Animate parts of a table - part 2, split and regroup

Splitting up the table and regroup

To decompose the table you will have to select it, copy, and paste special as an emf or wmf file.

Now right-click the table and choose Group - Ungroup. Click Yes in the dialogue that appears.

Right-click the table again and choose Group and Ungroup.

The table is now split in all its components. Be aware that there can be a lot of components. Click outside of the table to deselect it.

If you do not need certain parts of the table just select and delete them. To select each part one by one press the tab key and individual parts will be selected every time you press the key. In our table there is an empty rectangle surrounding the table. On the first press of the tab key it is selected, press delete. See the picture below, I moved the rectangle a bit so you can see it better.

I also want to get rid of the white line deviding the header row and the first row of the table. Just click on the line and press delete.

Once all the superfluous parts are deleted, select row by row and group them again.

Drag a marquee over the title row with your mouse. Make sure you do not select too much.

Right-click again and choose Group - Group.

Repeat for the remaining rows.

Leave all rows selected except the title row. Now you can animate them using an entrance effect. If you want you can adjust the timing.

Once you split the table there is no way back, so, work on a copy, you will need the original for editing if need be. More complex tables are not suited for this workaround as it will take too much time to obtain a good result.