Chapter 8. Paragraph Indents and Spacing

TYPOGRAPHY, LIKE ALL COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA, relies on established conventions that are understood, often unconsciously, by its audience. The manipulation of horizontal or vertical space through indents or spacing creates important visual cues that distinguish one paragraph from another. Paragraphs represent units of thought, and a new paragraph signals the reader that a new idea is coming. While there are several ways to indicate a new paragraph, two methods are most prevalent: indenting the first line and adding spacing before the paragraph. In this chapter I’m primarily concerned with the hows and whys of these two time-honored conventions, but I also look at the use of other types of indents for differentiating specific types of paragraph.

First-Line Indents

The simple first-line indent plays a crucial role in the readability of documents, alerting the reader that one paragraph has ended and a new one is about to begin. First-line indents also provide a visual pause and necessary white space to what might otherwise look like a forbidding block of type.

You wouldn’t think there would be too much to say about first-line indents. They’re indents on the first line of a paragraph—’nuff said. Not if you’re Jan Tschichold. The famous typographer wrote several articles about first-line indents and was unequivocal on the subject: “The beginnings of paragraphs must be indented. Paragraphs without indent … are a bad habit and should be eliminated.” And more: “Typesetting without indentation makes it difficult for the reader to comprehend what has been printed. And that is its most important disadvantage. While blunt beginnings seem to create a uniform and consistent impression when compared to normal typesetting, this impression is paid for with a serious loss of comprehension.” (In The Form of the Book: Essays on the Morality of Good Design.)

How Big Should They Be?

There is no hard-and-fast rule, but 1 em is a good starting point. If you’re using 10-point type, a 10-point first-line indent is suitable; anything less and the indent may be missed. Alternatively, you can use your leading increment: If your text is 10/12, then a 12-point first line indent is suitable. Some people prefer a slightly larger indent, especially when working with wide columns. Just make sure your first-line indent is smaller than the shortest last line of your paragraphs, to avoid creating ugly areas of trapped space between paragraphs.

How (and How Not) to Add First-Line Indents

First-line indents can be applied through the Control Panel, the Paragraph panel (Cmd+Option+T/Ctrl+Alt+T), or preferably, incorporated into a style sheet definition. Never create your first-line indents with tabs, or worse, by pressing the spacebar multiple times.

While first-line indents are generally well suited to reading matter, be it newspaper articles or literature, paragraph spacing may be more appropriate for reference material or instructional manuals. To some degree, it’s a matter of preference, but here are some things to consider:

• Don’t use first-line indents and paragraph spacing. It’s an either/or proposition.

• Don’t use first line-indents on centered or right-aligned type.

• If a paragraph follows a heading or subhead, the first-line indent is unnecessary.

• Dropping the first-line indent and adding a line of spacing before a paragraph is a simple way to indicate a separation without implying a hierarchical difference between two paragraphs.

Figure 8.1 A first-line indent of 1 em space (in this instance 10 points) is applied to the top excerpt. The bottom text uses a first-line indent of 3 ems. This is too large, creating awkward holes between the end of one paragraph and the beginning of the next.

Figure 8.2 The first-line indent fields in the Control Panel Paragraph Formatting Controls (left) and in the indents and spacing options that are part of Paragraph Style Options (right).

Figure 8.3 First-line indents versus paragraph spacing used to differentiate paragraphs.

Alternatives to the First-Line Indent

Not everyone loves a first-line indent. In Germany it’s popular to have paragraphs begin flush left, without any indentation. The practice is also common in some newspapers, where space is especially tight. This can be problematic if the last lines of the paragraphs run the full column measure, which makes it difficult for the reader to discern one paragraph from another.

Running the paragraphs together and using a decorative mark between them maintains the flush look of the paragraph without compromising the meaning of the text. In medieval manuscripts, a pilcrow was used to differentiate paragraphs; in certain contexts, this can be an effective solution.

Figure 8.4 As an alternative to the first-line indent, a pilcrow (¶) is used to differentiate the paragraphs.

Hanging Indents

There are two types of hanging indents: left-hanging (also known as outdents) and right-hanging (also called last-line indents). Left-hanging indents are commonly used in dictionaries and bibliographies, and sometimes on résumés. Right-hanging indents usually occur in price lists or restaurant menus.

Left-Hanging Indents

With left-hanging indents, all the lines of the paragraph are indented except for the first line, which sticks out beyond the left margin edge. These indents are achieved by first applying a left indent to the text block, and then applying a first-line indent of a negative value, typically the same amount as you entered for the left indent. For example, if you specify a left indent of 12 points, your first-line left indent will be –12 points.

To create a hanging indent, use the Control Panel or the Paragraph panel. You can also use the Tabs panel: Specify a left indent value greater than zero and drag the top marker to the left.

