Add A Table With Ease In Word 2007

According to the old saying, there's more than one way to skin a cat. I don't know where the origins of this grisly maxim lie, but its meaning is certainly true within the world of Microsoft Word, as the same task can often be performed in a number of different ways.

For example, I could paste the copied contents of my clipboard into a document by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + V. If my hand is already on the mouse, however, it may be quicker simply to right click and select paste from the menu that appears. A third way would be to go to the edit menu and select paste from there. So there are three ways I could perform exactly the same task.

There are many other tasks that have more than one means of execution and in Word 2007 this includes inserting a table. The familiar method from pre-2007 versions, of opening the Table dialog box and entering the desired number of columns and rows, is still available, but Word 2007 offers a far quicker and easier way to set up a table.

Whichever method of insertion you choose, the first step is to select the table button from the insert tab. What made things easier when Word 2007 came along is that in the drop down menu there is a grid made up of squares that represent the columns and rows of a table. Scrolling over the grid will highlight the columns and rows and a table will appear in your document. This table will change in size as the cursor adds or removes columns and rows, and when you have the desired dimensions a simple mouse click will insert the table of that size into your document. Above the grid is a counter that displays the dimensions of the table to save you having to count them yourself.

A third way to insert a table into your document, and another that is available in pre-2007 versions of Word, is to draw it yourself. To do this, select the table button from the Insert tab (Table/Insert/Table in older versions), and click on 'Draw Table'. This will change the cursor into a pencil shape and you simply drag out the outline of your table as you would any other shape. You can now divide your box into columns and rows by drawing lines across the frame with the pencil. The tables and borders dialog box offers a variety of options to change the look of the table, such as merging or splitting cells and distributing the columns and rows equally.

So with your table inserted you need now only add the data. Columns containing short pieces of data, dates for example, can be narrowed by hovering over the vertical line to the right of the data until a double-headed arrow appears. Just as in Excel, double-clicking at this point will automatically resize the column width to accommodate the data with no space wasted. Alternatively you can hold down the mouse button and drag to narrow or widen the column yourself (notice again that there is more than one way to complete the same task).

Word 2007 also offers a whole host of different ways to turn the plain old black and white lines of a table into a colourful and very professional-looking document. If you click anywhere on the table you will see a new 'Table Tools' tab appear at the top of the screen, and underneath this are two sub-tabs, 'Design' and 'Layout'. The former opens up a vast array of styles to customise your table and the latter allows you to make changes to the structure of the table, such as adding rows or columns.

Word has moved on to another level of simplicity with the introduction of features such as these, and there are many more just waiting to be discovered.