Generating a table with at least one skewed row, skewed column, shifted row, or shifted column is described. A table generation system generates a table that includes cells arranged in a grid comprising rows and columns, and defines each cell using a grid address, a grid span, a grid angle, a string skew value, a string shift value, and a shift indicator for the cell. The table generation system may receive input modifying a grid angle for at least one row or column and generate a modified table by skewing cells included in the at least one row or column by the grid angle. The table generation system may additionally or alternatively receive input shifting at least one row or column by a string shift value and modify the display of the table by shifting the at least one row or column according to the string shift value.