Centering vertically specific rows

Question

I have a table, but some rows are bigger than others, because height of some has been changed due to p{2cm}. In these cases it would be wise to have rows centered. Suggested solution is to use \arraystretch, but it's not feasible because it stretches even these rows which do not need any changes, making already huge tables unnecessarily bigger.

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{float}
\usepackage{makecell}
\usepackage{multirow}
\begin{document}
\section{Introduction}
\begin{table}[!htbp]
\small
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{ |>{\centering\arraybackslash}p{2cm}||c|c|c|c|c| } 
\hline
\multirow{2}{*}{} & \multicolumn{5}{c|}{Some text} \
\cline{2-6}
& 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 \
\hline
\hline
Row 1 & val1 & val2 & val2 & val3 & val4 \
\hline
Row 2 but this one is very long & val1 centered & val2 centered & val2 centered & val3 centered & val4 centered \
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\caption{table} \label{lbl}
\end{table}
\end{document}

@DavidCarlisle ah, I knew there was easy solution to this. I have seen alternative solutions but they were like 500 lines each and I refused to believe it was the only way. — walter54, Mar 31 '23 at 18:22
Related topic https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/632992/how-to-middle-align-contents-of-a-single-column-only/675872#675872 — Al-Motasem Aldaoudeyeh, Mar 31 '23 at 18:24
Off-topic: \multirow{2}{*}{} does nothing useful; omit it. — Mico, Mar 31 '23 at 19:01

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 01 '23 at 06:53

Considering @DavidCarlisle comment:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
%---------------- show page layout. don't use in a real document!
\usepackage{showframe}
\renewcommand\ShowFrameLinethickness{0.15pt}
\renewcommand*\ShowFrameColor{\color{red}}
%---------------------------------------------------------------%
%\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}  % it is part of LaTeX, you not need to load anymore
%\usepackage{float}           % not used
%\usepackage{makecell}        % not used

\usepackage{array}            % needed for define m column type
\usepackage{multirow}
\begin{document}
\section{Introduction}
\begin{table}[!htbp]
\small
%\begin{center}             % table is nicer, if you replace it with \centering
\begin{tabular}{ |>{\centering\arraybackslash}m{2cm}||c|c|c|c|c| }
\hline
\multirow{2}{*}{} & \multicolumn{5}{c|}{Some text} \
\cline{2-6}
& 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 \
\hline
\hline
Row 1 & val1 & val2 & val2 & val3 & val4 \
\hline
Row 2 but this one is very long & val1 centered & val2 centered & val2 centered & val3 centered & val4 centered \
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\caption{table} \label{lbl}
\end{table}
\end{document}

(red lines indicate page layout)

As you can see, your table is wider than available space for text in page. To correct this, you have two options:

increase \textwidth by use of geometry package
enables automatic split cells contents in all cell in table. For this you should define m column type or use tabularx table, where redefine X columns to

\renewcommand\tabularxcolumn[1]{m{#1}}

or use tabularraypackage.

An example for second options which use tabularray package:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{tabularray}
\begin{document}
\section{Introduction}
    \begin{table}[!htbp]
    \small
\begin{tblr}{hlines, vlines,
             colspec = {Q[c, m, wd=20mm] *{5}{X[c, m]}}
             }
\SetCell[r=2]{c}
    &   \SetCell[c=5]{c}    Some text
        &   &   &   &   \
    & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 \
Row 1 & val1 & val2 & val2 & val3 & val4 \
Row 2 but this one is very long 
    & val 1 centered & val 2 centered & val 2 centered & val 3 centered & val 4 centered \
\end{tblr}
\caption{table} \label{lbl}
    \end{table}
\end{document}

Centering vertically specific rows

1 Answers1