Introducing Tables 2.0: A Game-Changer for Brand Protecting Tabular Content

At Easil, we’re always looking for ways to make your design process smoother and more powerful in terms of brand controls. That’s why we’re thrilled to unveil our latest feature update, Tables 2.0! Now, you can easily add customizable tables to your designs, perfect for everything from sleek reports to structured price lists and menus.

But we’re not stopping there! With this release, we’re introducing a never-before-seen component that allows you to lock down specific cells in your tables. This means you can safeguard important data like pricing or menu product names from any edits, ensuring consistency and control across teams and locations.

In this blog post, we’ll show you how to use tables to elevate your designs and walk you through the exciting new locking feature that will make collaboration easier and more efficient than ever. Let’s dive in!

GETTING STARTED WITH TABLES

Table elements are located within the ‘Elements’ tab on the right side of the Easil editor.

You’ll find single-column and multi-column options, designed to give you different input options for text and numbers. Each of these are just a starting point for your table, as you can add or remove rows and columns once you start formatting.

To add a table to your design, click ‘Tables’ in the Easil editor and then click to add your chosen starting configuration, or drag your selected configuration across to your design. You can begin styling the cells once you have placed the table on your design.

Note: Adding a table to your design defaults to having a light grey border around each cell. This assists with visibility when styling but can be removed at any stage. Refer to this article’s ‘Table Borders’ section for more detail.

THE BASICS OF NAVIGATING WITHIN A TABLE

• To enter content within a cell, double-click within, and start typing.
• To quickly move to the next cell, hit tab and start typing. Hitting the tab key will cycle you through every cell within the table, from left to right, and then through to the next row.

To format the style of your table; meaning to change the font size, font family, color etc, you can either select cells individually, or you are able to select multiple to style at once:

• Use your cursor to select your first cell within the table.
• Then hold down the CTRL (Windows) / Command (Apple) key, and keep clicking to select cells. This method works best if you are needing to select cells on alternate rows, or selected headers.
• To easily select a range of rows and/or cells, click on the first cell, then Shift, and then click on the cell at the end of the range you would like to edit. This will quickly select all cells between the 2 clicked on.
• Each selected cell will be highlighted with a bright blue outline.
• Use the top actionbar to apply your chosen styling to your cells, selecting from colors, fonts, sizing etc.

Note: When an entire cell is selected, your chosen styling will apply to all content within the cell. To apply alternative styling to selected characters or words, drag to highlight, and select your chosen styling to apply to that selection within the cell.

OVERALL TABLE MENU

First, select the table. Then, click on the ellipsis (the three dots) located at the top of the table to access the Overall Table Menu. This menu functions similarly to other elements in your Easil design.

Within the Overall Table Menu, you can make a Copy of the table, Paste, Delete, Change the layer order of your table within your overall design, and lock the table’s position. Users with Designer Role can also lock down cells from being edited with ‘Cell Locking Mode’.

ROWS OPTIONS MENU

When the table is selected, click on the six dots on the left side to access the Rows Option Menu.

A drop-down menu will appear, offering options for adding, duplicating, deleting, and moving a row’s position up or down within the table.

Tip: You can also Shift-select multiple rows to move the position of all rows at the same time, duplicate them all, delete them all, or one of our fave options – Sizes Rows Evenly.

COLUMNS OPTIONS MENU

The menu directly above the first row contains the Column Options Menu. This menu allows you to Add, Duplicate, Delete, and reposition the order of a column within a table.

Tip: Try selecting multiple columns to manage them together. Shift+Click to select cells in several different columns, then use the Columns menu to modify all of the selected columns at once.

When you have 2 or more cells selected you can also use ‘Merge Cells’ functionality to create a row that combines the spacing of those cells. This feature is particularly handy for Title rows in tables.

WHAT’S NEW IN EASIL TABLES 2.0

Following user feedback, Easil’s development team rebuilt the Tables functionality from the ground up to provide a more flexible experience for Teams, particularly those who are required to share designs while keeping them brand-protected.

ADDING ROWS & COLUMNS

Any table created with the new Tables functionality can now have both columns and rows added to the table design at any stage of creation (provided it has not been locked down by a team member to protect this from happening!).

RESIZING THE WIDTH OF COLUMNS

Need to resize the width of any column within your table? Drag the side of the cell inwards or outwards to the required size. You can also resize the width of the table and all cells in proportion to each other, by dragging the outer table handle.

RICH TEXT OPTIONS

A single cell in your table can contain multiple fonts, colors, or text sizes. Format your text by highlighting it with your mouse, then choose a new color or styling (e.g., bold, italics) from the top toolbar to emphasize information within that cell.

MERGING CELLS

An advanced option for Tables is the ability to merge two or more cells into a single cell option, providing that cell with increased spacing for content across several columns or rows.

To merge cells, select the desired cells by clicking within the first cell, then hold down the command key and click inside other cells to add them to the selection.

Once you have selected all the cells you want to merge, go to either the Column Options Menu (6 dots above the columns) or the Rows Options Menu (6 dots next to the rows) and then select Merge Cells.

The result will be one main merged cell spanning where your previous individual cells were located.

Tip: Merging cells brings your table design to new heights! Merging 2-4 cells in the first row of your table makes a great title area for the table. See this in action in the video below.

CELL LOCKING

Cell Locking Mode – It’s almost like having your cake and eating it too! 🎂

Would you like certain elements to be editable while others remain locked?

Using Cell Locking Mode is helpful when you have a table with specific cells that you want to protect from being altered. This way, users cannot change the information in the locked cells. However, users can still edit the areas of the table that are unlocked.

Build out and style your table, and then, when you are happy, set the cells you want to lock. Only the designer will be able to change those cells. Keep all other cells unlocked so remaining users can easily change the data.

Some examples of when to use Cell Locking Mode:

• Weekly gym class list where the name of the class and instructor are locked, yet the class times are editable
• Price lists where the products or service names are locked, yet the prices are changeable
• Menus where everything on the menu is locked down except for the daily special and price
• Reports where there are mandatory sections required to be completed, and those headers stay locked down.

To use Cell Locking Mode:

1. Click within any cell to activate the Overall Table Menu (3 dots), and then select Cell Locking Mode.
2. Then click in the cells where you desire cell locking.
3. Selected cells that you lock down will dull in opacity, whilst non-locked cells will remain with a white background whilst in editing mode.
4. Once you have selected all the desired cells, click Done. This will lock the cells and won’t allow users to change the data within the cells.
5. When clicking on the table, all users within your team will see a lock icon on the protected cells. Other cells will remain unlocked for any desired changes.

Here’s how to lock down the table title and list of services yet make it so users can edit the prices.

It’s just as easy to UNLOCK the cells. Click in a cell in the table and re-visit the Overall Table Menu with 3 dots (and now a lock). Go back to Cell Locking Mode and click on the cells you want to unlock.

RESIZE SELECTED COLUMNS EVENLY

Wish all the table columns could be even? We’ve made it super easy! Click into the first column cell then hold down the command key to select the other columns. Then move your mouse up to the Column Options Menu (6 dots above the column) and select Size Columns Evenly. This will make the desired adjustment.

RESIZE SELECTED ROWS EVENLY

Rows work the same way – with a super fast way to tidy up the size of them too. Click into the first row cell then hold down the command key to select the other rows. Then click on the Row Options Menu (6 dots next to the row) and select Size Rows Evenly.

OVER TO YOU

That’s a wrap for the intro to the latest feature in the Easil design editor. It’s available for all users; individuals, teams and within our Easil Enterprise Portals. Reach out to our team via your account manager or support within the app, and we’ll assist as soon as possible.