Text to Table. In the pop-up window, choose Tab for Column Separator and Paragraph for Row Separator. Click Okay and you should have a table.

To customize a table, select it and go to the Table menu and choose Table Options. There you can change the thickness and color of Row Strokes or Column Strokes. Cells can be filled with a color in rows or columns. The fills can also be applied in alternating patterns. Headers and Footers can be added to the table.

Rows and Columns can be dragged and dropped to change their position within a table. If you hold the Option key while dragging a row or column, a duplicate is made.

Like any text, Paragraph and Character Styles can be applied to text inside a table. The Eyedropper tool can be used to copy a Style from one table to another.

Jason then showed us a quick way to add cells of the same size to a Table. Use the text cursor and begin pulling the bottom edge of the Table down. After you start pulling, but before you release, click the Option key. As you extend the Table, rows of the same size will be duplicated as many times as needed to fill the table.

Jason also demonstrated that graphics can be placed inside Tables. Right click or go to the Table menu and select Convert a Cell to Graphic Cell. Now an image can be placed inside the cell. He also put another text box inside the table. Anything that can be selected and copied can be placed inside a table. If the graphic doesn’t fit inside a cell, it can be adjusted by going to the Object menu and scrolling down to Fitting.

Under the Table menu, there are options to Merge Cells, Unmerge Cells, Split Cell Horizontally, or Vertically.

Under the Window menu, you can pull up a table pop-up window. In the window there are options to set Cell Styles. There you can set positioning of text and graphics within a cell. You can also set the Stroke or Fill of a cell. Strokes and Fills for the entire table can be set under Table Styles.

Tables don’t have rounded corners, but Jason demonstrated how he created the look of a table with rounded corners by nesting a table inside a text box.

To have a database linked to a table, before you make the table, go to InDesign Preferences. Next, go to File Handling. Check the box for Create Links When Placing Text and Spreadsheet Files. Now, when text and spreadsheet files are placed, the link to the original database will be preserved. So, if changes are made to the original database your table will reflect or at least notify you of changes.

As you can see, Jason quickly ran through a series of things that can be done with tables. After that, he took a few questions. Then we conducted the usual raffle with a special prize: an actual folding table.

Farthest Attendee

The bona fide LAIDUG member who travels the farthest specifically to attend the meeting will receive her or his choice of any one deal at MightyDeals up to $50.00. MightyDeals offers fonts, templates, apps, e-books, etc. You  need to prove to us that you traveled farthest to attend this meeting. Having recently moved to the area from somewhere else won't cut it. Be prepared to show us indication of your current residence—perhaps a driver's license or a utility bill. Decision of the administrators of the Los Angeles InDesign User Group is final. Winner — Jason Roberts

Raffles

LAIDUG is supported by raffles of donated prizes. No one is required to participate in the raffles. Raffle tickets are: 1 for $3, 2 for $5, 5 for $10, 11 for $20, 24 for $40, 32 for $50 and 65 for $100. All major credit cards are accepted.

Special Raffle Prize

In addition to our ongoing sponsor raffle prizes, we have added a special raffle prize appropriate to the meeting's topic: a table. One lucky person will win a Lifetime (brand) 24"x48" commercial folding table with almond top and bronze legs. After you learn about tables, take one home! Winner — Emily Mohamed

Raffle Prizes and Winners

GoProof from Oppolis Software. 3 month subscription for 2 users. Value $300.00 Winner — Enrique Ortega
Proofing add-on for Adobe Creative Cloud. Version history tracks what has been changed and by whom.

Markzware. Any single product. 12 month subscription. Value $199.00 Winner — Eduardo Pablin
Choose one from the list below:
Q2ID (Quark to InDesign), Convert and open QuarkXPress files in InDesign.
PDF2DTP (PDF to InDesign), Convert PDF files to InDesign.
FC (FlightCheck), Check native and PDF files for printing quality.
IDMarkz, Open, preview, export and convert InDesign files.

Suitcase Fusion 8 from Extensis. 12 month subscription. Value $119.95 Winner — Diane Schlesinger
Font management program that allows you to organize your fonts from one plane—including system fonts, purchased fonts, fonts synced from Adobe Typekit, Google fonts, etc.

Font Agent Pro from Insider Software. Value $99.95 Winner — Jason Roberts
Font management that allows you to organize, distribute and control your fonts.

DTP Tools Cloud for InDesign. 6 month subscription. Value $77.40 Winner — Angie Cibis
Suite of 14 different InDesign productivity tools.

Adobe Stock. 15 image licenses. Value $44.00 Winner — Carla Cuadros
Royalty-free, high-quality photos, videos, and illustrations.

InDesign Magazine. 6 month subscription. Value $30.00 Winner — Diane Schlesinger
Monthly PDF publication devoted to InDesign how-tos, in-depth features, and quick tips.

About the Presenter

Jason Hoppe

Jason Hoppe is an Adobe Certified Expert InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat and an Adobe Authorized Instructor, and was recently named an Adobe MAX master. He was the founding instructor of CreativeLive and has created more than 250 videos in graphic design and production. He writes an Illustrator blog on all things Illustrator at www.jasonhoppe.com and is the author of Illustrator Course and Compendium due out in December 2019 by Rocky Nook publishers. He teaches at the School of Visual Concepts, LuminousWorks and Seattle Central College.

His love of creation and discovery comes from customizing lawn mowers at an early age and his profound love of cars from the age of three. Being raised with no television, he channeled his curiosity and energy fixing, restoring and collecting cars since he was 14, and is a self proclaimed car whisperer. He lives in Seattle with his partner and two wonderful hairless cats.