Justification
Word processing programs give us the choice between left or right justification, as well as centred or full justification. These are not suggestions about our politics, but about the shape of our lines. This paragraph is left justified— that is, it is aligned on the left side of the page with the right side left uneven (sometimes called “ragged right”).

Right justified is the opposite and has quite limited usefulness, as it is hard to read longer chunks of text when the left side is ragged. But it can look attractive on a business card or a small advertisement or a photo caption. This, as you’ve no doubt guessed, is right justified.

Centred justification starts in the middle of the line and moves in both directions as you type. It can be used for major headings or on posters.

Fully justified (sometimes simply called justified) makes both the left and right margins even. Look at this paragraph in justified text. Its edges look very straight. You can find this style in many magazines, newspapers and books. But there are problems with it. In order to make the margins even, it stretches and squeezes the spaces between the letters and words. This may not be obvious to you at first, but your eyes can tire more easily with it, and it increases the difficulties for people who already have reading problems. In some cases it leads to very obvious and ugly gaps between words. Sometimes it leads to an excess of words being split, with half the word at the end of one line and the other half at the beginning of the next one. Check out a newspaper that uses narrow columns and full justification and you will find this. For readers other than those with literacy barriers, the choice between left and full justification may sometimes depend merely on what they are accustomed to. But for those who struggle with print, full justification can add to their difficulties. As usual, think of your readers when making choices on their behalf.

Dropped capitals, like this one, can make a page look interesting. But, again, think about your readers before you decide. “Drop caps” are a literacy barrier for many people who have reading difficulties. These readers commonly miss the capital altogether and would start the first line with “ropped.” Or they may try to add the capital to one or more of the next lines and see a word like “Dagain” that make no sense. As no doubt you have noticed, this handbook is not designed to adhere to all my instructions!

Line length

The lines in these columns are roughly 20 characters long. But if your lines get longer than about 80 keystrokes, or about 5½ inches in 10 to 12 point, they will be too long for many readers. Their eyes may wander to the line above or below. Also, the text looks intimidating. If your lines are too long, widen your margins, ask yourself whether a larger type size would be better, or use a two- or three-column setup.