Table exceeds the page width

Question

I have a large table, and I don't want it to exceed the page limit. Please see the code below.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[table,xcdraw]{xcolor}

\begin{document}    
\begin{table}[]
\centering
\caption{My caption}
\label{my-label}
\begin{tabular}{
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l 
>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l }
\hline
DM    & Option   & States &   &   &   &   &   &   &   &   &    &    &    &    &    &    &    &    &    &    &    &    &    &    &    &    &    \\ \hline
X     & Option A & N      & Y & N & N & Y & N & N & Y & N & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  \\
      & Option B & N      & N & Y & N & N & Y & N & N & N & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  \\
Y     & Option C & N      & N & N & Y & Y & Y & N & N & N & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  & N  & N  & N  \\
      & Option D & N      & N & N & N & N & N & Y & Y & N & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  \\
Z     & Option E & Y      & Y & Y & Y & Y & Y & Y & Y & N & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  \\
      & Option F & N      & N & N & N & N & N & N & N & Y & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  \\
      & Option G & N      & N & N & N & N & N & N & N & N & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  \\ \hline
Label &          & 1      & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & 9 & 10 & 11 & 12 & 13 & 14 & 15 & 16 & 17 & 18 & 19 & 20 & 21 & 22 & 23 & 24 & 25 & 26 \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table}
\end{document}

I feel like there's probably a better way of getting a shaded background to your table, but still, at least as a point of interest, you might like to know that you can optimise that code with *{28}{>{\columncolor[HTML]{EFEFEF}}l} The *{n}{x} syntax means n copies of the column specifier. So *{5}{l} would mean 5 left-aligned columns. Used in specifying table columns, and possibly some other places, but not generally. Can be used multiple times, e.g. *{2}{c}rl*{5}{p{1cm}} — Au101, Aug 26, 2016 at 3:52
Please state the page width, the width of the text block, the document font size, and the font you use (if not Computer Modern). — Mico, Aug 26, 2016 at 4:55

Heiko Oberdiek · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-26 16:14:13Z

The table is much too wide for a normal portrait page.

Therefore the following example rotates it via environment sidewaystable of package rotating.
The width of the table is still too large, therefore it is decreased by reducing the space between columns via setting \tabcolsep to a smaller value.
The background color is set by a simple \colorbox instead of coloring each column individually with the same color. \colorbox uses an additional margin, which is controlled by \fboxsep, which is set to zero here locally.
The lines are set by the macros of package booktabs, which have a nicer spacing behavior.
Package caption fixes the vertical spacing around table caption, which appear on top of the tabular.

Example file:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{caption}
\usepackage[table,xcdraw]{xcolor}
\usepackage{rotating}
\begin{document}
  \begin{sidewaystable}
    \caption{My caption}
    \label{my-label}
    \setlength{\fboxsep}{0pt}%
    \setlength{\tabcolsep}{.73\tabcolsep}%
    \colorbox[HTML]{EFEFEF}{%
      \begin{tabular}{*{28}{l}}%
        \toprule
        DM    & Option   & \multicolumn{26}{c}{States} \\
        \midrule
        X     & Option A & N      & Y & N & N & Y & N & N & Y & N & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  \\
              & Option B & N      & N & Y & N & N & Y & N & N & N & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  \\
        Y     & Option C & N      & N & N & Y & Y & Y & N & N & N & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  & N  & N  & N  \\
              & Option D & N      & N & N & N & N & N & Y & Y & N & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  \\
        Z     & Option E & Y      & Y & Y & Y & Y & Y & Y & Y & N & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  \\
              & Option F & N      & N & N & N & N & N & N & N & Y & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  \\
              & Option G & N      & N & N & N & N & N & N & N & N & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  \\
        \midrule
        Label &          & 1      & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & 9 & 10 & 11 & 12 & 13 & 14 & 15 & 16 & 17 & 18 & 19 & 20 & 21 & 22 & 23 & 24 & 25 & 26 \\
        \bottomrule
      \end{tabular}%
    }%
  \end{sidewaystable}
\end{document}

+1 for the use of \colorbox and \fboxsep=0pt to simplify the code that colors the entire tabular environment. — Mico, Aug 26, 2016 at 4:41
(+1) Maybe a \multicolumn{3}{l}{States}would also reduce the tablewidth, and look nicer? — Bernard, Aug 26, 2016 at 8:22
@Bernard - I suspect that the word "States" should actually be centered across columns 3 thru 28. (That, at least, is the choice I made in my answer...) — Mico, Aug 26, 2016 at 10:04

Mico · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-29 10:29:38Z

Assuming your document uses a "normal" paper size (A4 or US letter), "normal" page margin (say, 1 inch), and font size of 10pt, it is possible (though only just) to make the table fit inside the text block without rotating it into "landscape" mode. I suggest you

reorganize the table's header by combining the header and footer lines and center the label "States" over columns 3 thru 28,
eliminate some redundancies in the column labelled "Option".
use a tabular* environment to set the width of the table equal to \textwidth, and

