LibreOffice-Suite-Writer-6.3/C2/Tables-and-table-properties-in-Writer/English

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Title: Table and table properties

Author: Pratik Kamble

Novice Reviewer: Nikita and Pooja

Domain Reviewer: Praveen and Nancy

Keywords: Table, modify row and column, table properties


Visual Cue Narration
Slide : Title Welcome to the spoken tutorial on Table and table properties.
Slide : Learning Objectives In this tutorial we will learn how to:
  • Insert a table in a Writer document
  • Add and modify rows and columns
  • And adjust the table properties as per our preference.
Slide: System Requirements This tutorial is recorded using
  • Ubuntu Linux OS 18.04 and
  • LibreOffice Suite version 6.3.5
Slide: Code files
  • Two files have been provided to you in the Code files link on this tutorial page.
  • Pls download and extract the files.
  • Make a copy and then use them for practising.
Open Resume.odt file Open the Resume.odt file which we have created earlier.
Only Narration Now let’s learn how to insert Tables in a Writer document.
Place the cursor at the end of EDUCATION DETAILS >> press Enter. Place the cursor at the end of EDUCATION DETAILS and press Enter.
Point to Insert table icon in Standard toolbar To insert a table into a document, click on the Insert table icon in the Standard toolbar.
Move the cursor to show various combinations of rows and columns


Select 2X4 option

Now, select the size of the table, that is the rows and columns you require.


I will select the 2X4 (2 by 4) option which will give me 4 rows and 2 columns.

Only Narration Let me show you another way to insert a table into a Writer document.
Press the Ctrl + Z keys Before that we will press the Ctrl + Z keys to undo the changes.
Click on Table >> Insert Table Now, click on the Table menu in the menu bar and then click on Insert table option.
Only narration Insert Table dialog-box opens with several fields.
Type Resumetable in Name field In the Name field, let us name the table as Resumetable.
Point to Column field We will keep the number of Columns as 2.
Point to Row field >> click on Plus button till no. 5 In the Rows field, click on the Plus button and increase the number of rows.
Click the Minus symbol to bring the number to 3. Click the Minus button to decrease the number.


Let’s bring the number back to 3

Point to Styles list Below we see a list of Styles.


We can use this list to select a style for the table, if we want to.


Select None >> click on Insert

We’ll click on the Default Style option for now.


Then click on the Insert button at the bottom right.

Point to table A table with two columns and two three rows get inserted below EDUCATION DETAILS.
Only narration Now we can type any information in tabular form inside the table.
Highlight the new table toolbar at the bottom Notice a new toolbar at the bottom.


Here are shortcuts to the most common table features.

Click first row cell Let’s click inside the cell in column 1 and row 1 of the table.
Type “Secondary School Examination” Here we’ll type Secondary School Examination.
Click on adjacent cell >> type 93 % Now, click on the adjacent cell and type 93 %.
Type Higher Secondary School Examination 88%


Type Graduation - B.Tech. CSE 75%

Likewise, we will type other educational details in the table, as shown.


Click on the Rows below icon in the table toolbar

Type Post Graduation - M. Tech. CSE 70%

To add a new row, use the Rows below icon in the table toolbar at the bottom.
Press Tab key When we are in the last row of a table, press the Tab key on the keyboard.


This will add another row to our table.

Click on row 2 column 1. Click on row 2 column 1.
Text on screen:

Tab key helps to move forward from cell-to-cell.

Shift + Tab keys help to move backward from cell-to-cell.

Pressing the Tab key helps to move forward from cell-to-cell.


Pressing Shift + Tab keys help to move backward from cell-to-cell.

Type PhD CSE | 2015 In the last row, type PhD CSE in column 1 and 2015 in column 2.
Slide: Resizing rows and columns Another important feature in tables is resizing rows and columns.


We can adjust the height and width of rows and columns in a table in several ways.

Place the cursor on the right side border of column 2 and drag to increase.


Now drag to decrease.

We can increase the column width manually by dragging the border with the cursor.


Likewise, we can decrease the width as well.

