My table is larger than the text box and I want to make it smaller

Question

I have some tables that larger than my box text, but not my page. If I don't want to use the rotate package, what can I do to solve this problem? For example a picture of one of my pages is below

(My language is Persian). Did you mean this code:

‎

\begin{table}‎
\begin{center}‎
\begin{tabular}{|1 | {l}|{l}|{l}|{l}|{l}|{l}|}‎
\hline‎
‎‎‎طول‎‎‎‎‎‎ گام & ‎‎$‎‎‎50‎$‎‎ نقطه & مدت زمان & ‎$‎‎‎100‎$‎ نقطه & مدت زمان & ‎$‎‎‎500‎$‎ نقطه & مدت زمان‎\\‎
\hline
 ‎$‎h=.5‎‎$& $‎11.8860‎$  & $.736471 $ & $11.8904$ & $.888925$  & $11.898$ & $3.562203$ \\‎
 & ‎$‎5.7892‎$‎&‎&‎$‎5.7918‎$‎&&‎$‎5.79‎26‎‎$‎&\\‎‎
‎\hline‎
 ‎$h=.25$ & $11.8877$&$.908528‎$‎ & $11.8921$ & $1.347235$ & $11.8956$ & $6.909139$   \\‎‎
 & ‎$‎5.7917‎$‎&‎&‎$‎5.7943‎$‎&&‎$‎5.7951‎$‎&\\‎‎‎
\hline‎
$h=.125$ & $11.8898$ & $1.800350$ & $11.8944$ & $2.689663$ & $11.8971$ & $14.014022$ \\‎‎
  & ‎$‎5.7932‎$‎&‎&‎$‎5.7957‎$‎&&‎$‎5.7965‎$‎&\\‎‎‎
\hline‎
 ‎$h=.0625$ & $11.8913$ & $4.274611$ & $11.8957$ & $6.344984$ & $11.8971$ & $28.677729 $ \\‎‎
   & ‎$‎5.7940‎$‎&‎&‎$‎5.7965‎$‎&&‎$‎5.7974‎$‎&\\‎‎‎
\hline‎
 ‎$h=.03125$ & $11.8921$ & $11.680354$ & $11.8965$ & $15.990138$ & $11.8979$ & $60.642217$\\‎‎
    & ‎$‎5.7944‎$‎&‎&‎$‎5.7970‎$‎&&‎$‎5.7978‎$‎&\\‎‎‎‎
\hline‎
$h=.015625$ & $11.8926$ & $37.061820$ & $11.8970$ & $46.333275$ & $11.8984$ & $134.800034\\‎‎‎
 & ‎$‎5.7946‎$‎&‎&‎$‎5.7972‎$‎&&‎$‎5.7980‎$‎&\\‎‎‎‎‎
 ‎\hline‎
 ‎$h=.0078125$ & $11.8928$ & $131.220405$ & $11.8972$ & ‎$‎147.617634$ & $11.8986$ & $324.236971$ \\‎‎‎‎
& ‎$‎5.7948‎$‎&‎&‎$‎5.7973‎$‎&&‎$‎5.7982‎$‎&\\‎‎‎‎‎‎
\hline‎
 ‎$h=.00390625$ & $11.8929$ & $488.012921$ & $11.8973$ & ‎$‎519.168699$ & $11.8987$ & $893.012911$ \\‎‎‎‎‎
& ‎$‎5.7948‎$‎&‎&‎$‎5.7974‎$‎&&‎$‎5.7982‎$‎&\\‎‎‎‎‎‎‎
 ‎\hline
 ‎$h=.001953125$ & $11.8930$ & $1889.675150$ & $11.8974$ & ‎$‎1953.356823$ & $11.8988$ & $2723.479288$ \\‎‎‎‎‎‎
& ‎$‎5.7949‎$‎&‎&‎$‎5.7974‎$‎&&‎$‎5.7982‎$‎&\\‎‎‎‎‎‎
\hline‎      
\end{tabular}‎
\end{center}‎
\caption{‎‎نتایج مربوط به روش رانگه کوتا $2‎$‎ ‎\label{tab=4.11}}‎
\end{table}

‎

Answer 1

If the table is currently only slightly too wide and you do not want to resort to using \resizebox -- say, because you don't want to incur an uncontrolled change in font size -- you could try the following measures.

• Reduce the value of the parameter \tabcolsep, which sets the amount of intercolumn whitespace. The default value of \tabcolsep is 6pt. Try if inserting the instruction \setlength\tabcolsep{2pt} immediately after \begin{table} produces an improvement.

• If you're willing to get rid of the vertical lines, you'll save 0.4pt for every such line you get rid of. If you do drop the vertical lines, you could also get rid of the vertical whitespace to the left of the left-most column and to the right of the rightmost column, by specifying

  \begin{tabular}{@{}1 llllll @{}}‎ % "@{}" suppresses whitespace
  

  By the way, I would like to encourage you very strongly to get rid of the useless curly braces around each column type.

