Paragraph formatting in Publish by Zaweba

Good paragraph formatting is mostly invisible. Readers do not notice the space after each paragraph or the slight indent on a list; they just find the page easy to read. Publish by Zaweba gives you the controls that make that happen, and a little care with them lifts a flyer or a newsletter more than any choice of font.

The paragraph controls are left, centre, right and justify alignment, line spacing, space before and after, indents, soft line breaks, tabs, bullets and numbering, and vertical alignment of text in its box. Each one has an everyday use.

Alignment for the job in hand

Left aligned text is the safe default for anything people read at length. The lines start in the same place, which helps the eye, and the right edge stays ragged and natural. Justified text gives straight edges on both sides and looks tidy in newsletter columns, but in narrow boxes it can open up uneven gaps between words.

Centred text works for short things that are meant to be looked at rather than read: a poster headline, a certificate, a menu title, an invitation. Centring a long paragraph makes it hard to read, because every line starts in a different place. Right alignment is the rarest, useful for a date at the top of a letterhead or a caption that sits against the right edge of a picture.

Spacing that guides the eye

Line spacing is the gap between lines in a paragraph. A little more than the default can make body text more comfortable, especially in wide boxes. Headlines in large type often look better with tighter spacing, so the lines of a two line headline hold together.

Space before and after is what separates paragraphs. Using it instead of pressing Enter twice gives an even, controlled gap, and it travels with the paragraph if you apply it in a style. A heading with more space above than below sits visibly with the text it introduces, which is a small detail that makes a page much easier to scan.

Indents move a paragraph in from the edge of its box. A first line indent is a classic way to mark new paragraphs in a book style layout, and a hanging indent keeps the text of a list item clear of its bullet or number.

Line breaks, tabs and lists

A soft line break starts a new line without starting a new paragraph. That keeps the spacing and style of the paragraph together, which is exactly what you want for an address block, the lines of a poem, or a headline you want to break at a particular word.

Tabs let you line things up within a line. On a menu or a price list, a tab between the dish and the price puts every price in the same place, which looks far neater than spaces ever can.

Bullets and numbering are built in. Use bullets for things in no particular order and numbers for steps or rankings. Keep list items short and similar in form, and let the indent do the work of lining up the text.

Vertical alignment in the box

Vertical alignment decides where the text sits within its box when the box is taller than the text. Top is the usual choice for stories. Centring vertically is handy for a label, a button shape, a ticket or a certificate line, where you want the words in the middle of a space whatever their length. Bottom alignment can keep a footer or a caption snug against the bottom of its frame.

This matters most when the wording might change. A centred box keeps a name nicely placed on a certificate whether the name is short or long.

Make it stick with styles

All of these settings can be part of a paragraph style. Set alignment, spacing and indents once in your body text and heading styles, and every paragraph that uses them is consistent. That is far quicker than adjusting each paragraph by hand, and it means a late change only needs making once.

Spend a few minutes on paragraph formatting in Publish by Zaweba and the page will look calmer, more confident and easier to read, without anyone being able to say quite why.