9.3

A quicker way to create a table from Excel data — without linking the source table to the
QuarkXPress project for updates — is to copy and paste. To do this, select any portion of
data in an Excel worksheet and copy the selected data. Then simply switch to QuarkXPress
and choose Edit > Paste. QuarkXPress creates a table appropriate to the data and inserts
the text.
Importing Excel charts
If you have charts or pictures created using Insert > Chart or Insert > Picture in Excel
that you want to use in a QuarkXPress layout, you can import those charts or pictures the
same way you import other pictures. To do this, use the Insert Chart tab of the Import
Picture dialog box (File menu). Charts and pictures imported from Excel are tracked by
the Pictures tab of the Usage dialog box (Utilities menu) just like other pictures.
Adding text and pictures to tables
When working with tables, think of a table cell as a text box or a picture box. Each box
contains content — text that may or may not be linked to the next cell, an individual
picture, or nothing (maybe just a blend). Therefore, you can add content to tables much
as you add content to boxes — by typing text, importing text, or importing pictures.
Converting text cells to picture cells is the same as converting a text box to a picture box.
Select all the cells you want to convert and choose Item > Content > Picture.
Editing table text
Two important things to know about editing text within tables are how to navigate between
cells and how to select text for formatting. As always when working with text, you must
first select the Text Content tool .
Navigating through a table works as follows:
• Click in a cell in which you want to enter or import text.
• Press Control+Tab to move to the next cell.
• Press Control+Shift+Tab to go back to the previous cell.
• Press the arrow keys to move through the text in a cell, and to move from cell to cell.
To enter a tab character in a text cell, press Tab. To enter a right-indent tab, press
Option+Tab/Shift+Tab. If you need to align numbers within a table on the decimal point
or other character, you can insert tabs in each table cell and then specify the appropriate
Align On tab stops (Style > Tabs).
Selecting text in rows and columns works as follows:
• To select all the text in a row, click outside the right or left edge of the table.
• To select all the text in a column, click outside the top or bottom edge of the table.
90 | A GUIDE TO QUARKXPRESS 9.3
BOXES, LINES, AND TABLES