But just for the record:
I know that when someone has been used to using Word as a typewriter for a
long time, Word 2008's imposition of 10 points of leading ("ledding") after
a paragraph must be annoying and all they want is an immediate solution --
especially if all they type is short letters and memos.
However, for longer documents there are huge advantages to having leading
above or below paragraphs. For example, if you want to squeeze some
paragraphs up to fit some text on a page rather than have it spill overleaf,
it's *very* easy to do it by modifying the leading -- e.g. via the Paragraph
command. Also, headings automatically "glue" themselves to following text
rather than to a blank paragraph mark, so you don't have to manually adjust
formatting when the document is completed.
For occasions when you have to avoid leading, such as address blocks in
correspondence, you simply key Shift-Return instead of Return at the end of
the line.
If you're interested in any of this, take a look at the article "The
advantages of including leading (blank space above or below) in styles" on
page 176 of the following reference; "Leading above, or below, paragraphs?"
on page 177; and an article on "minimum maintenance formatting" in Appendix
A starting on page 164.
The reference is some notes on the way I use Word for the Mac, titled "Bend
Word to Your Will", which are available as a free download from the Word
MVPs' website (
http://word.mvps.org/Mac/Bend/BendWordToYourWill.html).
[Note: "Bend Word to your will" is designed to be used electronically and
most subjects are self-contained dictionary-style entries. If you decide to
read more widely than the item I've referred to, it's important to read the
front end of the document -- especially pages 3 and 5 -- so you can select
some Word settings that will allow you to use the document effectively.]
Cheers,
Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is 5-11 hours different from North America and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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