Tables and charts — Nixt Slides docs

Insert a table

Go to the slide.
Choose Insert › Tables › Insert a table.
In the Insert a table dialog, point at the grid of squares. The squares up to the pointer are highlighted and the line underneath shows the size, columns first — for example “4 × 3 table” is four columns and three rows. The grid goes up to 10 columns and 8 rows.
Click a square to insert a table of that size, or click Insert to insert the highlighted size. The dialog starts at 3 columns by 2 rows.

Click Cancel to close the dialog without inserting anything.

The table is centred across the slide, in its upper part, and is 72% of the slide’s width wide. Rows start 28 points tall (the table is kept within 60% of the slide’s height). The header row is shaded pale lavender. The table is selected, with its first cell selected.

Select a table and its cells

Click a cell. This selects the table and that cell; the cell gets a coloured outline.
To select a block of cells, click one corner cell, then hold Shift and click the opposite corner. The block is tinted. If the block cuts across a merged cell, it grows to include the whole merged cell.

While a table is selected, a Table tab appears at the end of the ribbon’s tab row. Click it to see the table commands. Most of them act on the selected cell and are unavailable, with the tooltip “Click a cell first”, until you click one.

Type in a cell

Double-click the cell, or select it and choose Table › Cell › Edit this cell.
The dialog is titled with the cell’s position, for example “Row 2, column 3”. Type the text. Each line is one paragraph.
Click Apply, or Cancel.

Typing in the same cell several times in a row is one undo step. As with other text, the cell’s first piece of text sets the formatting for everything you apply.

On the canvas, cell text is drawn at one standard size, left-aligned and vertically centred, with the first row in semibold. The formatting in the file is kept.

Add and delete rows and columns

Click a cell, then use the Table tab:

Group	Button (tooltip)	What it does
Rows	Insert a row above	Adds an empty row above the selected cell’s row
Rows	Insert a row below	Adds an empty row below it
Rows	Delete this row	Deletes the selected cell’s row
Columns	Insert a column to the left	Adds an empty column to the left of the selected cell’s column
Columns	Insert a column to the right	Adds an empty column to the right of it
Columns	Delete this column	Deletes the selected cell’s column

A new row is as tall as the row it was added next to, and a new column as wide as the column it was added next to. The table grows or shrinks to fit.

Limits:

A table can have up to 30 rows and 20 columns. Going past that shows “A table here tops out at 30 rows.” or “A table here tops out at 20 columns.”
A table must keep at least one row and one column. Trying to delete the last one shows “A table needs at least one row. Delete the table instead.” or “A table needs at least one column. Delete the table instead.”

Merge and split cells

Merge cells

Click a cell in one corner of the block.
Hold Shift and click the cell in the opposite corner.
Choose Table › Merge › Merge the selected cells.

The block becomes one cell. Text from every cell in the block is kept, as separate paragraphs in the merged cell. The button is unavailable, with the tooltip “Shift-click a second cell to select a block, then merge”, until a block of more than one cell is selected.

Split a merged cell

Click the merged cell.
Choose Table › Merge › Split this cell back into the grid.

The cell returns to single cells. All of its text stays in the top-left cell. The button is unavailable, with the tooltip “Select a merged cell to split it”, unless a merged cell is selected.

Shade a cell

Click the cell.
Choose Table › Cell › Cell shading.
Choose a colour, or No colour.

The palette offers the presentation’s accent colours first, then the standard colours (see The colour palette). Shading applies to the cell you clicked last.

Change column widths and row heights

Click any cell to select the table.
Point at the border between two columns until the pointer changes to a resize pointer.
Drag left or right.

Width moves from one column to its neighbour, so the table’s overall width stays the same. Row heights work the same way: drag the border between two rows up or down. A column can’t be made narrower than 18 points or a row shorter than 12 points. Each drag is one undo step.

Delete a table

Select the table and choose Table › Table › Delete the table, or
Select the table and press Delete or Backspace.

Tables from PowerPoint files

Tables are drawn from the column widths and row heights in the file, with merged cells and cell shading. Cells without shading in the first row are drawn with a light header background on the canvas.

A table you don’t change is saved exactly as it was. When you change a table in any way, it is saved with its cell text, merges, column widths, row heights and cell shading, and with thin grey borders on every cell.

Charts

Charts in PowerPoint files are drawn from the values saved inside the file — the same values PowerPoint shows when the chart’s spreadsheet isn’t open.

Chart types that are drawn

Type	Notes
Column	Clustered or stacked
Bar	Clustered or stacked
Line	A missing value breaks the line
Area	Stacked or overlapping
Pie	Drawn from the first series that has values
Doughnut	Drawn as rings, one per series with the first innermost, around the hole size the chart sets
Combination	Columns, lines and areas together, each series drawn as its own type. A series on the chart’s second value axis is measured against a scale with its labels on the right.

A drawn chart shows its title, category labels, legend (when the chart has one), gridlines and value labels. The value axis always includes zero. Series use the colour the file gives them, or the presentation’s accent colours in order.

Charts of other types are shown as a grey box labelled “Chart”.

Charts when you save

Charts are kept in the file when you save. You can move, resize and line up a chart, change the slide size and duplicate its slide; the chart is saved as the same object with its new position and size. See Shapes from PowerPoint files.