Clean up haphazard character spacing in your Word documents

by Mary Ann Richardson | Jul 18, 2006 7:00:00 AM

Tags: Word processors, Microsoft Office, Mary Ann Richardson, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office Suite Word Tips Newsletter

Takeaway: If you find letters truncated or otherwise out of order after manipulating your Word document, it's because Word is trying to accommodate for spacing—and not always very well. Mary Ann Richardson explains how to correct haphazard character spacing in your Word document.

When editing a Word document, you may find that the tops of characters are cut off after you add graphics or increase the font size. When this happens, Word is forcing line spacing without adjusting for the added graphics or new font size. To correct this, follow these steps:

1. Select the characters that are being cut off.
2. Go to Format | Paragraph.
3. Under the Indents And Spacing tab, click the Line Spacing box and select At Least.
4. In the At box enter 12.

Word will automatically adjust the line spacing in the paragraph to at least 12 points between lines so that the tops of the characters aren't truncated. It will not, however, leave less space between lines than what you specify in the At box. If you find letters that are still cut off, repeat the procedure with a larger point size.

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