Thread: Justify text in Word

You doubtless know that you can 'justify' text in Word (and other word processors) so that the left and right margins are both straight. You see this in books and it gives a neat symmetry to facing pages. It's less prevalent in newspapers and magazines, which are laid out in multiple columns, as with fewer words in a line it's difficult to create blocks of text of an even density.

What you may not know is that Word can justify the top and bottom margins, as well as the left and right. If you go to File, Page Setup and the Layout tab, you'll find you can set the Vertical Alignment to Justified. This will ensure - provided you don't have empty paragraphs - that the top and bottom margins lineup.



If you are printing on just one side of the paper, this doesn't matter, but with duplex printing it can bring an elegant touch to facing pages. Word does this by subtly changing the paragraph spacing, but there's a catch. If you apply the setting to the
whole document and the last page isn't full, the paragraphs will be spaced out in an exaggerated fashion. To fix this, go to the top of the last page, then summon the Page Layout dialogue again. Choose Top as the Vertical Alignment and This Point Forward as the Apply To: setting.