Modifying the appearance of tables is different from modifying other elements in your content, such as paragraphs. The properties of tables are controlled by different layers. Some objects are in front of, or behind, other objects within the table. For example, the background property of the entire table is the first layer. The body, header, and footer properties reside in the next layer, which is on top of the background property. Paragraph properties are on top of that, followed by character properties, which are on the topmost layer.

With this model, you may have difficulty achieving the results you want when you try to adjust the appearance of a property for a table. You may need to experiment with the different property layers to fine-tune the appearance of tables. For example, if you try to create a transparent table by properly setting the body background property, but the table is not transparent, another layer may not be transparent. You need to make sure the background property is properly set for each layer in the table, including the table header, the paragraph, and the character styles.

Paragraph styles, such as CellHeading, CellBody, CellStep, and CellBullet give you additional control over formatting within tables in your generated output. When defining the left margin for a paragraph style used in a table, consider the size and weight of the font. For example, bold table headings need less pixels in their left margin than non-bold table text paragraphs so that both types of text align with each other.