Only narration We can do the same with row height also.
Cursor after the text 88 % Now place the cursor in column 2 of any row and click.
Click >> Table >> Size Then click on the Table menu in the Menu toolbar and on Size option.
Select Minimize column width Now select Minimize Column Width suboption.
Point to column The width of the column adjusts itself automatically.


It matches the width of the content of the cells in the selected column.

Only Narration Next, let’s learn some cool tricks with tables.
Text on screen:

Use the Table-demo.odt file


OpenTable-demo.odt

I am going to use the Table-demo.odt file for this part of the demonstration.


Open the file Table-demo.odt which you downloaded earlier, in Writer.

Point to columns and rows Here I have a table with 2 columns and 5 rows.

Move the cursor right above column 2 of the table


>> cursor changes to downward arrow


>> click the left mouse button >> entire column is selected.

To select an entire column, move the cursor to the top of a column of the table.


The cursor changes into a downward arrow.


Now click the left mouse button. The entire column is selected.

Click on the Centre Align icon Let’s align the text to the centre by clicking on the Centre Align icon.


The entire text in this column gets centre-aligned.

Click anywhere on the document Now click anywhere on the document to deselect.
Move the cursor to the top right corner of the table


>> cursor changes to downward slanting arrow


>> click the left mouse button


Next, move the cursor towards the top left corner of the table.


The cursor changes into a downward slanting arrow.


Click the left mouse button.


The entire table gets selected.

Click anywhere on the document Now click anywhere on the document to deselect.
Click inside any cell in the table Click inside any cell in the table.
Highlight the Table icon in the table toolbar. This time select the entire table by clicking on the Select Table icon in the toolbar.
Click Table menu >> Table properties.

DO NOT CLICK

Click on the Table menu in the menu bar and select Properties.
Click on the Table Properties icon in the table toolbar. Alternatively, click on the Table Properties icon in the table toolbar.
Table Properties dialog box Either ways, the Table Properties dialog box opens.


Here we see many tabs and many options.

Extreme right >> point to Alignment >> Automatic.


Change this to Left.

On the extreme right, notice that the Alignment is set to Automatic.


First, let’s change this to Left.

Only narration On doing so, other disabled options in the dialog box get enabled.
Name of table = MyTable1

Width = 12cm.

Let’s name this table as MyTable1 and change the Width field to 12cm.
Click on OK. Click on the OK button at the bottom of the dialog box.


Observe the change in the size of the columns.

Click inside any cell in the table Once again, click inside any cell in the table.
Click on the Table Properties icon in the table toolbar. Click on the Table Properties icon in the table toolbar once again.
Click on the Column tab. Click on the Column tab.
Under Column Width >> point to column 1 and 2 Under Column Width section, we can see that only 1 and 2 are enabled.


This is because we have only 2 columns in our table.

Change value 2 cm to 10 cm Here, let’s change the value of column 2 to 10cm
Click on Adjust columns proportionally Click on the checkbox for Adjust columns proportionally.
press OK button And press the OK button at the bottom right
Only Narration Observe the change in the size of the column 2.
Click on Select Table icon in the table toolbar. Click on the Select Table icon in the table toolbar.
Click on Optimize Size icon. Now, click on the Optimize Size icon in the table toolbar.


This is the shortcut icon to adjust width of rows and columns.

Select Distribute Columns Evenly Select Distribute Columns Evenly option.
Only Narration The columns are now of the same width.
Place the cursor on the right side border of column 2 and drag to increase.


Now drag to decrease.

We can also increase the column width manually by dragging the border with the cursor.


Likewise, we can decrease the width as well.

Only narration We can do the same with row height also.


Click the cell in column 2 and row 3.

Next, let’s learn how to work with cells in a table.


Click inside the cell in column 2 and row 3.

Press Shift and Ctrl keys >> move the cursor over the left column border. Now keeping the Shift and Ctrl keys pressed, hold the cursor over the left column border.
Drag the column border to the left Then with the mouse, drag the border to the left, as demonstrated here.


The border of that particular cell moves!

