Mastering Tabs and Tables

WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF LISTS: the Top Ten this, the 100 greatest that, 12-step programs, 50 ways to leave your lover, etc. Tabs and tables are invaluable tools when it comes to working with anything list-likefrom a simple bullet list to a complex financial table. In this chapter we'll look first at tabs and some of their common uses, and then take a look at InDesign's robust and versatile table formatting features.

Tabs are for positioning a piece of text in a specified place on the line. They are used to create bullet or numbered lists, reply forms, or for aligning numbers on a decimal point. Tabs can also be used to separate columns of information into a table-like layout. However, these days it's usually easier to use an InDesign table to do this.

Tabs come in several flavors: left, center, right, and decimal or special-character tabs.

Figure 12.1. The Tabs Palette Cmd+Shift+T (Ctrl+Shift+T)