THE NON-DESIGNER'S TYPE BOOK

How to fix line breaks

Sometimes the easiest and best way to fix bad Une breaks, especiaUy if they
involve long words that are hard to manage, is to have editing privileges:
change a long word to a short word, or a short word to a long one; rephrase
the sentence; eUminate superfluous words. But since that is not always pos¬
sible, here are a few tricks for adjusting the ends of your lines:

* Most software packages that work with text have a line break feature,
sometimes caUed a "soft return." Instead of hitting the Return or
Enter key, you hit Shift Return/Enter or perhaps Option Return or
Alt Enter. This creates a hard line break, but it does not pick up any
of the paragraph formatting you would get with a Return, such as
extra space before or after, or a first-Une indent or a style change.

* Most packages also have a discretionary hyphen, affectionately called
a "dischy." You've probably noticed hyphens that occasionaUy appear
in the middle of words in the middle of sentences (where someone
manuaUy hyphen-ated the word at the end of a sentence, later edited
the sentence, and the hyphen stuck). WeU, if you use a discretionary
hyphen, usuaUy by typing Command or Control Hyphen instead of
the plain ol' hyphen, that hyphen wiU disappear when the word
moves to another location.

Also (and this is the point), if you type a discretionary hyphen in
front of a hyphenated word, it wiU not hyphenate at all, ever.
Use this to remove inappropriate hyphenations.

* You can often use subtle kerning or tracking in a line or in a few
words, just enough to bring up the end of a hyphenated word.

* Try widening or narrowing the column just a tiny bit. Especially
if it is set rag right, the difference won't be noticeable.

* For one-Uners that are a bit too long, such as headlines or index
entries or parts Usts, try justifying the line. This wiU often squeeze
ornery text onto one line.

LINE BREAKS AND HYPHENATION

What are bad line breaks?

Look for bad line breaks throughout every line of body copy. Of course,
do this only on final copy, after all editing has been done! Here are several
examples of the sorts of things to look for:

Casing Adder О

Bat:

Heresy borsch-boil starry a ©
boarder borsch boil gam
plate lung, lung a gore in- Q
ner ladle wan-hearse torn
coiled Mutt-fill.

Mutt-fill worsen mush of- О
fer torn, butted hatter putty
gut borsch-boil tame, an off
oiler pliers honor tame, door
moist cerebrated worse Cas- Q
ing. Casing worsted sickened
basement, any hatter betting
orphanage off .526 (fife toe
sex). ©

Casing worse gut lurking
an furry poplar—spatially
wetter gull coiled Any-bally.
Any-bally worse Casing's
sweat-hard, any harpy cobble
wandered toe gat merit, Q

bought Casing worse toe pore
toe becalm Any-bally's Q

horsebarn. (Boil pliers honor
Mutt-fill tame dint gat mush
offer celery; infect, day gut
nosing atoll.)

Butt less gat earn wetter star- @
4-

Casing Adder Bat:

Heresy borsch-boil starry
a boarder borsch boil gam
plate lung, lung a gore inner
ladle wan-hearse torn coiled
Mutt-fill.

Mutt-fiU worsen mush
offer torn, butted hatter putty
gut borsch-boil tame, an
off oiler pliers honor tame,
door moist cerebrated worse
Casing. Casing worsted sick¬
ened basement, any hatter
betting orphanage off .526
(fife toe sex).

Casing worse gut lurking
an furry poplar—spatially
wetter gull coiled Any-bally.
Any-bally worse Casing's
sweat-hard, any harpy cobble
wandered toe gat merit, bought
Casing worse toe pore toe
becalm Any-bally's horsebarn.
(Boil pliers honor Mutt-fiU
tame dint gat mush offer celery;
infect, day gut nosing atoll.)

Bought less gat earn wetter
starry.

ОJustify the headline so it stays on one line. ©Use a line break (Shift Return/Enter) to
bump "a" down to the next line, where it fits very nicely. ©Kern the line a tiny bit to
bring the rest of the word up. ©Type a dischy in front of the word to bump it down.
©Never hyphenate a persons name. 1 had to go up a few lines, bump "off " down, which
bumped the other line endings down. This also took care of the inappropriate widow in ©.
©There is plenty of room to squeeze "bought" on this line, perhaps by kerning the line a
tiny bit. © "Horsebarn" is a good long word that could be hyphenated; type a dischy. Better
yet, when "bought" moved up, it gave enough room to move "horsebarn" up. If not, try
opening the text block or text box a wee bit. ©Edit: to get rid ofthat terrible widow,
exchange a short word for a long word. Story is by Howard Chace.