Understanding Scopes
A table style isn't one single set of Fill/Border/Font settings - it's a collection of them, one per scope. A scope is a part of the table: the whole table, the header row, banded rows, and so on. The Scope dropdown at the top of the center panel switches which one you're editing; every property control below it (Fill, Borders, Font, Cell padding) always applies to whichever scope is currently selected.
The 13 scopes
|
Scope |
What it covers |
|
Whole Table |
The base formatting every other scope builds on. Always present - it's the only scope you can't clear. |
|
Header Row |
The first row, when your table's "Header Row" option is turned on in Word/PowerPoint/Excel. |
|
Total Row |
The last row, when your table's "Total Row" option is turned on. |
|
First Column |
The leftmost column, when "First Column" is turned on. |
|
Last Column |
The rightmost column, when "Last Column" is turned on. |
|
Banded Rows (Odd) / (Even) |
Alternating row shading, when "Banded Rows" is turned on. Odd and Even are separate scopes so you can give alternating rows different formatting. |
|
Banded Columns (Odd) / (Even) |
The same idea, for alternating columns. |
|
Top-Left / Top-Right / Bottom-Left / Bottom-Right Cell |
The four cells where a header/total row meets a first/last column - e.g. Top-Left is where Header Row and First Column overlap. These take priority over every other scope when both the relevant row and column options are turned on. |
Editing a scope
Pick a scope from the dropdown, then use the Fill/Borders/Font/Cell padding controls below it as normal. Each scope's settings are independent - editing Header Row's fill doesn't touch Whole Table's.
Clearing a scope
Every scope except Whole Table has a Clear scope button, which removes that scope's own settings entirely. A cleared scope falls back to Whole Table's own formatting instead - it doesn't disappear from the table, it just stops overriding the base style.
How scopes combine
When more than one scope could apply to the same cell, the more specific one wins outright - it doesn't blend property-by-property with Whole Table. For example, if First Column defines its own Fill but no Border, that cell still uses First Column's Fill and no border at all, rather than falling back to Whole Table's border. See The preview panel for how the live preview shows this, including how PowerPoint, Word and Excel resolve a border where two scopes meet.