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Hello,
I have a slightly beginner - level question here about Indesign;
I am trying to convert some text from aligned left to the justified formats in IDCS6, and naturally the spacing alters when I do so. Is there anyway I can convert the spacing to "normal" for lack of better description when I shift the alignment, or do I have to retype the copy manually in the new alignment?
Please and Thank you
Hi,
My guess is that you have shift-returns at the ends of your lines. In your Type menu is "Show Hidden Characters". Turn it on if it's not already and you'll see a different character like a backward arrow (tried to do a screenshot but failed, sorry).
Anyway, shift-returns force-justify the line, so at the end of lines such as "LOVED ONES", you need a standard return instead (just hit the Enter key).
Regards,
Malcolm
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convert the spacing to "normal"
What exactly, is happening to the spacing when you change the paragraph alignment from align left to justified? It should just reflow.
What version of InDesign are you using?
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Hello!
Sorry for lack of clarity, but I am using CS6
This is the issue that I have been having, in the screenshot below;
So, the top text was originally set to "justify with last line aligned to center", but the bottom paragraph/ text sample is a result of me simply clicking the "justify all lines" setting, and I can't seem to manually edit the spacing or leading at all.
The strange thing is whenever I type something in the document, and convert the text to a justified setting, the spacing and leading seemingly goes out of control, and I can't even backspace anything or modify anything manually. However, I've noticed when I copy text from online samples, like lorem ipsum for instance, I do not run into this issue at all, and can convert things from justified to ragged and back without any issue. Is there some default setting(s) in my document that I need to check/ uncheck?
(This text is from a DnD campaign/ story I'm writing with some friends, so as not to raise any concerns about the content , but I would like to know in general as well, as I've occasionally had this issue in the past but it's only happened again recently)
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Hmmm. I can see why you are not happy!
Justify all lines is supposed to force all lines across the entire text frame. What happens when you select Justify with last line aligned left? Does that give you the desired result?
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As for additional controls, check to see which Composer you are using in the Control panel menu. For best results, we typically use Paragraph Composer and not Single Line Composer, although you can experiment to see if it makes a difference.
Since you said you are getting different results with different text, here's one more place to check (same menu as the above screen shot). Are there different word spacing values here in the lorem ipsum text than in the screen shot text?
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For the most part, it looks like the hidden characters setting that Malcolm addressed was the actual issue for the most part, but the justification settings for some other text samples (which I can't screenshot at the moment) is working as well. Thanks a lot for your help! Great to know where these things are!
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You are so welcome! Glad you got it figured out.
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Hi,
My guess is that you have shift-returns at the ends of your lines. In your Type menu is "Show Hidden Characters". Turn it on if it's not already and you'll see a different character like a backward arrow (tried to do a screenshot but failed, sorry).
Anyway, shift-returns force-justify the line, so at the end of lines such as "LOVED ONES", you need a standard return instead (just hit the Enter key).
Regards,
Malcolm
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This seems to have been it for the most part! Thanks so much!
Best,
Erin