Type size, line spacing and paragraphs

How big the type is and how far apart the lines are decide, more than anything else, how comfortable your book is to read—and how many pages it runs to. This page covers those, and the few switches that shape a paragraph. They're on the Layout tab of Page setup (in the Book menu), in the Text and Typography cards.

Screenshot: the Text card (Size, Line height, Indent, Opener drop) and the Typography card's four switches.

Text

• Size — the type size, in points. 10½ to 12 is the range for a novel. Fonts differ, so judge by the As it prints preview rather than the number: 11 points in one font can look like 12 in another. Bigger type reads more easily and adds pages.
• Line height — the distance from one line to the next (typesetters call it leading). About 1.3 times the type size is a good start: 14 on 11-point type, 15 on 11½. More feels airier and runs longer; less is denser.
• Indent — how far the first line of a paragraph steps in. ¼ inch is usual.
• Opener drop — how many lines of space a chapter's first page leaves above the title, so the chapter starts partway down the page, as books do. Six to ten is typical; zero starts at the top.

Every line in the book sits on the same grid, set by the line height, so lines line up across facing pages and through the paper. That's also why the Lines per page figure on the right changes as you adjust it.

Typography

• Indent the first paragraph — most books start a chapter's first paragraph flush against the margin, without an indent. It's a convention, not a rule; tick this if you'd like the indent everywhere.
• Widow and orphan control — stops a paragraph leaving a single line stranded at the top or bottom of a page. It's off by default, which keeps every page the same number of lines; turn it on if stray lines bother you more than the occasional short page.
• Justify — straight edges on both sides, as in nearly every printed novel. Off leaves the right edge ragged.
• Hyphenate — lets words break at the ends of lines. Justified text needs it, or the gaps between words grow uneven. Leave it on with Justify.

Front and back matter

The Front and back matter card, a little further down, sets how those sections look:

• Paragraphs — Spaced (a blank line between paragraphs, usual for an about-the-author page or a foreword) or Indented, like the chapters.
• Headings — Title Case or CAPITALS, whichever way you typed them.

The size and font of the front and back matter are on the Fonts tab; see Choose your fonts.