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flextable provides several functions to control and inspect table dimensions.

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autofit()

Computes and applies optimised column widths and row heights based on the minimum size required to display each cell’s content on one line. 
autofit(
  x,
  add_w = 0.1,
  add_h = 0.1,
  part = c("body", "header"),
  unit = "in",
  hspans = "none"
)
autofit() is not the same as the Microsoft Word Autofit feature. It calculates minimum content widths and applies them as fixed widths. If you need a percentage-based responsive layout, use set_table_properties(layout = "autofit") instead.When autofit() is used with rotated text, rotation is ignored in the size calculation. Use dim_pretty() and width() manually in that case.
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x
flextable
required
A flextable object.
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add_w
number
default:"0.1"
Extra width to add to each column, in the unit specified by unit.
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add_h
number
default:"0.1"
Extra height to add to each row, in the unit specified by unit.
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part
string | character vector
default:"c(\"body\", \"header\")"
Which parts to include in the size calculation: "body", "header", "footer", or "all".
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unit
string
default:"\"in\""
Unit for add_w and add_h. One of "in" (inches), "cm", or "mm".
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hspans
string
default:"\"none\""
How to treat horizontally spanned (merged) cells in the width calculation:
  • "none" — merged cells contribute 0 width (do not influence column widths).
  • "divided" — merged cell width is divided equally among the spanned columns.
  • "included" — merged cell widths are included as-is in the calculation.

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Example

ft <- flextable(head(mtcars))
ft <- autofit(ft)
ft

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dim_pretty()

Returns the minimum estimated column widths and row heights without applying them to the table. Use this to inspect sizes before manually calling width() or height(). 
dim_pretty(x, part = "all", unit = "in", hspans = "none")
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x
flextable
required
A flextable object.
​
part
string
default:"\"all\""
Which parts to include: "body", "header", "footer", or "all".
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unit
string
default:"\"in\""
Unit for returned values. One of "in" (inches), "cm", or "mm".
​
hspans
string
default:"\"none\""
How to treat horizontally spanned cells. Same values as for autofit().

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Return value

A list with two elements:
  • widths — numeric vector of minimum column widths.
  • heights — numeric vector of minimum row heights.

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Example

ft <- flextable(head(mtcars))
dim_pretty(ft)

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fit_to_width()

Shrinks the table to fit within a maximum total width by iteratively decreasing font sizes until the table fits. 
fit_to_width(x, max_width, inc = 1L, max_iter = 20, unit = "in")
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x
flextable
required
A flextable object.
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max_width
number
required
Maximum total width the table should occupy.
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inc
integer
default:"1"
Amount to decrease the font size (in points) at each iteration.
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max_iter
integer
default:"20"
Maximum number of shrink iterations before stopping.
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unit
string
default:"\"in\""
Unit for max_width. One of "in" (inches), "cm", or "mm".

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Example

ft <- qflextable(head(mtcars))
ft <- width(ft, width = 1)
ft <- fit_to_width(ft, max_width = 4)
ft

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flextable_dim()

Returns the overall width, height, and aspect ratio of the table as a named list. 
flextable_dim(x, unit = "in")
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x
flextable
required
A flextable object.
​
unit
string
default:"\"in\""
Unit for returned values. One of "in" (inches), "cm", or "mm".

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Return value

A named list with:
  • widths — total table width.
  • heights — total table height.
  • aspect_ratio — heights / widths.

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Example

ft <- flextable(head(iris))
flextable_dim(ft)
ft <- autofit(ft)
flextable_dim(ft)

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See also