One problem with an InDesign table is that if its contents are linked to the original Excel file, any formatting you’ve added in InDesign disappears when someone updates the linked spreadsheet. You can either have sticky formatting or dynamic contents, not both. And don’t expect the numeric information inside a table (linked to a spreadsheet or not) to be part of a formula. It isn’t.
DTP Tools’ Active Tables plug-in addresses both of these problems by eliminating the need to go back to a spreadsheet. For example, Active Tables brings Excel-like formulas to InDesign, so you can add a column of numbers. You can also sort and move columns and rows, even change rows to columns or columns to rows. Active Tables lets you display numbers in several ways, and you can assign paragraph styles to formulas.
Active Tables costs $79 and is compatible with InDesign versions CS3 through CS5.5 on both Mac and Windows. If you’re curious, you can download a 14–days trial version www.dtptools.com/activetables.
Click the screenshot below to watch a video demonstrating some aspects of the plug-in:
This article was last modified on December 14, 2022
This article was first published on May 26, 2011
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