empty paragraphs above below tables

[cayce]

In Word 2007, are empty paragraphs above/below a table a good thing to
include? If so, why? I have this nagging feeling that always striking empty
paragraphs above/below table might get you into trouble..but I cannot cite a
specific example at the moment. Is it maybe only at the very end of a
document that you need to let one below a table remain?

Thanks for recommendations on this.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You *cannot* delete the empty paragraph below a table at the end of the
document. All others are optional. Reasons for empty paragraphs above or
below tables include:

1. Separating tables from each other. If you don't have an empty paragraph
between two tables, they will be joined into one table.

2. Separating tables from preceding/following text. If your table doesn't
have a border, you can add Space Above to the first row or Space Below to
the last row to create more space between the table text and adjacent body
text. But if the table has a border, the Space Above/Below is applied inside
the border rather than outside (just the opposite of what happens with a
paragraph border), so the alternatives include adding Space Below to a
paragraph above the table/Space Above to a following paragraph or inserting
an empty paragraph above/below the table.

 

[cayce]

Thanks Suzanne..this is good information. We do use a LOT of borderless
tables to simulate wrapped text with images and I do not want ot change the
table heading style, so, an occasional empty parapgrah it shall be!

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

FWIW, I have a Body Text Space Before style that I use after tables and at
other points in a document where space as needed (in novels to indicate
lapse of time, for example).