One issue is that the overlay overlaps the text space (reduces whitespace or potentially overlaps letters). One could use a blank row with a black background, but a row seems to have a minimum height of about 2mm. I discovered the "boffset" key, which can be used with the overlay, but it's kludgy. Perhaps there is a better way... Michael \startuseMPgraphic{MP:thickBtm} draw bottomboundary OverlayBox withpen pensquare scaled \frameddimension{bottomrulethickness}; clip currentpicture to OverlayBox; setbounds currentpicture to OverlayBox; \stopuseMPgraphic \defineoverlay[OL:thickBtm][\useMPgraphic{MP:thickBtm}] \starttext \bTABLE % Overlay method \setupTABLE[align=middle] % By eye, by trial: boffset = bottomrulethickness/2 - 0.2mm \setupTABLE[header][background={OL:thickBtm},bottomrulethickness=3mm,boffset=1.3mm] \setupTABLE[row][4][background={OL:thickBtm},bottomrulethickness=1.5mm, boffset=.55mm] % \bTABLEhead\bTR\dorecurse{3}{\bTH#1\eTH}\eTR\eTABLEhead \bTABLEbody\dorecurse{6}{\bTR\dorecurse{3}{\bTD#1-##1\eTD}\eTR}\eTABLEbody \eTABLE \stoptext ________________________________ This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message (including any attachments) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender by reply e-mail message and destroy all copies of the original message (including attachments).