45
votes
Accepted
Why should lines be avoided in tables?
Edward Tufte is the one that coined the term chart junk to refer to extraneous visual elements that tend to clutter, rather than clarify the data being presented.
This can refer to all sorts of ...
13
votes
Why should lines be avoided in tables?
I think you may reconsider the issue of your question by focusing on the table purpose instead of any general guideline.
For instance, if the readers need to compare the content of different rows, it ...
9
votes
Why should lines be avoided in tables?
I don't believe you or your coworker are right. The more important issue is readability. Spacing on its own can effectively do this, lines / shading can often help to use less space.
Here we have a ...
5
votes
Accepted
Icon thats visualizes a 'custom' sort order
Here's a few ideas I had...
Indicate that items can be dragged with a pointer:
Show items of different sizes asequentially ordered:
Use random letters instead of A & Z:
Use a wavy line:
4
votes
How to show a gradient within a style guide?
They did a nice job with this solution I think: https://angel.co/projects/277264-zeguro-style-guide-brand-design
It's clean but gets the point across.
4
votes
Rounded corners on table cells
Yes, sort of. You can place a textbox inside the table and round that. The technique is a bit tedious but I'm sure somebody has written a script to manage this, if not one could be made.
Image 1: ...
4
votes
Accepted
Setting text in a grid, neatly
As I said it hard to do that task using Acrobat Illustrator so I suggest to do it using Indesign.
before I begin I have to apologize of making a long solution and for not doing all the step... some ...
4
votes
Accepted
InDesign: how to adjust table spacing
You need to study this part of the ID interface, especially the "Cell Height" (which forces your rows to be taller) and "Top/Bottom Cell Insets" (same result, but by increasing ...
4
votes
Icon thats visualizes a 'custom' sort order
Perhaps replace the floppy disk icon with a set of curly braces {} to represent a user-defined script. Or alternatively replace it with a few radio buttons and/or checkboxes in mixed states.
3
votes
Should tables use colons or not?
In my opinion... remove them all!
The use of a table implies some specific usage of headers, columns and rows. Any punctuation like : or . is irrelevant on this context.
So play with the spacing, ...
3
votes
Help to obtain a professional table (using Latex)
First of all, check if there are any preferred style guides you should be following. If there are, there should be guidelines for the use of tables and units etc.
With regards to the units—I don't ...
3
votes
InDesign — Text Frame position within a table cell
As you mentioned before, I think the simplest solution would be to have the holidays on a separate layer. Trying to add them to your current table, although it is possible, could overcomplicate your ...
3
votes
Accepted
InDesign — leader dots in a table (not TOC!)
Command-Shift T will snap the "Tabs" window above whatever text box is active. Then, for this instance, select the far left option ("Left-Justified Tab") and click where you would like your tab to ...
3
votes
Accepted
Is there a way to style header rows only in InDesign CS6?
There's Window > Styles > Table styles and Window > Styles > Cell styles, which you should pretty much always use when working with tables in Indesign. Both panels were introduced cs3
...
3
votes
InDesign: any way to set up document so client can edit content?
No, you cannot lock formatting and keep raw data unlocked in InDesign.
Some alternatives:
InCopy is able to allow limited access to INDD files, assuming your client is willing to learn another ...
3
votes
How to justify table size across pages in Indesign?
There is a field width, if you select the columns. This field is by default an "at least" dimension. Means, that you can scale things manually and InDesign will adapt. If you change that field to "...
3
votes
In InDesign, is it possible to make tables flow to new pages as you insert more tables?
Definitely possible, you just need to make sure your entire content runs as linked (threaded) text frames, then each time a new table is needed just insert that into the same multi-page text frame ...
3
votes
How to create editable tables in Adobe Illustrator?
Illustrator is just not built for the volume of tables and formatting you need. Better look at InDesign for this: https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/creating-tables.html
3
votes
How to visualize large assignment table in a static graphic?
What about using colors? Or at least some shades.
Or something like the old "jumpers" diagrams.
3
votes
How to visualize large assignment table in a static graphic?
What I think you are describing is what is commonly and very generally called DIP Switches (Dual Inline Package). You can search info on those. They can have just 2 positions (binary- on or off) or 3 ...
2
votes
Sketch3 | Is it possible to create a text table?
Maybe you can try Sketch Data Studio. It's a plugin that makes converting data into data tables quick and easy.
2
votes
How to create charts and tables with Inkscape?
Here's simple way to create table in Inkscape....
First, create rectangle with desired dimension. Then, underMenu>Edit choose Clone,then forward to Create tiled clones. Here you can set number of ...
2
votes
How can the height (or width) of an entire table be changed in one motion/keystroke in Indesign?
Resize tables the same way you would any other object. You can scale the entire table, by holding down Shift (as I have done), or you can adjust the height and width independently.
Use your ...
2
votes
InDesign: paragraph style changes when I add rows to a table
Without looking at the file itself, my best guess is that you have a trailing whitespace at the end of the cell, which has the mentioned formatting applied to it.
When inserting new row(s) in table, ...
2
votes
Accepted
Help to obtain a professional table (using Latex)
You asked:
is it correct to put the "(%)", in the caption? Otherwise how could I point out that the numbers of the table are percentages?
is it correct to put the additional column header before the ...
2
votes
Dealing with a lot of repetition in data table
If they are often grouped, then using some indication that this is all the same and only printing the label on the first one could work, would take some handy coding though.
The other option that ...
2
votes
Should tables use colons or not?
After years working in the corporate field and facing countless similar tables, my advice is you remove all the colons and your "property" column head. People are used to reading tables without the ...
2
votes
Should tables use colons or not?
The colons add nothing and may confuse, as they draw the reader's eye rightwards (which is partly why it looks like 'Property' governs 'UK'). I would rarely use colons in a table, if at all - ...
2
votes
Autoflow images in InDesign table
There are quite a few ways to go about this. Each has it's own strengths and weaknesses. Here are the three that best meet your needs as I understand them in order of likelihood.
Data Merge (vanilla)
...
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