How Markdown Tables Should Look in a ChatGPT PDF

Sizing the columns

Column widths are derived from the longest content in each column, clamped so a single verbose cell cannot squeeze its neighbours into a two-character sliver, then scaled to fill the measure exactly.

Headers that repeat

When a table spans a page break, the header row is re-drawn at the top of the next page. Without that, the second half of a long table is a grid of unlabelled values.

Readability details

Small decisions do most of the work here.

• Centred bold headers on a tinted band
• Alternating row tint to guide the eye across wide rows
• Hairline rules rather than heavy borders
• Cell padding generous enough that text never touches a rule