diff --git a/table.scm b/table.scm
index 8a88112..4e82d8a 100644
--- a/table.scm
+++ b/table.scm
@@ -86,11 +86,31 @@
    (let ((ml (apply max (map length row))))
      (map (make-list-extender ml) row)))
 
+ ;; Normalizes the number of text lines in each table row.
+ (define (table-normalize-rows tbl)
+   (map table-normalize-row tbl))
+
+ ;; Returns the maximum width of each column of the table.
+ (define (table-column-widths tbl)
+   '())
+
+ (define (table-row-normalize-cells row cwidths)
+   row)
+
+ ;; Normalizes cells in all rows to match the widths of the wides cell
+ ;; in each column.
+ (define (table-normalize-columns tbl)
+   (let ((cwidths (table-column-widths tbl)))
+     (map (lambda (row)
+	    (table-row-normalize-cells row cwidths))
+	  tbl)))
+
  ;; Ensures the table is rectangular and each cell is a list of strings.
  (define (table-prepare tbl)
-   (table-prepare-cells
-    (table-stringify
-     (table-rectangularize tbl))))
+   (table-normalize-rows
+    (table-prepare-cells
+     (table-stringify
+      (table-rectangularize tbl)))))
 
  (define (table->string tbl . args)
    "")