---
title: "Table formatting options"
slug: "efp-configurator-table-formatting"
updated: 2026-10-09T18:19:51Z
published: 2026-10-09T18:19:51Z
canonical: "help.quickbase.com/efp-configurator-table-formatting"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.quickbase.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Table formatting options

Step 5 of an embedded report, **Subtable formatting options**, sets how the whole table looks: where it sits on the page, its borders, the heading row, row colors, cell margins, page breaks, and repeating columns. The step's heading reads **Subtable Formatting Options**. Every setting is optional. If you leave them all, the table is centered, with single dark borders, a light gray bold heading row, and no row shading.

For the settings of single columns, such as fonts and alignment, see [Advanced Settings](https://help.quickbase.com/quickbase-extensions/docs/en/efp-configurator-columns#advanced-settings).

## Table Alignment

**Left**, **Center**, or **Right**: where the table sits between the page margins. If you don't choose one, the table is centered.

## Table borders

| **Setting** | **What it does** |
| --- | --- |
| **Display Table Border** | On by default. Clear it for a table with no borders; the **Table Borders** settings are then hidden. |
| **Outside Border** color and **Style** | The line around the table. |
| **Vertical Border** color and **Style** | The lines between columns. |
| **Horizontal Border** color and **Style** | The lines between rows. |

The default color is a near-black gray and the default style is **Single**. The styles are Word's border styles: **Single**, **Double**, **Triple**, **Thick**, **Hairline**, **Dot**, **DotDash**, **DotDotDash**, **DashSmallGap**, **DashLargeGap**, **DashDotStroker**, **Wave**, **DoubleWave**, **TwistedLines1**, **Emboss3D**, **Engrave3D**, **Inset**, **Outset**, the thick-and-thin combinations (such as **ThickThinMediumGap**), **Cleared**, and **None**. Use **None** to hide one kind of line, for example the lines between columns, and keep the others.

## Column headers

| **Setting** | **What it does** |
| --- | --- |
| **Display Column Headers** | On by default. Clear it to leave out the heading row, for example when the template already has headings above the table. |
| **Table Header Background Color** and **Table Header Font Color** | The colors of the heading row. The default is light gray with black text. |
| **Column Header Alignment** | **Left**, **Center**, or **Right** for every heading. The default is center. A column's own **Column Header Alignment** in step 3 takes priority. |

The heading row repeats at the top of each page when the table runs over more than one page.

## Row shading

| **Setting** | **What it does** |
| --- | --- |
| **Row Shading** | One background color for every row. |
| **Alternate Row Shading** | A background color for every other row, to make long tables easier to read. |
| **Dynamic Row Shading** | Detail reports only. Each row takes its background color from a text field on the report's table. The list shows that table's text fields, although its label reads *Select a field from the Master Table*. See the example below. |

For **Dynamic Row Shading**, add a Formula - Text field to the report's table that returns a color for each record, for example:

```
Case([Stock Status], "Out of Stock", "Red", "Low Stock", "Yellow", "In Stock", "LightGreen", "")
```

Choose that field in **Dynamic Row Shading**. Rows whose field is empty have no shading. Colors can be a name, such as Red, Yellow, LightGreen, LightBlue, Gray, Orange, or White, or a hex value such as *#FFEEDD*.

## Cell Margins/Sizing

| **Setting** | **What it does** |
| --- | --- |
| **Default Top Margin**, **Default Left Margin**, **Default Bottom Margin**, **Default Right Margin** | The space between a cell's border and its text, in inches, like the **Cell Margins** in Word's table options. The default is 0.03 on each side. |
| **Spacing Between Cells** | Space between neighboring cells. The default is 0 (cells touch). |
| **Automatically resize to fit contents** | Lets Word adjust the column widths to the contents, instead of using the widths from step 3. |

## Miscellaneous Options

| **Setting** | **What it does** |
| --- | --- |
| **Page break after number Of lines** | Starts a new page after every so many rows, with the heading row repeated. Use it to keep a set number of rows on each page, for example 20. Leave it at 0 for no fixed page breaks. |
| **Repeat Columns** | Detail reports only, up to 10. Repeats the set of columns across the page and fills them with records from left to right, so a long, narrow list takes less space. For example, with 3, a list of 30 part numbers prints as 10 rows of 3. A value of 1 works the same as 2. |

> [!NOTE]
> Note
> 
> Don't use **Repeat Columns** with grouping or totals. When columns are repeated, grouping, subtotals, and grand totals are ignored. For an example, see [Repeat columns](https://help.quickbase.com/quickbase-extensions/docs/en/efp-advanced-features#repeat-columns).

## Save and check

Select **Save**, then **Close**. To see the result, create a document from a master record with one of your Exact Forms Plus buttons. Settings that the configurator doesn't have, such as keeping each row on one page, can be added to the report's **Settings** field by hand. See [Advanced subtable features](https://help.quickbase.com/quickbase-extensions/docs/en/efp-advanced-features#headers-alignment).

If something doesn't work, see [Exact Forms Plus Configurator messages and troubleshooting](https://help.quickbase.com/quickbase-extensions/docs/en/efp-configurator-messages).

Need help? Submit a [technical support case](https://help.quickbase.com/docs/get-help-from-quickbase-technical-support).