Align Content by Cell

The alignment operators are applied to a cell’s specifier and allow you to horizontally and vertically align a cell’s content.

Horizontal alignment operators

Content can be horizontally aligned to the left or right side of the cell as well as the center of the cell.

Flush left operator (<)

The less-than sign (<) aligns the content to the left side of the cell. This is the default horizontal alignment.

Flush right operator (>)

The greater-than sign (>) aligns the content to the right side of the cell.

Center operator (^)

The caret (^) centers the content horizontally in the cell.

A horizontal alignment operator is entered after a span or duplication operator (if present) and in front a vertical alignment operator (if present).

<factor><span or duplication operator><horizontal alignment operator><vertical alignment operator><style operator>|<cell’s content>

Center content horizontally in a cell

To horizontally center the content in a cell, place the ^ operator in front of the cell’s separator (|). Don’t insert any spaces between the | and the operator.

Example 1. Center the content of a cell horizontally
|===
|Column Name |Column Name

^|This content is horizontally centered because the cell specifier includes the `+^+` operator.
|There isn't a horizontal alignment operator on this cell specifier, so the cell falls back to the default horizontal alignment.
Content is aligned to the left side of the cell by default.
|===

The table from Example 1 is rendered below.

Result of Example 1
Column Name Column Name

This content is horizontally centered because the cell specifier includes the ^ operator.

There isn’t a horizontal alignment operator on this cell specifier, so the cell falls back to the default horizontal alignment. Content is aligned to the left side of the cell by default.

If the cell specifier includes a span (<n>`) or duplication (`<n>*`), place the `^+ directly after the span or duplication operator.

Example 2. Center content horizontally in spanned columns and duplicated cells
|===
|Column Name |Column Name

2+^|This cell spans two columns, and its content is horizontally centered because the cell specifier includes the `+^+` operator.
2*^|This content is duplicated in two adjacent columns.
Its content is horizontally centered because the cell specifier
includes the `+^+` operator.
|===

The table from Example 2 is rendered below.

Result of Example 2
Column Name Column Name

This cell spans two columns, and its content is horizontally centered because the cell specifier includes the ^ operator.

This content is duplicated in two adjacent columns. Its content is horizontally centered because the cell specifier includes the ^ operator.

This content is duplicated in two adjacent columns. Its content is horizontally centered because the cell specifier includes the ^ operator.

Align the content of a cell to the right

To align the content in a cell to its right side, place the > operator in front of the cell’s separator (|), but after a span (<n>`) or duplication (`<n>*+) operator (if present). Don’t insert any spaces between the | and the operators.

Example 3. Right align the content of a cell
|===
|Column Name |Column Name

>|This content is aligned to the right side of the cell because the cell specifier includes the `>` operator.
|There isn't a horizontal alignment operator on this cell specifier, so the cell falls back to the default horizontal alignment.
Content is aligned to the left side of the cell by default.

2+>|This cell spans two columns.

Its content is aligned to the right because the cell specifier includes the `>` operator.
The `>` operator must be placed directly after the span operator (`+`).
|===

The table from Example 3 is rendered below.

Result of Example 3
Column Name Column Name

This content is aligned to the right side of the cell because the cell specifier includes the > operator.

There isn’t a horizontal alignment operator on this cell specifier, so the cell falls back to the default horizontal alignment. Content is aligned to the left side of the cell by default.

This cell spans two columns.

Its content is aligned to the right because the cell specifier includes the > operator. The > operator must be placed directly after the span operator (+).

Vertical alignment operators

Content can be vertically aligned to the top or bottom of a cell as well as the center of a cell. Vertical alignment operators always begin with a dot (.).

Flush top operator (.<)

The dot and less-than sign (.<) aligns the content to the top of the cell. This is the default vertical alignment.

Flush bottom operator (.>)

The dot and greater-than sign (.>) aligns the content to the bottom of the cell.

Center operator (.^)

The dot and caret (.^) centers the content vertically.

A vertical alignment operator is entered after a horizontal alignment operator (if present) and in front of a style operator (if present).

<factor><span or duplication operator><horizontal alignment operator><vertical alignment operator><style operator>|<cell’s content>

Align content to the bottom of a cell

To align the content to the bottom of a cell, place the .> operator in front of the cell’s separator (|). Don’t insert any spaces between the | and the operator.

