How to Make a Table with Different Sized Cells in HTML?

To make a table with different sized cells in HTML, you can use the style attribute with the width and height properties directly on the individual cell elements (<td> or <th>), row elements (<tr>), or even the table element (<table>).

HTML tables can indeed have different sizes for each column, row, or the entire table. As the reference states, you can use the style attribute with the width or height properties to specify the size of a table, row or column. Applying these styles allows you to control the dimensions of specific cells or groups of cells within the table layout.

Controlling Cell Size Directly

The most direct way to control the size of an individual cell is by applying the style attribute to the <td> (table data) or <th> (table header) element itself.

Using the style Attribute on <td> or <th>

You can set the width and height properties within the style attribute of a specific <td> or <th> tag.

• width: Specifies the preferred width of the cell.
• height: Specifies the preferred height of the cell.

The browser will try to accommodate these sizes, but the final layout can still be influenced by other factors like content within the cell, styles on other cells in the same row/column, and table-level styles.

Example:

<table>
  <tr>
    <td style="width: 150px; height: 80px;">This cell is larger</td>
    <td>Standard cell</td>
    <td>Another standard cell</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Standard cell</td>
    <td style="width: 100px;">This cell has a specific width</td>
    <td style="height: 60px;">This cell has a specific height</td>
  </tr>
</table>

• In this example, the first cell in the first row is explicitly given a width and height, making it larger than the others.
• The second cell in the second row has only a specific width, affecting its column.
• The third cell in the second row has only a specific height, affecting its row.

Controlling Size via Rows

Applying the style attribute with the height property to a <tr> element sets the minimum height for all cells within that specific row.

Example:

<table>
  <tr>
    <td>Standard row height</td>
    <td>Standard row height</td>
  </tr>
  <tr style="height: 100px;">
    <td>This row is taller</td>
    <td>All cells in this row are taller</td>
  </tr>
</table>

• Setting the height on the <tr> ensures that all <td> or <th> elements within that row have at least the specified height.

Controlling Size via the Table

Applying width or height to the <table> element controls the overall size of the table. This doesn't directly make individual cells different base sizes but affects how space is distributed among columns and rows, potentially influencing the final rendered size of cells.

Example:

<table style="width: 50%;">
  <tr>
    <td>Cell 1A</td>
    <td>Cell 1B</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Cell 2A</td>
    <td>Cell 2B</td>
  </tr>
</table>

• Setting the table width to 50% makes the table occupy half the width of its container. The cells within will adjust their sizes to fit this constraint.

Key Takeaways

• Use the style attribute with width and height properties.
• Apply style to <td> or <th> for individual cell control.
• Apply style to <tr> for row height control.
• Apply style to <table> for overall table dimension control.
• Browser rendering can slightly adjust sizes based on content and layout complexities.

By strategically applying these styles, you can effectively create tables with cells of varying dimensions to suit your layout needs.