kat

I had another look on this, and now on macOS. There I first changed number formatting to US English style using System Regional settings (from the default Finnish one), and then simply just opened your .XLSX file in Microsoft Excel (latest version). The formatting came correct out of the box, including the date, and surprisingly were not "custom" formats in macOS Excel (which, btw, in many ways seems smarter than its Windows cousin). So what I did was that I just copied the Excel data onto Clipboard, selected all cells in Publisher imported .XLSX file that is otherwise properly formatted, just messing up number formats, and pasted. Alignments come wrong, but it is a simple task to right align required columns, and vertically center align cells.

pastefromexcel.mp4   On Windows (using Finnish regional settings, at least), I had to open the .XLSX file in Excel and change number and date formatting that were interpreted as "custom" to standard US formats, and save back. After that, Publisher opened the file correctly (excluding alignments). On Windows, you can also use Clipboard to transfer correctly formatted data via Clipboard (using the default Rich Text Format), but on Windows reformatted .XLSX is read correctly (on macOS it will still be read incorrectly).

No, fortunately, you are not limited only to the visual aspects. Additionally, in the "Edit table format" dialog box, you can also create cell formats (1) to which you can assign the previously created text style (2). Cell formats with an assigned text style can then be used to build a table format. You can apply them to different rows like header or footer etc.

Probably, though in Show Details you might get a bit more.

How did you "download" them?
In any case, the Resource Manager shows Embedded and Linked images/documents that you've Placed, pasted, or dragged into the Publisher document. These would typically be Image layers; it won't show pixel objects, for example.

No. You need to build such a library of templates yourself, creating new table formats on by one.
@kat Important thing to know and a big problem is that table formats are 'document specific' wchich in simple means that they aren't available in other document then they where created at and saved at.
Fortunately, the option to import table formats from other documents comes to the rescue here.

You can create a separate .afpub document that will hold several table formats, and just for that, and then import styles from such a document.
It is a kind of source of table formats, but in the form of a separate .afpub file saved in a convenient place on the disk.
This isn't as convenient as if it could be if the custom table formats once saved were available globally in the app and fo every document.
The moral of the above is:
 

It seems it has been possible to Adobe developers at least from 2012 (InDesign CS6):

importing_custom_formatted_excel.mp4   The clip is from Windows that uses Finnish regional settings with space and comma as group and decimal separator, and as text is interpreted rather than using live formats, needs to be find-replaced to set formats correctly. InDesign would probably read the file correctly if system regional settings were changed and the app restarted. 
InDesign reads the custom formats meaningfully both from .XLS and .XLSX formats, so I think this is basically just a question of maturity of apps, and level of programming skills.

@kat
XLS and XLSX are two different file formats of Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet.
The difference is that XLS (2003 Excel) uses a binary format, and XLSX (2007 Excel) uses the newer XML format as a method to save data.
According to "supported file formats for placement" list in the Placing content chapter (official V2 documentation) APub only supports XLSX files.
Placing content (Official V2 APub documentation)
Verifying the above, there is one conclusion. XLS files are not supported and can't be placed in APub.
If you are concerned about incorrectly interpreted cell formatting and blank lines, which is not the case in the PDF version generated in Excel, then:
When it comes to misinterpreting the formatting, this has always been a problem and until it is improved there is not much the user can really do.
I get around this problem by copying the values directly from spreadsheet to a previously prepared table in APub (appropriate number of columns, rows, style).
It requires more work but the formating is exactly how iit should be.
If I really have to use an XLSX file, I try to make sure it does not have non-standard formatting in cells, only values and text.
I work out the formatting and details in APub itself.
  For blank rows, APub did the job correctly. There are also blank lines in the XLSX file, so they have been mapped to match the original.
There are no blank lines in the PDF because perhaps Excel exports to PDF by default by removing blank lines or offers such an option when exporting.
I'm not sure because I gave up Office a long time ago and now im using OpenOffice. example video — copying from spreadsheed to table prepared in APub↓
This is posible because spreadsheet data is copied as tabular data - that's what @lacerto mentioned.

Apub_copy_from_spreadsheet.mp4 @lacerto im not an expert of XLSX file format but is it even possible for APub to map the custom number formatting from an Excel XLSX file?
I always thought it was impossible, that it could only retrieve the plain value, but how would it know what rules to apply to get the right format?
I think XLSX only contains a reference to the formatting style, not the actual rules that create that formatting. These are probably saved in Excel.
It wouldn't make sense to save the custom formatting rules in the XLSX file itself. This type of file format implementation would be like 👽

Don't set it at all. Or, if you have set it, click on the little triangle to get the drop-down list and choose Auto. That will give you a value in () which shows that it is an automatic value.
 

