Creating a custom table design in software like Microsoft Excel allows you to define specific formatting for different parts of your table, ensuring consistency and visual appeal across your data. This process involves initiating the creation of a new style that you can then apply to your tables.
Starting the Custom Table Design Process
To begin creating your own custom table design or table style, you first need to work within an existing table in your spreadsheet software. The initial steps guide you to the specific feature where you can define the unique look and feel for elements like headers, total rows, banded rows, and more.
Key Steps to Begin Creating Your Design
According to the provided reference, the starting points for creating a custom table style are as follows:
- Select any cell in the table you want to use to create a custom style. This tells the program which table you are working with or deriving the style from.
- On the Home tab, click Format as Table, or expand the Table Styles gallery from the Table Tools Design tab (the Table tab on a Mac). These options lead you to the collection of predefined and custom table styles.
- Click New Table Style, which will launch the New Table Style dialog. This is the crucial step that opens the interface where you can start defining the specific formatting rules for your custom design.
Once you click "New Table Style," the New Table Style dialog box appears. This is where the actual design work takes place. Within this dialog, you can select different table elements (such as the Whole Table, Header Row, First Column, Last Column, Banded Rows, Total Row, etc.) and apply specific formatting like:
- Font styles (size, color, bold, italics)
- Borders (color, style, thickness)
- Fill colors (background shading)
- Number formatting
By defining these formats for various table parts, you build your unique custom table style. After saving the style, it will be available in the Table Styles gallery for future use on any table in that workbook.
Following these initial steps takes you to the dedicated interface where you have full control over customizing the appearance of your tables.
