Converting text to tables
The success of converting text to a table depends on the text preparation itself. It’s important that paragraphs, tabs, spaces, or commas (the characters QuarkXPress can convert) are used consistently in a text block, because these characters are used in the table conversion to define rows and columns. It’s common for users to use multiple tab characters in a word processor to align columns of data — rather than setting appropriate tab stops. If the text block you are converting has such multiple tab characters, the text block probably has an inconsistent number of tabs between columns of data. You will need to make the tab characters consistent before you convert the text to a table.
To convert text to a table:
- Using the Text Content tool
, select all the text you want to convert to a table. - Choose Table > Convert Text to Table to display the Convert Text to Table dialog box. Based on the selected text, QuarkXPress guesses what to Separate Rows With, what to Separate Columns With, and how many Rows and Columns are necessary for the worst-case scenarios in the selected text.
The Convert Text to Table dialog box
- If you want to create text cells that expand as you add text, use the controls in the Auto Fit area.
- If you want the information in the table to flow differently — for example, if the values are currently in descending order but would have more impact in ascending order — you can change the flow. Choose an option from the Cell Fill Order drop-down menu (the default is Left to Right, Top Down).
- Click OK. A new table is created, offset from the original text box.