Table It!...Part 17...Text Direction

Merge Cells

Frequently, when you change text direction, you merge cells first. Remember the original census table? To get the sidebar with the rotated text, I first had to merge cells in the first column. 

1. Open a Word document and insert a table with four columns and four rows.
2. Select the cells in the first column, and then right-click in the selected area. Word assumes you are going to merge cells and replaces Split Cells...with Merge Cells on the pop-up menu.
3. Click Merge Cells and Word converts the selected cells into one cell. 

Note: Also, you can highlight merged cells and
split them using the Split Cells... option. 

Change Text Direction

1. Click in the merged cell and type the text you want to rotate. The spacing won't be what you want it to be; however, we'll fix any problems later. For example, type: 1850 Census Entries for McKee in Randolph Co., Illinois
2. Right-click in the merged cell to display the pop-up menu.
3. Click Text Direction to display the Text Direction - Table Cell dialog.
4. Look at the option buttons and the Preview to the right.
5. Select a direction option.
   
   
6. Select the cells that should be shaded gray, and then right click to display the pop-up menu.
7. Select Borders and Shading... to display the dialog and add shading.
8. Use the buttons on the ruler to resize the columns. 

Next Post

I'm going to continue working my way through all of the commands. So stay tuned for more in my next post.