Power Point® All?in?One Desk Reference For Dummies®

Chapter 1. Constructing the Perfect Table

In This Chapter

• Understanding table jargon

• Creating a table and entering the text and numbers

• Aligning the table text in various ways

• Merging and splitting cells to make interesting layouts

• Changing the size of rows and columns

• Decorating a table with table styles, colors, and borders

• Discovering an assortment of table tricks

The best way to present a bunch of data at one time is to do it in a table. Viewers can compare and contrast the data. They can compare Elvis sightings in different cities and income from different Ponzi schemes. They can contrast the number of socks lost in different washing machine brands. A PowerPoint slide isn't the place for an exhaustive table like the kind found in reference books. Researchers can't come back to a PowerPoint table to look up information as they can in a book table. Still, provided that the row labels and column headings are descriptive, a PowerPoint table is a great way to plead your case or defend your position.

As everyone who has worked on tables knows, tables are a chore. Getting all the columns to fit, making columns and rows the right width and height, and editing the text in a table is not easy. This chapter explains how to create tables, enter text in tables, change the number and size of columns and rows, lay out tables, and format tables. You also discover a few tricks — including using a picture for the background — that only magicians know. And to start you on the right foot, I begin by explaining ...