Addressing Spacing Issues

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You can adjust line spacing in your documents to help create an aesthetic impression or improve readability. In particular, you can control line spacing within paragraphs as well as specify the amount of space above and below paragraphs.

Specifying Line Spacing

Long gone are the days when you had to press Return twice at the end of each line of text to double-space your paragraphs. Now creating line spacing is a simple matter of configuring paragraph settings before, during, or after you enter text. In Word, you can adjust line spacing in several ways, including using the Formatting toolbar, keyboard shortcuts, and the Paragraph dialog box.

One fast way to configure a paragraph's line spacing is to click in the paragraph you want to configure or select multiple paragraphs, and then click the Line Spacing button on the Formatting toolbar. The Line Spacing menu offers the following options: 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, or More. Selecting a number option instantly adjusts the selected paragraphs' line spacing. If you select More, the Paragraph dialog box appears.

Tip 

Apply line spacing to subsequent paragraphs  After you select a line spacing option from the Line Spacing menu, you can click the Line Spacing button to apply the specified line spacing to subsequently selected paragraphs. To view the current line spacing setting, simply hover the pointer over the Line Spacing button. The ToolTip will display the current setting in parentheses—for example, Line Spacing (2).

Using the Paragraph dialog box, you can adjust paragraph line spacing to a precise 1/10 of a point by using the Line Spacing option in conjunction with the At box in the Indents And Spacing tab (shown previously in Figure 8-5). By default, Word formats paragraphs using single-line spacing that is adjusted automatically based on the size of the font in the paragraph. The Line Spacing list box provides the following options:

• Single Accommodates the largest font per line plus a small amount of extra space to create the appearance of a single-spaced paragraph. This is the default setting.

• 1.5 Lines Inserts one-and-one-half times the space allotted for a single line space to selected paragraph(s).

• Double Inserts twice the space allotted for a single line space to the selected paragraph(s).

• At Least Sets a minimum amount of space for each line as specified in the At box. When Word encounters a larger font size or a graphic that won't fit in the minimum space, Word increases that line's spacing to accommodate the text or graphic.

• Exactly Forces Word to apply an exact line spacing, as specified in the At box, regardless of what size text or graphics Word encounters. (Otherwise, Word accommodates the largest text or graphic in a line by default.) If Word encounters text or graphics too large to fit in the allotted line space, the text or graphics will appear "cut off" in your document.

• Multiple Allows you to use the At box to specify a line spacing setting from 0.06 through 132 lines, in increments of 1/100 of a line. This option provides extra-fine control over line spacing.

To apply a line spacing setting using the Paragraph dialog box, click in the paragraph you want to format or select multiple paragraphs, and then do either of the following:

• Choose Format, Paragraph, and click the Indents And Spacing tab.

• Right-click in the text, choose Paragraph from the shortcut menu, and click the Indents And Spacing tab.

After you display the Indents And Spacing tab, specify your line spacing settings, and click OK.

Last but not least, you can quickly adjust a paragraph's line spacing by clicking in a paragraph or selecting multiple paragraphs, and then pressing any of the following keyboard shortcuts:

• Ctrl+1 applies single-line spacing to selected paragraphs.

• Ctrl+2 applies double-line spacing to selected paragraphs.

• Ctrl+5 applies 1.5-line spacing to selected paragraphs.

Adjusting Spacing Above and Below Paragraphs

In addition to adjusting spacing between lines within paragraphs, you can configure the space displayed above and below paragraphs. Adding space around paragraphs is an old typesetters' trick used to create a particular look and feel for a document and to improve readability. In Word, adding space above and below paragraphs produces the desired typesetting results and provides added control during document adjustment tasks. For example, you're not limited to separating paragraphs by one or two lines—you can separate paragraphs by 0.5 inch, 3 points, and so forth. In addition, if you use spacing consistently within your document and you find that your document (or a section within your document) runs a little long or comes up a tad short, you can select the entire document, a section, or a few paragraphs, and adjust the paragraph spacing options using the Paragraph dialog box to tighten up or lengthen your document in just a few steps.

To add spacing above and below selected paragraphs, follow these steps:

1. Click in the paragraph you want to configure, or select multiple paragraphs.

2. Choose Format, Paragraph, and click the Indents And Spacing tab.

3. Enter values in the Before and After boxes in the Spacing section, and click OK. The Before and After spacing options require you to specify in points how much space to insert before and after paragraphs. Keep in mind that 72 points equals approximately 1 inch.

If you create styles for your documents, you'll want to consider configuring the Before and After settings when you create paragraph styles. Adding before and after spacing to paragraph styles helps to ensure that spacing will be applied consistently and automatically throughout your document.

Cross-Reference 

For more information about creating styles, see Chapter 9, "Using Styles to Increase Your Formatting Power."

Tip 

Add line spaces before paragraphs  You can instantly add a full line space before a paragraph by selecting the paragraph(s) you want to format and pressing Ctrl+0 (zero). If you select multiple paragraphs, pressing Ctrl+0 adds a blank line space before each paragraph in the selection.

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