What's the reaosn for this behaviour? Try: \starttext \startbuffer \start \setupTABLE[frame=on] \bTABLE\bTR\bTD text \eTD\eTR\eTABLE \stop \stopbuffer \framed[offset=overlay]{\getbuffer} \startbuffer \start \setupTABLE[frame=on] \setupTABLE[c][1][align=right] \bTABLE\bTR\bTD text \eTD\eTR\eTABLE \stop \stopbuffer \framed[offset=overlay]{\getbuffer} \startbuffer \start \setupTABLE[frame=on] \setupTABLE[c][1][align=right] \setupTABLE[c][1][align=right] \bTABLE\bTR\bTD text \eTD\eTR\eTABLE \stop \stopbuffer \framed[offset=overlay]{\getbuffer} \startbuffer \start \setupTABLE[frame=on] \setupTABLE[c][1][align=right] \setupTABLE[c][1][align=right] \setupTABLE[c][1][align=right] \bTABLE\bTR\bTD text \eTD\eTR\eTABLE \stop \stopbuffer \framed[offset=overlay]{\getbuffer} \stoptext