Set your "AA Table Body" Paragraph Style to use whatever leading value you want/need. I use Exact for the leading type. As it is setup here in this screenshot from one of your earlier posts you have applied some overrides as indicated by the + symbol in its name. If necessary you may need to set up many Paragraph Styles for your table. Always use the Edit the Paragraph Style and avoid the use of the Paragraph Panel to override the Paragraph's applied style. Overrides should be used rarely if at all, using overrides is always a last resort.

If you can demonstrate your problem in a sample .afpub document that you can share with us, we can probably tell you what's wrong.
By the way, if you're using paragraph breaks in your table cells, in addition to Leading you need to worry about the Space Before and Space After settings in the Paragraph panel or in the Text Style that you're using.

Yes. Check out the field marked in red rectangle in picture bellow↓
BTW you can find leading override in character panel. It should be set to auto (value in brackets = auto)

Hello, @kat
Issue with data import in APub 2.4.2 where all data is being placed into the first cell of a table. This could be a bug or a feature that’s not working as expected. A workaround, as you mentioned, is to use the table tool and then place the Excel data by dragging out the table, which seems to work fine for you.
Best Regard
Ryan1969

Could you be more specific, because from the words you used it's hard to understand what your problem really is.
Did you used 'forced line break' (Shift+Enter/Return) to break the text into second line and your'e encountering some problems with the leading in a table cell? 
That's what is about?
 
Do you mean 'Baseline grids' and the 'Use Baseline Grid option'?
To suggest troubleshooting tips, we need better information about your problem and the desired result you want to achieve.
A screenshot of the problem would be very helpfull
 
 

Yes, sounds right to me.

Hello, @kat
 
I can see your post please see below and follow the information step by step.
To import Excel table data into an Affinity Publisher v2 table, you can follow these steps:
Prepare Your Data:
In Excel, highlight the cells you want to copy. Copy them (Cmd + C). Place the Data in Publisher:
In Affinity Publisher, create a table with the Table tool. It’s okay if the table is smaller than the data you’re importing; it will expand to accommodate the data. Select at least two cells in the table where you want to paste the data. Paste the data (Cmd + V).  
The table in Publisher will automatically adjust to fit all the columns and rows you’ve pasted. If you need to maintain a link between the Excel file and the Publisher document for automatic updates, this feature is not directly supported. You can use the Data Merge feature in Publisher with XLSX files for similar functionality.
Remember, the exact steps may vary slightly based on your version of Affinity Publisher and Excel. If you encounter any issues or have further questions, feel free to ask for more assistance.
 
 

In particular, the Layers panel shows two Levels adjustment layers: one with only its built-in mask, and another with an additional mask that looks like a duplicate.

Watched the tutorial @panhors. I think you and @Alfred are right to many masks.
Ivan Weiss creates a group with adjustment and luminosity mask (done on image then "released") inside, then drags in additional adjustments as needed.
Does each item dragged into a group go to the bottom of the layers inside, so the mask remains on top affecting all below?
Do I have this right?
Luminosity mask inside adjustment layer group, which I can drag into 1 image layer. Additional adjustment layers each with it's own luminosity mask can then be dragged into the image layer? Thanks for the patience.

@panhors, Try adding the Luminosity Range Mask to the Adjustment Layer(HSL), instead of adding the Adjustment Layer (HSL) to the Luminosity Range Mask. In other words, nest the Luminosity Range Mask inside the Adjustment Layer.
@kat, I don't know what you've got going on. It seems like you have masks, nested inside of yet other masks. Just a little above my head. I try to keep things, like using masks, simple. Someone with more experience should be able to help you...
Affinity Photo Official Tutorial on Luminosity Range Mask. I think the Spotlight one is somewhat more advanced...
 

@kat There are two ways.
1. Hold down Opt (on Mac) and click on the Mask icon in the Layers panel. Mask options are listed.
2. From the main menu, Layer > New Live MaskLayer > Luminosity Range

Look for "Position verticale" in the Text frame panel, at the bottom left of my screenshot. There you can set it as said above. 

Didn't realize there are different formats ; ) All is well. Thanks @Alfred

Sounds like you might have set the Vertical Alignment to Center. That would leave equal amounts of blayck space above and below the text.
We would need more details on the kind of hyperlink you created and exactly what you did. Screenshots and/or a sample .afpub would also be nice.

Which page are you trying to link to instead, Kat? What is the format of the hyperlink?

Perhaps do you wonder how to leave space around the text inside the frame?
If this is it, menu Window > Text > Text frame, where you can set space left around the text. 
 

Master pages are essential to ensure consistency and to make it easy to change things later. Without master pages, changing the page size at a later date would be a lot of work.