Right-Hanging Indents

Right-hanging, or last-line, indents can be used, in conjunction with right indents, to extend the last line of a paragraph beyond the edge of the text to accentuate its content.

Figure 8.5 Using a last-line indent to make the last line extend beyond the right edge of the rest of the paragraph.

Left and Right Indents

Certain types of paragraph benefit from indentation on both their left and right edges. Indenting an entire block of text on the left, the right, or both is appropriate in the following situations:

• To indicate a quoted passage of text or an extract. Typically the type will be 1 point smaller than the body text, indented both left and right and with an even amount of paragraph space—usually a half-line space—added before and after the passage.

• In tables of contents or technical documents, where indenting signifies a lower level of the hierarchy.

• When working with verse. It’s preferable to use left alignment, with the block indented. Center the block on the longest line and left indent all subsequent lines to the first line.

Figure 8.6 In this example, the verse is centered on the longest line, the position of the left edge is measured with Horizontal Cursor Position, and then all lines are left indented that amount. To do this, first center the line “Thyself thou gav’st … ” (Cmd+Shift+C / Ctrl+Shift+C). Insert your Type cursor at the beginning of this line, and note the Horizontal Cursor Position on the Control Panel. Select all the lines, make them left aligned, and add a left indent that is the value of the Horizontal Cursor Position. (The last two lines are further indented by an em space.)

Figure 8.7 An excerpted passage 1 point smaller than the body text, with a 1-em left and right indent and a half-line space above and below.

Figure 8.8 Several applications of indents. Example A shows hanging indents used in an index. Example B shows dictionary entries where all lines are indented by 12 points and the first line has an indent of –12 pt. Example C shows indents used to indicate hierarchy in a table of contents. In Example D the text is aligned on a point—inserting a Tab character after a character’s name flushes the dialogue line to that point.

Text Insets

Text insets are margins within your text frame. They give you the same result as applying left or right indents, but are more convenient to use if you are working with informational text in a colored or tinted rectangle.

Figure 8.9 An “info box” on a 15 percent screen with text insets on all sides.

Space Before and Space After

Time for another sweeping pronouncement: Never, ever, under any circumstances should you have more than one consecutive paragraph mark in your document. To put it another way, never create line spaces by pressing Return (Enter). There are no exceptions—at least none that I can think of. If text that you place in InDesign has extra returns (very likely), then zap ’em with Find/ Change (Cmd+F/Ctrl+F). An easy way to do this is to use Multiple Return To Single Return, a predefined GREP Query.

Now, you might be thinking, what’s the big deal? Why not type a harmless extra return between paragraphs—no one gets hurt. And it’s true; the sun will still rise if you insist on maintaining this bad habit. But there are good reasons to avoid extra returns:

• Using returns for paragraph spacing allows no flexibility in the size of the space between paragraphs. Every time you create a new paragraph by pressing Return (Enter), the blank paragraph has the same formats (including the leading) as the paragraph before it.

• If your text flows into multiple columns or pages, a return at the top of the column or page creates unwanted vertical space.

Figure 8.10 Quickly remove extra returns with a predefined GREP query.

Instead of pressing Return (Enter) twice or—heaven forbid—more than twice, use Space Before or Space After from the Control Panel Paragraph Formatting controls or in Paragraph Style Options. I say or because using both, while occasionally necessary, is apt to get confusing. Most of the time, I use Space Before because that’s what I’ve always used. Pick one and stick with it. As well as giving you complete flexibility in the size of the space between paragraphs, paragraph spacing is smart enough to disappear when not needed (such as at the top or bottom of a column or page).

Figure 8.11 Use Space Before rather than extra returns to separate paragraphs.

Figure 8.12 Space A is created by adding space before paragraph 2, “The Period.” Space B is created by adding space before paragraph 3. The same result could have been achieved by adding space after paragraphs 1 and 2.

Proximity

Make sure any paragraph spacing accentuates rather than detracts from the connection between different pieces of text. Simply put, things that belong together should be in close proximity to each other. Organizing your material into clusters of information—subhead and paragraph, for example—will help establish the rhythm of your type. The reader will interpret the spaces between such clusters as representing a pause, the next cluster as being a new idea. To reinforce this relationship, your subheads should always be closer to the text that follows them than to the text that precedes them. This may seem obvious, but this rule is frequently broken.

To ensure that this relationship is never broken—by a column or page break, for example—set your Keep Options for the style definition of your subheads to Keep With Next 2 lines. (See Chapter 12, “Global Formatting with Styles.”)

Figure 8.13 In the example on the left, the subhead floats between the paragraphs before and after, making it ambiguous which paragraph it refers to. On the right, the subhead clearly relates to the text that follows. The relationship between subhead and text is reinforced by the Keep With Next setting.