• If the table still won't fit after you've implemented the preceding suggestions, it's time to start considering reducing the font size. Inserting the instruction \small after \begin{table} will induce a 10% (linear) reduction in the font size. If that's not enough, try \footnotesize, which induces a 20% linear reduction in font size.

• Of course, you should also be willing to consider other measures. E.g., are all columns really needed, or could you get rid of one or more columns without the table's main information getting lost? And, for those columns you decide to retain, is it necessary to show all those digits, or could you (and your readers!) get by with fewer digits?

Answer 2

One idea, provided that the table is currently only slightly too wide, is to locally change your page's geometry using the geometry package and the command \newgeometry.

If for instance you have an a4paper set up using \usepackage[a4paper]{geometry} in your preamble you can locally make the page a bit wider(changing only the margins) using

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[a4paper]{geometry}
\usepackage{lipsum}%a package for dummy text

    \begin{document}
     \lipsum[1]%just a dummy text
     \newgeometry{left=1cm,right=1cm}%change 1cm according to your needs
     \lipsum[1]%just a dummy text
     \restoregeometry
     \lipsum[1]%just a dummy text
    \end{document}

The result will be the following

Before

After

Answer 3

Thanks to Mico. Based on his suggestion the following wide table was constructed. However, I do not understand why \hline is not working except in the heading of the table. MyCode:

\documentclass[table]{article}
\usepackage[margin=0.5in]{geometry}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{siunitx}

\begin{document}
\begin{center}
\textbf{Wide Table Construction}
\end{center}
\begin{table}[h]‎
\small
\noindent
\setlength\tabcolsep{4.5pt}
\begin{tabular*}{1.0\textwidth}{@{\extracolsep{\fill}}lrrrrrrccc @{}}
\hline 
‎‎‎h & ‎‎$‎‎‎50‎$‎‎ &A & ‎$‎‎‎100$ & C& ‎$‎‎‎500‎$&D&E&F&G‎ ‎\\ 
\hline
 ‎$‎h=.5‎‎$& $‎11.8860‎$  & $.736471 $ & $11.8904$ & $.888925$  & $11.898$ & $3.562203$  & ‎$‎5.7892‎$‎ ‎&‎$‎5.7918‎$‎& ‎$‎5.79‎26‎‎$ ‎\\‎‎
%\hline
 ‎$h=.25$ & $11.8877$&$.908528‎$‎ & $11.8921$ & $1.347235$ & $11.8956$ & $6.909139$  & ‎$‎5.7917‎$‎&‎‎$‎5.7943‎$‎&‎$‎5.7951‎$ ‎\\‎‎‎
%\hline‎
$h=.125$ & $11.8898$ & $1.800350$ & $11.8944$ & $2.689663$ & $11.8971$ & $14.014022$   & ‎$‎5.7932‎$‎&‎‎$‎5.7957‎$‎&‎$‎5.7965‎$ ‎\\‎‎‎
%\hline‎
 ‎$h=.0625$ & $11.8913$ & $4.274611$ & $11.8957$ & $6.344984$ & $11.8971$ & $28.677729 $ & ‎$‎5.7940‎$‎‎&‎$‎5.7965‎$‎&‎$‎5.7974‎$ ‎\\‎‎‎
%\hline‎
 ‎$h=.03125$ & $11.8921$ & $11.680354$ & $11.8965$ & $15.990138$ & $11.8979$ & $60.642217$  & ‎$‎5.7944‎$‎&‎$‎5.7970‎$‎&‎$‎5.7978‎$ ‎\\‎‎‎‎
%\hline‎
$h=.015625$ & $11.8926$ & $37.061820$ & $11.8970$ & $46.333275$ & $11.8984$ & $134.800034$ & ‎$‎5.7946‎$‎&‎‎$‎5.7972‎$‎&‎$‎5.7980‎$ ‎\\‎‎‎‎‎
% ‎\hline‎
 ‎$h=.0078125$ & $11.8928$ & $131.220405$ & $11.8972$ & ‎$‎147.617634$ & $11.8986$ & $324.236971$& ‎$‎5.7948‎$‎‎&‎$‎5.7973‎$‎&‎$‎5.7982‎$ ‎\\‎‎‎‎‎‎
%\hline‎
 ‎$h=.00390625$ & $11.8929$ & $488.012921$ & $11.8973$ & ‎$‎519.168699$ & $11.8987$ & $893.012911$ ‎‎‎& ‎$‎5.7948‎$‎‎&‎$‎5.7974‎$‎&‎$‎5.7982‎$ ‎\\‎‎‎‎‎‎‎
%‎\hline
 ‎$h=.001953125$ & $11.8930$ & $1889.675150$ & $11.8974$ & ‎$‎1953.356823$ & $11.8988$ & $2723.479288$& ‎$‎5.7949‎$‎&‎‎$‎5.7974‎$‎&‎$‎5.7982‎$ ‎\\‎‎
‎  \end{tabular*}‎
\hrule
\caption{‎statement}
‎ ‎\label{tab=4.11}‎
\end{table}

\end{document}

Output: