spacing between paragraphs in MS Word

[Doug Freeman]

I'm setting up a list of paragraphs in MS Word (all the same style). I want
just 6 points of space above the top paragraph, 6 points of space below the
bottom paragraph, and 12 points of space between each of these paragraphs.

So in Format>Paragraph, I set the spacing for the style to be 6 points
before the paragraph AND 6 points after the paragraph. That should give me
what I want...

But Word reduces the 12 point space between paragraphs to 6 points; it
leaves the 6 points after each paragraph, but removes the 6 points before
each paragraph except for the first in the list. Anyone know of a way to get
Word to do the spacing I asked for?

Setting the line spacing of the paragraphs to either single or exactly x
points doesn't make a difference. I could do it using 2 different styles,
but I'd like to stick with one style if possible...

TIA,
Doug

 

[Doug Freeman]

I'm setting up a list of paragraphs in MS Word (all the same style).

Forgot to say, am using Word 2004 on Mac. (Though the same thing happens in
Word X on Mac.)

 

[Elliott Roper]

I'm setting up a list of paragraphs in MS Word (all the same style). I want
just 6 points of space above the top paragraph, 6 points of space below the
bottom paragraph, and 12 points of space between each of these paragraphs.

So in Format>Paragraph, I set the spacing for the style to be 6 points
before the paragraph AND 6 points after the paragraph. That should give me
what I want...

But Word reduces the 12 point space between paragraphs to 6 points; it
leaves the 6 points after each paragraph, but removes the 6 points before
each paragraph except for the first in the list. Anyone know of a way to get
Word to do the spacing I asked for?

Setting the line spacing of the paragraphs to either single or exactly x
points doesn't make a difference. I could do it using 2 different styles,
but I'd like to stick with one style if possible...

Wow! I didn't believe you till I tried it. Even with two styles one
after the other, the space before of the second is eaten by the space
after of the first!!!

I tried fiddling with the compatibility preferences, but nothing seemed
to help.

I guess there are now two of us wanting to know why this is so.
(I'd never want to set out paragraphs like that, usually I'm after
extra space before the first and after the last in a set, and I do that
with generous space before on the following heading style.)

I have been using Word for ages and never noticed that. I have been
carefully setting up style definitions to make sure that my documents
do what Word would have done without me trying. Oh well.

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

Wow! I didn't believe you till I tried it. Even with two styles one
after the other, the space before of the second is eaten by the space
after of the first!!!

I tried fiddling with the compatibility preferences, but nothing seemed
to help.

I guess there are now two of us wanting to know why this is so.
(I'd never want to set out paragraphs like that, usually I'm after
extra space before the first and after the last in a set, and I do that
with generous space before on the following heading style.)

I have been using Word for ages and never noticed that. I have been
carefully setting up style definitions to make sure that my documents
do what Word would have done without me trying. Oh well.

The logic must be that both requirements are being met : each paragraph does
have the specified space before and space after. It makes sense if you think
about it that way. The test would be to set space before to 6 pts and space
after to 9 pts. Are there now 9 between paragraphs? The reverse them to 9
pts before and 6 pts after. Are there still 9 pts between paragraphs? (The
only differences should be at the very top and very bottom.) If so, then
it's not a question of the space after of the first eating the space before
of the second, but rather that the before and after requirements are always
met. Then if you add a paragraph in a style with 0 pts before to the bottom,
the current "after" pts (6pts) should still pertain. Similarly if you
preface the first par with one with style 0 after, the current "before" for
the earlier style (9 pts) should still be in effect.

It actually sounds right to me. If you want 12 points after, then put 12
points after, not 6.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.

 

[Elliott Roper]

The logic must be that both requirements are being met : each paragraph does
have the specified space before and space after. It makes sense if you think
about it that way.

Yep. I guess so. For small values of sense ;-)

The test would be to set space before to 6 pts and space
after to 9 pts. Are there now 9 between paragraphs? The reverse them to 9
pts before and 6 pts after. Are there still 9 pts between paragraphs? (The
only differences should be at the very top and very bottom.) If so, then
it's not a question of the space after of the first eating the space before
of the second, but rather that the before and after requirements are always
met. Then if you add a paragraph in a style with 0 pts before to the bottom,
the current "after" pts (6pts) should still pertain. Similarly if you
preface the first par with one with style 0 after, the current "before" for
the earlier style (9 pts) should still be in effect. That agrees with what I see.

It actually sounds right to me. If you want 12 points after, then put 12
points after, not 6.

Sadly, that mucks up Doug's cunning plan in the original post in this
thread.

After thinking about it a little more, the way Word works is probably
more use to more people.

'Space before' shall henceforth be called "The union of space before
and the previous paragraph's space after". It's not catchy is it?

 

[Neill Massello]

I'm setting up a list of paragraphs in MS Word (all the same style). I want
just 6 points of space above the top paragraph, 6 points of space below the
bottom paragraph, and 12 points of space between each of these paragraphs.

So in Format>Paragraph, I set the spacing for the style to be 6 points
before the paragraph AND 6 points after the paragraph. That should give me
what I want...

But Word reduces the 12 point space between paragraphs to 6 points; it
leaves the 6 points after each paragraph, but removes the 6 points before
each paragraph except for the first in the list. Anyone know of a way to get
Word to do the spacing I asked for?

Setting the line spacing of the paragraphs to either single or exactly x
points doesn't make a difference. I could do it using 2 different styles,
but I'd like to stick with one style if possible...

Check the Compatibility pane of Preferences. Several of the options,
especially those beginning with "Suppress", can affect the appearance of
a page on the screen. If the page looks different in Print Preview than
in Page Layout view, it's probably one of the compatibility options
that's the culprit.

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

Sadly, that mucks up Doug's cunning plan in the original post in this
thread.

Doug could set the "basic paragraph" style to space before = 6 pts and space
after = 12 pts. Then make another "last paragraph" style that is based on
this one but sets space after = 6 points. Use "basic paragraph" for all pars
except the last. (Alternately make space before = 0 and space after = 12,
and then also make another "first paragraph" style based on this one but
where space before = 6 pts. In the long run , having these 3 separate styles
will probably be more useful and easy to remember.)

After thinking about it a little more, the way Word works is probably
more use to more people.

I think so too.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Check the Compatibility pane of Preferences. Several of the options,
especially those beginning with "Suppress", can affect the appearance of
a page on the screen. If the page looks different in Print Preview than
in Page Layout view, it's probably one of the compatibility options
that's the culprit.

I believe the phrasing of the relevant compatibility option has something
about using or not using HTML spacing, I've a vague memory of this issue
coming up before.

 

[Doug Freeman]

I believe the phrasing of the relevant compatibility option has something
about using or not using HTML spacing, I've a vague memory of this issue
coming up before.

That's it. It's the " Don¹t use HTML paragraph auto spacing" item. Thank
you!
Doug

 

[Clive Huggan]

That's it. It's the " Don¹t use HTML paragraph auto spacing" item. Thank
you!
Doug

Checking this item "blends" the leading of the two paragraphs, or doesn't
"blend" the leading?

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is at least 5 hours different from the US and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
============================================================

 

[Doug Freeman]

Doug could set the "basic paragraph" style to space before = 6 pts and space
after = 12 pts. Then make another "last paragraph" style that is based on
this one but sets space after = 6 points. Use "basic paragraph" for all pars
except the last. (Alternately make space before = 0 and space after = 12,
and then also make another "first paragraph" style based on this one but
where space before = 6 pts. In the long run , having these 3 separate styles
will probably be more useful and easy to remember.)

Yes, that would certainly work, but having only one style would be even
easier to remember! <grin>

The issue comes from my desktop publishing background. Programs like
PageMaker and InDesign give the results I'm looking for: add the "space
after" of the previous paragraph to the "space before" of the following to
come up with the total space between the two. So when I'm in DTP mode, I
expect my program to be "dumber," but, of course, Word is designed to be
more "intelligent."

I just want it all--I want Word to be intelligent (and do "sensible" things
with layout when appropriate) AND to do exactly what I mean it to do! <grin
again>

Fortunately, the HTML spacing compatibility option Daiya mentioned seems to
give me that flexibility here.

Thanks to all who responded; I appreciate the help!
Doug

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Doug:

Hmmm... That's HTML Paragraph Spacing Rules kicking in. Let me see if I
can find it in Word 2004....

Try Preferences>Compatibility>Don't use HTML paragraph auto spacing...

I think that's it -- turn it ON (i.e. Turn the option ON to turn the spacing
"off").

Cheers

I'm setting up a list of paragraphs in MS Word (all the same style). I want
just 6 points of space above the top paragraph, 6 points of space below the
bottom paragraph, and 12 points of space between each of these paragraphs.

So in Format>Paragraph, I set the spacing for the style to be 6 points
before the paragraph AND 6 points after the paragraph. That should give me
what I want...

But Word reduces the 12 point space between paragraphs to 6 points; it
leaves the 6 points after each paragraph, but removes the 6 points before
each paragraph except for the first in the list. Anyone know of a way to get
Word to do the spacing I asked for?

Setting the line spacing of the paragraphs to either single or exactly x
points doesn't make a difference. I could do it using 2 different styles,
but I'd like to stick with one style if possible...

TIA,
Doug

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[georg]

This was finally an answer to two hours of fruitless searching. I use Word
for the Mac 2004 and needed to have zero spacing between items in a long list
(1200 items), and needed to use hanging indents for those entries that
exceeded one line. I could get zero spacing using ascii 11, but that doesn't
allow hanging indents. The "HTML paragraph auto spacing," whatever that is,
seems to be the default, but why, I don't know. I did derive the list from my
own Web site, and need to print it out for publication on paper. It seems to
me that the Format>Paragraph>Spacing Before and After ought to override that
obscure preference.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Georg:

Glad it worked for you.

In current versions of Word, when you paste, you are actually pasting HTML
into the document. (OK, it's actually Word XML, but it's the same thing...)

This is a change from previous versions that worked from RTF. But we could
surmise that if the source of a paste was a web document, Word would attempt
to treat it like a web page.

That's all I can suggest...

To overcome it in the future, you could either paste special as "Unformatted
Unicode Text" or paste it into TextEdit, then copy from Text Edit to ensure
you have nothing but ASCII on the clipboard. You will subsequently be able
to apply your hanging indent that way.

Cheers

This was finally an answer to two hours of fruitless searching. I use Word
for the Mac 2004 and needed to have zero spacing between items in a long list
(1200 items), and needed to use hanging indents for those entries that
exceeded one line. I could get zero spacing using ascii 11, but that doesn't
allow hanging indents. The "HTML paragraph auto spacing," whatever that is,
seems to be the default, but why, I don't know. I did derive the list from my
own Web site, and need to print it out for publication on paper. It seems to
me that the Format>Paragraph>Spacing Before and After ought to override that
obscure preference.

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410