Index: groff_hdtbl.man
===================================================================
RCS file: /sources/groff/groff/contrib/hdtbl/groff_hdtbl.man,v
retrieving revision 1.12
diff -u -r1.12 groff_hdtbl.man
--- groff_hdtbl.man     23 Jan 2010 07:47:40 -0000      1.12
+++ groff_hdtbl.man     1 Feb 2010 22:45:12 -0000
@@ -897,6 +897,45 @@
 .
 .SH HDTBL CUSTOMIZATION
 .
+.PP
+Before creating the first table,
+you need to set up default values
+to minimize the markup
+needed in each table.
+At a minimum, you must set the
+.CR s
+and
+.CR v
+registers, and initialize
+the point size and line spacing by calling the
+.CR ".pv"
+macro.
+The following example
+sets up defaults
+suitable for typical papers:
+.PP
+.RS
+.nf
+.CR ".ds t*bgc white\e\[dq] background color
+.CR ".ds t*fgc black\e\[dq] foreground color
+.CR ".ds t*bc black\e\[dq]  border color
+.CR ".nr t*cpd 0.1n\e\[dq]  cell padding
+.CR ".nr s \en[.ps]\e\[dq]   point size
+.CR ".nr v \en[.v]\e\[dq]    line spacing
+.CR ".ds t*cptn \[dq]\[dq].sp .4\[dq] \e
+.CR "            \[dq].pv 1.0 1.0\[dq] \e
+.CR "            \[dq].ad l\[dq] \e
+.CR "            \[dq]\em[\e\e*[t*fgc]]\efBTable \e\en+[t*cptn]:\e0\ec\ek*\[dq]\e\[dq]
+.CR ".pv 1.0 1.0 \[dq]\[dq] X
+.fi
+.RE
+.PP
+The file
+.B examples/common.roff
+provides another example setup
+in the ``minimal Page setup'' section.
+.
+.PP
 A table which does not fit on a partially filled page is printed
 automatically on the top of the next page if you append the little
 utility macro