diff --git a/libs/canvas/canvas/table.h b/libs/canvas/canvas/table.h
index c31cbc1f4c..ac90dde2f9 100644
--- a/libs/canvas/canvas/table.h
+++ b/libs/canvas/canvas/table.h
@@ -65,11 +65,20 @@ public:
 		uint32_t y;
 	};
 
+	/* These three functions cannot be used with Table, and will cause a
+	   fatal error if called.
+	*/
 	void add (Item *);
 	void add_front (Item *);
 	void remove (Item *);
 
-	void attach (Item*, Coord upper_left_x, Coord upper_left_y, Coord lower_right_x, Coord lower_right_y, PackOptions row_options = PackOptions (0), PackOptions col_options = PackOptions (0), FourDimensions padding = FourDimensions (0.));
+	/* How to place an item in a table
+	 */
+
+	void attach (Item*, uint32_t upper_left_x, uint32_t upper_left_y, uint32_t lower_right_x, uint32_t lower_right_y, PackOptions row_options = PackOptions (0), PackOptions col_options = PackOptions (0), FourDimensions padding = FourDimensions (0.));
+	void attach (Item*, uint32_t upper_left_x, uint32_t upper_right_y, PackOptions row_options = PackOptions (0), PackOptions col_options = PackOptions (0), FourDimensions padding = FourDimensions (0.));
+	void attach_with_span (Item*, uint32_t upper_left_x, uint32_t upper_left_y, uint32_t hspan, uint32_t vspan, PackOptions row_options = PackOptions (0), PackOptions col_options = PackOptions (0), FourDimensions padding = FourDimensions (0.));
+
 	void dettach (Item*);
 
 	void set_row_size (uint32_t row, Distance);
diff --git a/libs/canvas/table.cc b/libs/canvas/table.cc
index c50ae02e65..3bd4704155 100644
--- a/libs/canvas/table.cc
+++ b/libs/canvas/table.cc
@@ -56,7 +56,19 @@ Table::Table (Item* item)
 }
 
 void
-Table::attach (Item* item, Coord ulx, Coord uly, Coord lrx, Coord lry, PackOptions row_options, PackOptions col_options, FourDimensions pad)
+Table::attach (Item* item, uint32_t ulx, uint32_t uly, PackOptions row_options, PackOptions col_options, FourDimensions pad)
+{
+	attach (item, ulx, uly, ulx + 1, uly + 1, row_options, col_options, pad);
+}
+
+void
+Table::attach_with_span (Item* item, uint32_t ulx, uint32_t uly, uint32_t w, uint32_t h, PackOptions row_options, PackOptions col_options, FourDimensions pad)
+{
+	attach (item, ulx, uly, ulx + w, uly + h, row_options, col_options, pad);
+}
+
+void
+Table::attach (Item* item, uint32_t ulx, uint32_t uly, uint32_t lrx, uint32_t lry, PackOptions row_options, PackOptions col_options, FourDimensions pad)
 {
 	/* XXX maybe use z-axis to stack elements if the insert fails? Would
 	 * involve making Index 3D and using an actual hash function
@@ -286,7 +298,7 @@ Table::compute (Rect const & within)
 
 		ai.natural_size += ai.spacing;
 
- 		if (ai.user_size) {
+		if (ai.user_size) {
 			highest_row_height = std::max (highest_row_height, ai.user_size);
 			inelastic_height += ai.user_size;
 			inelastic_cols++;
@@ -590,14 +602,8 @@ Table::compute (Rect const & within)
 
 		} /* end of a row */
 
-		/* typically, hpos is about to be reset to zero as we start a
-		 * new row, but we want this set correctly if we exit the loop
-		 * on the next iteration
-		 */
 
-		hpos += padding.right;
-
-		/* only add per-row and global row-spacing to the vertical
+		/* add per-row and global row-spacing to the vertical
 		   shift when we reach the end of the row.
 		*/
 
@@ -606,6 +612,12 @@ Table::compute (Rect const & within)
 		vpos += vshift;
 	}
 
+	/* We never take padding.right into account for layout, and  hpos is reset to zero as we start a
+	 * new row, but we want this set correctly as we exit the loop
+	 */
+
+	hpos += padding.right;
+
 	return Duple (hpos, vpos);
 }