Graphics, Figures & Tables ⇒ Vertical alignment and interrow space

[timriddance]

Hello all

I'm pretty new to table formatting but I figured out some stuff already.. I am not using the array package (not that I know at least). My code looks like this:

Code: Select all

\begin{table}[htbp]
	\centering
		\footnotesize \begin{tabular}{ p{0.1\textwidth} p{0.25\textwidth} p{0.15\textwidth} 						   p{0.35\textwidth} }
		\parbox{0.1\textwidth}{\textbf{Image schema}} & 
		\parbox{0.25\textwidth}{\textbf{Cognitive user tasks} \citep{fabrikant_spatialized_2000}} &
	  \parbox{0.15\textwidth}{\textbf{Experiential space concepts} \citep{couclelis_worlds_1998}} &
	  \parbox{0.35\textwidth}{\textbf{Applications in spatialization} \citep{fabrikant_formalizing_2001}}
	  \\
		\hline
		\parbox{0.1\textwidth}{Container} & 
		\parbox{0.25\textwidth}{recognize and associate regions to [information objects]} & 
		\parbox{0.15\textwidth}{place, region} &
		\parbox{0.35\textwidth}{regions can be modeled as containers with a specific attribute}
		\\
		\hline
		\parbox{0.1\textwidth}{Surface} & 
		\parbox{0.25\textwidth}{recognize and associate landscape features to structure of [information objects]} & 
		\parbox{0.15\textwidth}{region} &
		\parbox{0.35\textwidth}{modeling of continuous data, surfaces afford horizontal motion}
		\\
		\hline
		\parbox{0.1\textwidth}{Link} & 
		\parbox{0.25\textwidth}{associate and relate [information objects]} & 
		\parbox{0.15\textwidth}{way} &
		\parbox{0.35\textwidth}{description of connectivity and adjacency of geogrpahic features, landmarks and route segments structure navigation through space}
		\\
		\hline
		\parbox{0.1\textwidth}{Near-far} & 
		\parbox{0.25\textwidth}{estimate distance between [information objects]} & 
		\parbox{0.15\textwidth}{--} &
		\parbox{0.35\textwidth}{features closer to the viewer are perceived to be more prominent than features farther away, graphic zooming simulates the continuum of scale and provides cues for vertical and horizontal motion}
		\\
		\hline
		\parbox{0.1\textwidth}{Center-periphery} & 
		\parbox{0.25\textwidth}{--} & 
		\parbox{0.15\textwidth}{region} &
		\parbox{0.35\textwidth}{functional regions, regions can form semantic hierarchies}
		\\
		\hline
		\parbox{0.1\textwidth}{Part-whole} & 
		\parbox{0.25\textwidth}{differentiate, recognize and detect regions of related [information objects]} & 
		\parbox{0.15\textwidth}{place, region} &
		\parbox{0.35\textwidth}{--}
		\\
		\hline
		\end{tabular}
	\caption{Common image schemata and how they were conceptualized.}
	\label{tab:ImageSchemata}
\end{table}

I know it contains a lot of text already but that is to show how ugly it looks.
Please have a look at the outcome:

table image

uglytable.png (40.59 KiB) Viewed 1520 times

Many questions:

• If you add up the 0.x\textwidth, you get 85%. When I use more than that, the whole table gets wider than the text which is even uglier. Whats wrong here?
• How can I specify that every cell should be vertically aligned to top and not to center like now? I thought that using p should do it.
• How can I add more inter row space? Right now it looks really narrow and cramped.

I dont really know if I actually need to have a new parbox for every cell.. But I figured that there are no linebreaks when not using them.

Help me, I am lost

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Hi,

I recommend to use the booktabs package. This is a great help in solving problems regarding horizontal lines and spacing. Just follow the link to get the documentation.

After implementing this, you could post your table again for further improvement. That time a compilable minimal working example would be great, it allows compilation and clarifies if you use array or any other package or relevant settings.

This article can also help, dealing with tables and booktabs: Creating Tables in LaTeX.

Btw. you can post images as attachments here and embed them in your text. I did this for you. That's better than relying on external hosting.

Stefan