Change the look of a table

You can change the appearance of a table by applying a different predesigned style to it, changing the table outline, showing or hiding grid lines, and using alternate row colors.

Apply a different style to a table

Each template comes with a set of predesigned table styles made to look good with that template. You can apply a different style to a table at any time.

  1. Click the table.

  2. In the Table pane of the Format inspector, select a different style from the options at the top of the pane.

If you made changes to your table’s appearance before applying a different table style, the new table style retains those changes. To override those changes when you apply a new style, Control-click the new table style, then choose “Clear Overrides and Apply Style.”

You can also create your own table styles.

Reapply a style to a table

If you made changes to a table’s appearance, for example, by changing the border of table cells, you can revert these changes back to the original table style.

  1. Click anywhere in the table.

  2. In the Table pane of the Format inspector, Control-click the table style you want to reapply, then choose Clear Overrides and Apply Style.

Change the table outline and grid lines

  1. Click anywhere in the table.

  2. In the Table pane of the Format inspector, do any of the following:

    • Change the outline: Change the line type, thickness, and color, using the Table Outline controls.

    • Change the grid lines: Click the Grid Lines buttons to add or remove grid lines from the table body, from the header rows and columns, and from footer rows.

Change the border or background of table cells

You can change the border and background of any selection of table cells.

  1. Select the cells you want to change.

    To change all the cells in a table, select the table.

  2. In the Cell pane of the Format inspector, do any of the following:

    • Change the outline: Click Choose preset button in the Border section, choose a border style from the pop-up menu, then select which borders to apply the style to.

      You can also customize the cell borders—for example, you can make the lines between cells thicker or thinner. To create a custom cell border, click the disclosure triangle to the left of Border. Use the controls to specify a custom style, then click a cell border layout to apply your changes.

      You can change the outline of a table in the Table pane of the Format inspector.

    • Change the background: Click the color well in the Fill section, then select a color option. To customize the background, click the disclosure triangle to the left of Fill, then use the controls to make further changes.

      Controls for choosing a fill color

You can also create rules to automatically change a cell’s appearance when the value in the cell meets certain conditions. For more information, go to Add conditional highlighting to cells.

Alternate row colors

  1. Select the table.

  2. In the Table pane of the Format inspector, select the Alternating Row Color checkbox, then click the color well to select a color.

Row colors don’t alternate for header columns. Header columns have their own appearance based on the table style you choose.