Separately, I would also like to suggest that you use the line-drawing macros of the booktabs package (instead of \hline) and add a bit of whitespace between some of the rows. These changes will help a reader's eye glide over the copious material.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[a4paper,margin=2.5cm]{geometry} % set page and text block parameters
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage[skip=0.5\baselineskip]{caption}
\usepackage[table]{xcolor} 
\begin{document}
\begin{table}
\caption{My caption}
\label{my-label}
\setlength{\fboxsep}{0pt}
\setlength{\tabcolsep}{0pt} % let "tabular*" figure out intercolumn widths
\colorbox[HTML]{EFEFEF}{% % see http://tex.stackexchange.com/a/326578/5001
\begin{tabular*}{\textwidth}{@{\extracolsep{\fill}}*{28}{l}}
\toprule
DM    & Option   & \multicolumn{26}{c}{States}\\
\cmidrule{3-28}
      &   & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 8 & 9 & 10 & 11 & 12 & 13 & 14 & 15 & 16 & 17 & 18 & 19 & 20 & 21 & 22 & 23 & 24 & 25 & 26 \\
\midrule
X     & A & N & Y & N & N & Y & N & N & Y & N & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  \\
      & B & N & N & Y & N & N & Y & N & N & N & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  & N  & N  & Y  \\ 
\addlinespace
Y     & C & N & N & N & Y & Y & Y & N & N & N & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  & N  & N  & N  \\
      & D & N & N & N & N & N & N & Y & Y & N & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  \\ 
\addlinespace
Z     & E & Y & Y & Y & Y & Y & Y & Y & Y & N & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  \\
      & F & N & N & N & N & N & N & N & N & Y & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  \\
      & G & N & N & N & N & N & N & N & N & N & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & N  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  & Y  \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular*}}
\end{table}
\end{document}

very nice answer and good explanation. Unortunately I can't vote twice for it :-(. I store it into my local "bank" of very good and usable answers ... — Zarko, Aug 29, 2016 at 10:49

Bernard · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-26 12:47:43Z

Why not swap rows and columns? Here is a way to do it:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[showframe]{geometry} 
\usepackage[table,xcdraw, svgnames]{xcolor}
\usepackage{booktabs, caption, multirow, stackengine}
\setstackEOL{\\}

\begin{document}
\begin{table}[]
  \centering
  \caption{My caption}
  \label{my-label}
  \setlength\extrarowheight{\belowrulesep}
  \rowcolors{1}{white}{Lavender!90!lightgray}
  \setlength\belowrulesep{0pt}
  \begin{tabular}{crl*{9}{c}c}
    \toprule
   \rowcolor{white} & DM: & \multicolumn{2}{c}{X}  & & \multicolumn{2}{c}{Y}  &  & \multicolumn{3}{c}{Z} \\
    \cmidrule {3-4} \cmidrule{6-7} \cmidrule{9-11}
    \rowcolor{white} Label & Options: & A & B &   & C & D &   & E & F & G \\
    \midrule
    1 & & N & N &   & N & N &   & Y & N & N \\
    2 &  & Y & N & &  N & N &  & Y & N & N \\
    3 &  & N & Y  & &  N & N &  & Y & N & N \\
    4 &  & N & N & &  Y & N &  & Y & N & N \\ 
    5 &  & Y & N & &  Y & N &  & Y & N & N \\
    6 &  & N & Y & &  Y & N &  & Y & N & N \\
    7 &  & N & N & &  N & Y &  & Y & N & N \\
    8 &  & Y & N & &  N & Y &  & Y & N & N \\
    9 &  & N & N &   & N & N &   & N & Y & N \\
  10 &  & Y & N & &  N & N &  & N & Y & N \\
  11 &  & N & Y  & &  N & N &  & N & Y & N \\
  12 &  & N & N & &  Y & N &  & N & Y  & N \\
  13 &  & Y & N & &  Y & N &  & N & Y & N \\
  14 &  & N & Y & &  Y & N &  & N & Y & N \\
  15 &  & N & N & &  N & Y &  & N & Y & N \\
  16 &  & Y & N & &  N & Y &  & N & Y & N \\
  17 &  & N & Y & &  N & Y &  & N & Y & N \\
  18 &  & N & N &   & N & N &   & N & N& Y \\
  19 &  & Y & N &   & N & N &   & N & N& Y \\
  20 &  & N & Y &   & N & N &   & N & N& Y \\
  21 &  & N & N &   & Y & N &   & N & N& Y \\
  22 &  & Y & N &   & Y & N &   & N & N& Y \\
  23 &  & N & Y &   & Y & N &   & N & N& Y \\
  24 &  & N & N &   & N & Y &   & N & N& Y \\ 
  25 &  & Y & N &   & N & Y &   & N & N& Y \\
  26 &  \multirow{-26}{*}[2ex]{\setlength\fboxrule{0.8pt}\fcolorbox{ VioletRed!80!}{white}{\scshape \Shortstack{s\\t\\a\\t\\e\\s}}} %
  & N & Y &   & N & Y &   & N & N& Y \\  
    \bottomrule
  \end{tabular}
\end{table}
\end{document}

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