Table Formatting

[jgreg7 0]

To start, I have seen multiple strings about table formatting, however they all seem to end without a solution.

When I started using Evernote several years ago, I could copy a table from Word or Excel into the note and it would retain the formatting.  Since I use these tables between several computers, retaining the formatting is rather important.  Now it seems that any formatting is removed and the default Evernote table is the only choice.

Is there any way to get back the formatting?  Or properly format a table manually?

[gazumped 12,031]

Hi. I don't move tables between devices, so I'm not aware of what Evernote does to the formatting. Would it be practical to attach the table to your note as a separate file?  You'd be able to open it in Word or Excel directly on other devices (with those apps installed there) and re-save it to the note.

[jgreg7 0]

Attaching the table as a separate file winds up being easier with Dropbox.  The convenience of EN was great when I could swap work between workstations without loosing formatting.  Now, I have to start over when switching between workstations. 

In previous versions of EN, the built-in tables were formatted somewhat reasonably, however in this last build, the row height has increased to the point where the table is so tall, it is no longer useful.  The row size is also not adjustable.

Now, I have been experimenting again with OneNote.  It is not a convenient as EN, but it does retain all the formatting when swapping between MS Office programs.  This alone makes it worth the extra effort. 

I can only hope that the developers of EN could go back to the original build that did retain MS Office formatting.  I still have some old notes where the tables are properly formatted, and they are still quite useful.

[DTLow 5,744]

I agree with @gazumped; adding the Word/Excel file as an attachment ensures you have the exact formatting.

>>retain MS Office formatting

You should be aware that in copying into an Evernote Note, you are changing the format; from MS Office to html/enml

[CalS 5,307]

On 1/7/2019 at 4:09 PM, gazumped said:

Hi. I don't move tables between devices, so I'm not aware of what Evernote does to the formatting. Would it be practical to attach the table to your note as a separate file?  You'd be able to open it in Word or Excel directly on other devices (with those apps installed there) and re-save it to the note.

All good, but not an unreasonable expectation that a table would maintain format across platforms, particularly like platforms.  🤷‍♂️

[jgreg7 0]

HTML formatting would also be acceptable ... if I can edit it and insert styles, cell size, padding, etc.

Is there any way to edit the default table?

[CalS 5,307]

1 hour ago, jgreg7 said:

HTML formatting would also be acceptable ... if I can edit it and insert styles, cell size, padding, etc.

Is there any way to edit the default table?

You can export the note in ENEX or HTML format, then edit the file, then drag or import the resulting file into EN.  My experience is no guarantee the changes will stick.  Not hard to test.  

[DTLow 5,744]

12 hours ago, jgreg7 said:

HTML formatting would also be acceptable ... if I can edit it and insert styles, cell size, padding, etc.

 Is there any way to edit the default table?

On a Mac, we can directly edit the content.enml file; export/import not required.
I use this often for fine tuning the note formatting.

[jgreg7 0]

I tried to edit the exported file.  It appears they come out in XML.  The formatting is linked to every cell in the table - lots of work to reformat.

I converted one file to HTML and tried to import it, however it Evernote reformatted the table on import.

The reason I want the correct table is that I use the Evernote to collect data in a table format, then copy the table back into the office application.  It seems that this would be a task that would be perfectly suited to an app like Evernote. 

One Note does this flawlessly, however it is cumbersome to use when compared to Evernote.

[smbfrei 0]

On 1/8/2019 at 8:15 PM, DTLow said:

On a Mac, we can directly edit the content.enml file; export/import not required.
I use this often for fine tuning the note formatting.

Could you say more about how to do this? I'd love to be able to knock the cell padding down, the rows are obnoxiously tall.

[CalS 5,307]

8 hours ago, SelfishMouse said:

In previous versions of EN, the built-in tables were formatted somewhat reasonably, however in this last build, the row height has increased to the point where the table is so tall, it is no longer useful.  The row size is also not adjustable.

Yeah, this happened a couple of years ago.  We used to be able to modify the padding and the like.  Now any changes like that are ignored.  You can still adjust column width though.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,998]

@CalS, note that this is the poster's first post, and all it does is repeat something from the 3rd post in the thread (from over a year ago). Don't know what the purpose is, but it looks fishy. I've reported it.

EDIT: And now the admins have taken the post down (in case anyone comes here later and wonders whether Cal and I have lost our marbles).

[CalS 5,307]

24 minutes ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

@CalS, note that this is the poster's first post, and all it does is repeat something from the 3rd post in the thread (from over a year ago). Don't know what the purpose is, but it looks fishy. I've reported it.

10-4.

[gazumped 12,031]

This is also relevant - How to create and customize tables

[DTLow 5,744]

On 1/24/2020 at 9:09 AM, smbfrei said:

Could you say more about how to do this? I'd love to be able to knock the cell padding down, the rows are obnoxiously tall.

Sorry for the delay, I just noticed your post    
This relates to editing the underlying html code for a note

Every note has an enml component that defines the note formatting    
On a Mac, this is stored as a separate file for each note named content.enml     
This is basically html code; documented at https://dev.evernote.com/doc/articles/enml.php

Locate the file (I use a script), and edit with a text editor app   
Simple changes can be made to fine tune formatting, however Evernote may override more complex code