Example 4. Align content to the bottom of a cell
[cols="2,1"]
|===
|Column Name |Column Name

.>|This content is aligned to the bottom of the cell because the cell specifier includes the `.>` operator.
|There isn't a vertical alignment operator on this cell specifier, so the cell falls back to the alignment assigned via the column specifier or the default vertical alignment.
Content is aligned to the top of the cell by default.
|===

The table from Example 4 is rendered below.

Result of Example 4
Column Name Column Name

This content is aligned to the bottom of the cell because the cell specifier includes the .> operator.

There isn’t a vertical alignment operator on this cell specifier, so the cell falls back to the alignment assigned via the column specifier or the default vertical alignment. Content is aligned to the top of the cell by default.

If the cell specifier includes a span (<n>`) or duplication (`<n>*+), place the .> after the span or duplication operator.

Example 5. Align content to the bottom of a cell that spans rows
|===
|Column Name |Column Name

|There isn't a vertical alignment operator on this cell specifier, so the content is aligned to the top of the cell by default.

.2+.>|This cell spans two rows, and its content is aligned to the bottom because the cell specifier includes the `.>` operator.

|This content is aligned to the top of the cell by default.
|===

The table from Example 5 is rendered below.

Result of Example 5
Column Name Column Name

There isn’t a vertical alignment operator on this cell specifier, so the content is aligned to the top of the cell by default.

This cell spans two rows, and its content is aligned to the bottom because the cell specifier includes the .> operator.

This content is aligned to the top of the cell by default.

Center content vertically in a cell

To vertically center the content in a cell, place the .^ operator in front of the cell’s separator (|). Don’t insert any spaces between the | and the operator.

Example 6. Center the content of a cell vertically
|===
|Column Name |Column Name

.^|This content is vertically centered because the cell specifier includes the `+.^+` operator.
|There isn't a vertical alignment operator on this cell specifier, so the cell falls back to the default vertical alignment.
Content is aligned to the top of the cell by default.
|===

The table from Example 6 is rendered below.

Result of Example 6
Column Name Column Name

This content is vertically centered because the cell specifier includes the .^ operator.

There isn’t a vertical alignment operator on this cell specifier, so the cell falls back to the default vertical alignment. Content is aligned to the top of the cell by default.

Apply horizontal and vertical alignment operators to the same cell

A cell can have a vertical and horizontal alignment operator included in its cell specifier. The horizontal operator always precedes the vertical operator.

Example 7. Align cells horizontally and vertically
|===
|Column 1 |Column 2 |Column 3

^.>|The specifier for this cell is `^.>`.
The content is centered horizontally and aligned to the bottom of the cell.
|There aren't any alignment operators on this cell's specifier, so the cell falls back to the default alignments.
The default horizontal alignment is the left side of the cell.
The default vertical alignment is the top of the cell.
>.^|The specifier for this cell is `>.^`.
The content is aligned to the right side of the cell and centered vertically.

2.3+^.^|The specifier for this cell is `pass:[2.3+^.^]`.
It spans two columns and three rows.

Its content is centered horizontally and vertically.
3*.>|The specifier for this cell is `3*.>`.
The cell is duplicated in three consecutive rows in the same column.
It's content is aligned to the bottom of the cell.
|===

The table from Example 7 is rendered below.

Result Example 7
Column 1 Column 2 Column 3

The specifier for this cell is ^.>. The content is centered horizontally and aligned to the bottom of the cell.

There aren’t any alignment operators on this cell’s specifier, so the cell falls back to the default alignments. The default horizontal alignment is the left side of the cell. The default vertical alignment is the top of the cell.

The specifier for this cell is >.^. The content is aligned to the right side of the cell and centered vertically.

The specifier for this cell is 2.3+^.^. It spans two columns and three rows.

Its content is centered horizontally and vertically.

The specifier for this cell is 3*.>. The cell is duplicated in three consecutive rows in the same column. It’s content is aligned to the bottom of the cell.

The specifier for this cell is 3*.>. The cell is duplicated in three consecutive rows in the same column. It’s content is aligned to the bottom of the cell.

The specifier for this cell is 3*.>. The cell is duplicated in three consecutive rows in the same column. It’s content is aligned to the bottom of the cell.