booktabs

# booktabs + tabularx + multirow + longtable — Professional Tables **CTAN:** https://ctan.org/pkg/booktabs | https://ctan.org/pkg/tabularx **Manual:** `texdoc booktabs` ## Setup ```latex \usepackage{booktabs} % professional horizontal rules \usepackage{tabularx} % auto-width columns \usepackage{multirow} % cells spanning rows \usepackage{longtable} % multi-page tables \usepackage{colortbl} % colored rows/cells (optional) \usepackage{siunitx} % number alignment (optional) ``` ## Ugly vs Professional — Before/After ### ❌ Bad Table ```latex \begin{tabular}{|l|c|r|} \hline Name & Score & Grade \\ \hline Alice & 95 & A \\ \hline Bob & 82 & B \\ \hline Carol & 78 & C \\ \hline \end{tabular} ``` ### ✅ Good Table ```latex \begin{tabular}{lcc} \toprule Name & Score & Grade \\ \midrule Alice & 95 & A \\ Bob & 82 & B \\ Carol & 78 & C \\ \bottomrule \end{tabular} ``` **Rules:** Never use vertical lines. Never use `\hline`. Use `\toprule`, `\midrule`, `\bottomrule`. ## booktabs Rules | Command | Use | |---------|-----| | `\toprule` | Top of table (thicker) | | `\midrule` | Between header and body | | `\bottomrule` | Bottom of table (thicker) | | `\cmidrule(lr){2-4}` | Partial rule spanning columns 2–4 | | `\addlinespace` | Extra vertical space (group separator) | | `\addlinespace[5pt]` | Custom extra space | ### cmidrule Trimming ```latex \cmidrule(l){1-2} % trim left \cmidrule(r){3-4} % trim right \cmidrule(lr){2-3} % trim both \cmidrule{1-4} % no trim ``` ### Grouped Rows Example ```latex \begin{tabular}{llr} \toprule Category & Item & Price \\ \midrule Fruit & Apple & 1.20 \\ & Banana & 0.80 \\ \addlinespace Dairy & Milk & 2.50 \\ & Cheese & 4.00 \\ \bottomrule \end{tabular} ``` ## tabularx — Auto-Width Columns ```latex % X columns expand to fill \textwidth \begin{tabularx}{\textwidth}{lXr} \toprule ID & Description & Price \\ \midrule 1 & A very long description that will wrap automatically & \$10 \\ 2 & Short & \$20 \\ \bottomrule \end{tabularx} ``` | Column type | Behavior | |-------------|----------| | `l`, `c`, `r` | Fixed (natural width) | | `X` | Expands to fill remaining space (left-aligned) | | `>{\centering\arraybackslash}X` | Centered X column | | `>{\raggedleft\arraybackslash}X` | Right-aligned X column | | `p{3cm}` | Paragraph, fixed width | ## multirow ```latex \usepackage{multirow} \begin{tabular}{lcr} \toprule \multirow{2}{*}{Name} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Scores} \\ \cmidrule(l){2-3} & Math & English \\ \midrule Alice & 95 & 88 \\ Bob & 72 & 91 \\ \bottomrule \end{tabular} ``` Syntax: `\multirow{nrows}{width}{content}` — use `*` for auto width. `\multicolumn{ncols}{alignment}{content}` — built into LaTeX. ### Complex Header Example ```latex \begin{tabular}{lcccccc} \toprule & \multicolumn{3}{c}{Treatment A} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{Treatment B} \\ \cmidrule(lr){2-4} \cmidrule(lr){5-7} Subject & Pre & Post & $\Delta$ & Pre & Post & $\Delta$ \\ \midrule 1 & 5.2 & 3.1 & $-2.1$ & 4.8 & 4.5 & $-0.3$ \\ 2 & 6.1 & 2.8 & $-3.3$ & 5.5 & 5.2 & $-0.3$ \\ \bottomrule \end{tabular} ``` ## longtable — Multi-Page Tables ```latex \usepackage{longtable} \begin{longtable}{lcc} % Header for first page \toprule Name & Value & Unit \\ \midrule \endfirsthead % Header for continuation pages \multicolumn{3}{l}{\textit{Continued from previous page}} \\ \toprule Name & Value & Unit \\ \midrule \endhead % Footer for all pages except last \midrule \multicolumn{3}{r}{\textit{Continued on next page}} \\ \endfoot % Footer for last page \bottomrule \endlastfoot % Data rows Alpha & 1.0 & m \\ Beta & 2.5 & kg \\ % ... many more rows ... Omega & 9.9 & s \\ \caption{Long experimental data.