iWork '09: The Missing Manual

Capturing Reusable Tables

Table styles are a big timesaver for duplicating the general look of a table, and much of their utility is related to the fact that they’re completely oblivious to the content of the table. You can apply a new table style to any table, no matter what its size, content, or cell format. Often enough, though, you’ll find yourself building multiple tables that share not only the same color or border styles, but the same column organization, formulas, and data structure. In that case, table styles only help so much; they’re all style and no substance. What you really need is access to pre-formatted tables that already have the column layout, formulas, and starter content you routinely use.

That’s exactly what the toolbar’s Tables pop-up button offers you. When you add a new table with that button, Numbers gives you a selection of tables to choose from, some of them already formatted with cell formats for checkboxes or simple formulas to handle sums in the footer row. All of Numbers’ built-in templates have a selection of these starter tables, but they’re naturally very general. You can add tables of your own to address specific needs and common requirements.

For example, say that you store all your expense reports on separate sheets of a spreadsheet. Every time you file your expenses after a long weekend in Vegas—er, work trip to Omaha—you have to recreate the same expense report table. Having quick access to a blank expense report from the Tables button would ...