How to Create Alternate Table Row Colours in Affinity Publisher: Step-by-Step Tutorial

In this tutorial, I’ll guide you through the steps to automate alternating row colours in Affinity Publisher.

This process makes it easy to format your Tables and keep them looking professional, even as you update your data.

1. Set Up Your Affinity Publisher File

1. Open Affinity Publisher and create a new document or use any existing document where you need a Table
2. Set up any Global Colours and Text Styles that you plan to use - my file already contained both these elements
   

2. Add Your Table

1. Insert a new Table in your document
2. The size of the Table doesn’t matter, as you will be importing data from Excel
3. The only requirement to make this work is that you select at least two cells before pasting your data
   

3. Import Data from Excel

1. Open your Excel file and copy the relevant data - although at this stage I didn’t include the Header Row that was for demonstration purposes - feel free to include the Header Row in your data
2. In Affinity Publisher, paste the data into the Table. The Table will resize automatically
3. Affinity Publisher will add an additional row that you delete
   

4. Adjust Table Dimensions

1. Use the Table panel to adjust the width of specific columns - in my example I set Columns C, D, and E to 20mm
2. I also resized Column A to better fit the data
3. Ensure the Table fits within your document margins and gives the content space to breathe
   

5. Fix Font Issues

1. If your Table data uses a Microsoft font like Aptos, you may see a font compatibility issue indicated by a question mark to the left of the font name in the font drop down
2. To resolve this, apply the Table Body Text Style from the Text Styles Panel, or choose a different font
   

6. Remove Table Borders

1. In the Table Panel, turn off all borders
2. This will give your Table a cleaner look - but we’ll be adding alternate row colours to make it readable
   

7. Apply Alternate Row Colours

1. Apply alternate row colours by selecting alternate rows and format the Fill from the Table Panel
2. Be aware by default the unformatted rows will have no Fill
   

8. Manual Formatting Problems

1. While manual formatting looks correct making changes to the structure of the Table causes issues
2. Adding single rows means you will have two adjacent rows with the same formatting applied
3. Multiple rows added at the foot of the Table will all be formatted in the same way as the last row at the point the additional rows were added
   

9. Automate the Alternating Row Colours

1. Select the Table and click to enter Table Edit Mode
2. Ensure the Table Formats Panel is open - If required select Window > Table > Table Formats from the menu
3. In the burger menu, select Add Format from Selection
4. Edit the newly created Table Format and rename the row formats for clarity - I used “Row” for standard rows, “Row - Alt” for alternate rows
5. Apply the alternating row colour by editing the fill properties in the Cell Formats section
   

10. Apply the Table Format

1. Table Formats are not automatically applied to the selected Table
2. To apply a Table Format ensure the Table to be formatted is selected and in the Table Formats Panel, select the Table Format you created and apply it to the table
3. Now, whenever you add or remove rows, the alternating colours will update automatically
   

11. Add a Custom Header to the Table Format

1. Insert a new row at the top of your Table for the Header
2. I copied the content of this row from the Excel file
3. Edit the Table Format via the option in the burger menu
4. Add an additional Row
5. Format the top cell with a new Cell Format - I used the dark accent colour for the background and the Table Body - Headings Text Style for the text
6. Ensure the remaining cells in the Structure section of the Table Formats dialog box are set as required
   

12. Add a Custom Footer to the Table Format

1. Insert a new row at the bottom of your Table for the Footer - I added some placeholder text for demonstration purposes
2. Edit the Table Format via the option in the burger menu
3. Add an additional Row
4. Format the bottom cell with a new Cell Format - I used the dark accent colour for the background and the Table Body - Headings Text Style for the text
5. Ensure the remaining cells in the Structure section of the Table Formats dialog box are set as required
   

13. Handle Local Formatting Issues

1. If the text pasted from Excel carries local formatting, you may notice issues like incorrect fonts
2. To fix this, select the table and use the Apply Alternate Rows (Override Local) option in the Table Formats Panel
3. This ensures your table uses the correct styles without manual formatting issues
   

14. Working with Baseline Grids

1. If you copy and paste an existing formatted Table into a file with the Baseline Grid enabled you may have placement and sizing issues
2. The solution to this is to place a tick in the Ignore Baseline Grid option
   

Conclusion

By following these steps, you can automate alternating row colours in Affinity Publisher, making your Tables dynamic, clean, and easy to read. With this method, you’ll save time on formatting and have more flexibility in updating your data.

If you enjoyed this tutorial and want more tips and tricks, be sure to check out my free training at ElaineGiles.com/VIP. Don’t forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell so you never miss a new tutorial.

If you have any specific tutorial requests, feel free to reach out - I’d love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading and watching, and see you next time!