} \label{tab:longdata} \end{longtable} ``` **Note:** `longtable` replaces `tabular` entirely (not inside `table` environment). Caption and label go inside. ## colortbl — Row and Cell Coloring ```latex \usepackage{colortbl} \usepackage[table]{xcolor} % or load xcolor with table option % Colored row \rowcolor{blue!10} Alice & 95 & A \\ % Colored cell Alice & \cellcolor{green!20} 95 & A \\ % Alternating row colors (xcolor table option) \rowcolors{2}{gray!10}{white} % start at row 2, alternate \begin{tabular}{lcc} \toprule \rowcolor{white} % override for header Name & Score & Grade \\ \midrule Alice & 95 & A \\ % gray Bob & 82 & B \\ % white Carol & 78 & C \\ % gray \bottomrule \end{tabular} ``` ## siunitx S Columns — Number Alignment ```latex \usepackage{siunitx} \begin{tabular}{l S[table-format=3.2] S[table-format=1.3]} \toprule {Material} & {Density} & {Error} \\ \midrule Steel & 785.00 & 0.050 \\ Aluminum & 270.00 & 0.120 \\ Titanium & 450.00 & 0.008 \\ Gold & 1932.00 & 0.300 \\ \bottomrule \end{tabular} ``` **S column:** Aligns numbers by decimal point. Wrap text headers in `{...}`. | S option | Example | Meaning | |----------|---------|---------| | `table-format` | `3.2` | 3 digits . 2 decimals | | `table-format` | `+2.1e3` | sign, digits, exponent | | `round-mode` | `places` | Round to decimal places | | `round-precision` | `2` | Number of decimal places | ## Full Example — Publication-Quality Table ```latex \begin{table}[htbp] \centering \caption{Performance comparison of algorithms.} \label{tab:comparison} \begin{tabular}{l S[table-format=2.1] S[table-format=3.0] c} \toprule {Method} & {Accuracy (\%)} & {Time (ms)} & {Converged?} \\ \midrule Baseline & 72.3 & 150 & Yes \\ Improved & 85.1 & 230 & Yes \\ Proposed & 91.7 & 98 & Yes \\ \addlinespace Oracle & 99.2 & 45 & N/A \\ \bottomrule \end{tabular} \end{table} ``` ## Common Pitfalls | Problem | Cause | Fix | |---------|-------|-----| | Vertical lines | Using `|` in column spec | Remove them — use whitespace | | `\hline` | Old habit | Use `\toprule/\midrule/\bottomrule` | | Table too wide | Too many columns | Use `tabularx` with `X` columns, or `\resizebox` | | `longtable` in `table` | Incompatible | `longtable` replaces `table` environment | | `\multirow` misaligned | Row height differences | Add `\rule{0pt}{2.5ex}` or adjust manually | | `S` column header error | Text in S column | Wrap header in `{...}` | | Footnotes in table | `\footnote` fails in tabular | Use `\tablefootnote` (tablefootnote pkg) or threeparttable | | `booktabs` + `colortbl` gaps | Rules have gaps with color | Add `\abovetopsep=0pt` or use `\arrayrulecolor` | ## Tips - **Three rules only:** `\toprule`, `\midrule`, `\bottomrule` — almost never need more - Use `\addlinespace` to group rows visually instead of extra rules - Put `\caption` above the table (convention for tables, unlike figures) - `\small` or `\footnotesize` before tabular to shrink wide tables - `threeparttable` package for proper table footnotes - `\arraystretch` to adjust row height: `\renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.2}`