A user asked in a Word newsgroup how to give a table an image as a background.
Unfortunately this is not possible in Word. But it can be done in PowerPoint, so I suggested to use that to his advantage.
Here's how:
Open your Word file. Go to
Insert -
Object (text group) -
Object - choose
Microsoft PowerPoint slide.
Adjust the height and width of the object window so that it fits your Word margins.
Select the placeholders and delete them or apply the empty slide layout.
Go to
Insert -
Table - drag the number of columns/rows you want and click to make your table.
Adjust the table so that it fits the object window.
Now, on the contextual
Design tab, in the styles for tables group, click the first table style of the second row (should indicate
No style, table grid).
Now click on the
Fill button in the same group, choose
Table background, click
Picture, navigate to your picture, select it and click
Insert.
Now the table will have a background. The advantage of using an object is that the table can easily be edited and extra rows and columns can be added without loosing the background. To edit, simply double click the object and edit away. To make the text readable you may have to adjust the colour of the font.
Once the table is finished just click next to it and it will seem as if it has been made in Word.