Tip #4680 - Make It Fit
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Make
It Fit
Do you work with tables
in MS Word?
Does it drive
you crazy when the text you're entering into a cell is just a character
or two too long and Word automatically text wraps down to a new line?
You know, something like this:
I don't know about
you, but I don't appreciate the different row heights it creates.
So, what can you do?
Well, I suppose
you could try to resize the column to fit the text. That option is
okay if you've got room to spare in another column.
But what if you
don't have any "wiggle" room with your column widths?
I suppose you
could try making the font smaller, but it will look a little weird
with everything else. So, do you make everything smaller?
You could, but
if you go too small, you're not going to be able to read it.
Have any other ideas?
Lucky for you,
I do!
Starting with
Word 2000, you've got an option that allows you to have Word fit the
text to the cell.
What it does is
officially keep the same font size (specifically its height), but
it shrinks the character widths to make them fit into the cell, like
this:
Obviously, the
amount you're willing to shrink the text width has to be limited,
because it, too, could become unreadable. But it definitely comes
in handy when something is just a bit too big for the cell.
Well, if you're
still with me, you must be interested in the location of this little
"gem," so let's get to that right now!
First, select
the cell(s) in the table you want to treat as text in this
manner.
In Word
2007, you need the Table Tools Layout ribbon.
Click
the small icon in the bottom right corner of the Cell Size
group.
If you have an
older version of Word, you need to use the Table
menu, Table Properties choice to get there.
In all versions,
you're looking for the Cell tab in the Table
Properties dialogue window. Click the Options
button.
In the Cell Options
dialogue window, you're looking to select the "Fit Text"
checkbox.
Click OK.
You'll then be
returned to the Table Properties dialogue window, where you'll need
to click OK again to return to your document.
Voila! Your text
is kept on one line, the font size hasn't officially changed, so editing
later won't be a nightmare and you still have a beautiful table. It
doesn't get any better than that!
~ April
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