Only Narration Next, we will learn to split and merge cells.
Click the cell in 2nd column and 3rd row. Click inside the cell in column 2 and row 3.
Table toolbar >> click on Split Cells In the table toolbar, click on the Split Cells icon.
A dialog box opens with some options.
Split cell into = 3 In the Split cell into field, we will say 3.
Direction = Vertically

Click on OK

In the Direction field, we’ll choose Vertically and click on the OK button.
Only Narration The cell is split into 3 equal cells.
Select the 3 cells Now, let’s select the 3 cells and click on Merge Cells icon in the table toolbar.


The 3 cells get merged.

Only narration That’s how we split and merge cells in a table in Writer.
Click the cell in 2nd column and 3rd row. Once again, click inside the cell in column 2 and row 3.
Table toolbar >> click on Split Table We can even split the table into 2 by clicking on the Split Table icon in the table toolbar.
Dialog box The dialog box that opens, shows some options.



Choose No heading >> click on OK

Depending on what we choose, the table will be split accordingly.


First I will choose No heading and click on the OK button.


Press Ctrl+Z

The table is split into 2 tables.


Press Ctrl + Z keys to undo this action.

Click the cell in 2nd column and 3rd row. Once again, click inside the cell in column 2 and row 3.
Table toolbar >> click on Split Table Click on the Split Table icon in the table toolbar.
Choose Copy heading >> click on OK I will choose the Copy heading option and click on the OK button.
Highlight the 2 tables The table is split into 2 tables with the same column headings.
Only narration Let’s learn about some more alignment options.
Drag down the bottom row boundary of the second table’s heading row. Before that, drag down the bottom row border of the second table’s heading row.
Select the entire header row Select the entire header row as shown here.
Table toolbar >> highlight the 3 cell alignment options Now, look at the alignment options for the cell, in the table toolbar.
Highlight Align Top Align Top is selected, by default.
Click on Align Bottom

Click on Centre Vertically

Click on Align Bottom and Centre Vertically to see how the text gets aligned within the cell.
Click within table 2

cell: Heading1

To give a background colour to a cell, first click within a cell.
Table toolbar >> click on Background Colour icon. In the table toolbar, click on the Table Cell Background Color icon.


Yellow is the default highlight colour.

Background Colour icon>> click on the down-arrow >> choose any other blue colour To open the full colour palette, click on the down-arrow of the icon.


Now we can choose other colours from here.

Next to Background Colour icon >> point first and then click Autoformat Styles icon. Next to Background Color icon, we see Autoformat Styles icon.
Point to AutoFormat dialog box.

Scroll various styles


Click Cancel

AutoFormat dialog box opens up.

We see various styles here that we can apply to our table, if we want to.

Click on the Cancel button.

Table toolbar >> highlight icons for borders, styles, colours In the table toolbar, we see icons for choosing different
  • Borders
  • Border styles
  • Border colours.
Table toolbar >> highlight numerical formats icons And there are numerical formats shortcut icons, too, in the table toolbar.
Only Narration Explore all these options on your own.
Press Ctrl + S Save our file by pressing Ctrl + S keys.


And then close it by clicking on the X icon at the top right.

Only Narration This brings us to the end of this tutorial
Slide: Summary In this tutorial, we learnt to
  • Insert a table in a Writer document
  • Add and modify rows and columns
  • Adjust the table properties as per our preference
Slide: Assignment As an assignment
  • Open practice.odt.
  • Insert a table with 3 rows and 2 columns
  • Add the headings for the columns as Column One and Column Two
  • Add some text in all cells of the table
  • Save and close the file
Slide: About spoken tutorial project The video at the following summarises the Spoken Tutorial project


Please download and watch it.

Slide: Spoken Tutorial workshops We conduct workshops using spoken tutorials and give certificates.


For more details, Please contact us.

Slide: Forums Please post your timed queries in this forum.
Slide: Acknowledgment The Spoken Tutorial project is funded by MHRD Govt of India
Slide: Thank you The script for this tutorial is contributed by Nancy Varkey from IIT Bombay.


This is Pratik Kamble from IIT Bombay signing off. Thank you for watching.

Contributors and Content Editors

Nancyvarkey, Pratik kamble