Style and alignment
Make tables faster to read by aligning text and numbers consistently.
COLUMNS
Set alignment and text styling for each column in the Columns tab. Text is usually left-aligned; numbers and amounts are usually right-aligned.
A consistent presentation helps readers compare values across many rows without changing the source data.
Set text style and alignment
Choose presentation settings in the Display section for the column you want to format.
Open Columns
Edit the macro and switch to the Columns tab.
Expand the column settings
Click the column you want to format.
Choose the presentation
Open Display → Text appearance. Under Horizontal alignment, choose left, centre, or right; add a text style or vertical position if useful. The preview updates immediately; save or publish the page when you are done.
A simple example
A finance team reviews monthly spend by category.
- Before
- Amounts are left-aligned and important values get lost in an uneven table.
- After
- The team right-aligns amounts and keeps presentation consistent. Comparing categories becomes much easier at a glance.
Text Appearance
Customize how column values appear using Text appearance settings. You can style text, align content horizontally, control vertical position, and choose whether text flows horizontally or vertically.
COLUMNS
Quick guide
- Open Column settings.
- Open the Display section for the column.
- Find Text appearance.
- Choose a Text style: bold, italic, underline, or strikethrough.
- Select horizontal alignment, vertical position, and text direction as needed.
- Click Save to apply changes.
Text appearance
Text appearance controls how values are displayed inside the cells of a column. These settings live inside the column Display panel.
Text style
Text style lets you apply simple emphasis to the values in a column.
- Bold makes values stand out visually.
- Italic is useful for notes, secondary values, or softer emphasis.
- Underline can help indicate references or values that need attention.
- Strikethrough is useful for deprecated, cancelled, or no-longer-active values.
Horizontal alignment
Horizontal alignment controls where content sits from left to right inside the cell. Available options are left, center, and right.
Left alignment usually works best for text. Right alignment is useful for numbers, prices, and comparable metrics. Center alignment can work well for short labels or status values.
Vertical position
Vertical position controls where content sits from top to bottom inside taller cells. Available options are top, middle, and bottom.
This is useful when rows contain wrapped text, multiline notes, or cells with different content heights.
Text direction
Text direction controls whether values are displayed horizontally or vertically. Horizontal text is the default for most tables. Vertical text can be useful for narrow columns, compact headers, or tables where space is limited.
Use vertical text sparingly. It can save horizontal space, but it may reduce readability for longer values.
Column width
Use Column width in the Display panel to choose how a column uses horizontal space. Default width lets the table distribute its available space. Fit content keeps the column wide enough for its longest header, cell, or total value.
Fit content is useful for short labels, identifiers, and status columns. If several fitted columns need more space than the page provides, readers can scroll the table horizontally.
What to expect
- Text appearance changes how values are shown, not the source data itself.
- Settings are configured per column.
- Combining too many styles can make a table harder to scan.
- Text direction and vertical position are most useful in dense or space-constrained tables.
Finance Operations
Mikado Ltd. — Budget Planning
Context:
The team prepares quarterly financial summaries using Simple Tables. Key metrics like Total and Profit margin must be easy to identify.
Setup:
They apply bold text style to the Status column to highlight values such as "Over Budget" or "OK".
Cancelled rows use strikethrough, numeric columns are right-aligned, and compact label columns use vertical text direction where space is limited.
Impact:
The table becomes easier to scan, allowing faster interpretation of key financial data.
Combine text style, alignment, vertical position, text direction, and column width to improve visual clarity while keeping your table structured and consistent.
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