Adjust the hyphenation settings to manage where hyphens appear, how frequently they are used, and their impact on line breaks, preventing awkward or excessive hyphenation.

• You can turn Hyphenation on and off for selected text using the checkbox in the Paragraph Control panel or Paragraph panel

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To customise Hyphenation settings for selected text

1. In the Paragraph panel or Paragraph Control panel click on the panel menu and choose Hyphenation

2. In the Hyphenation dialog box, there are several options:

   Hyphenate: Enables or disables hyphenation for the selected text.

   Words with at Least X Letters: Set the minimum number of letters in a word before hyphenation.

   After First X Letters: Set how many characters must be at the start of the word before hyphenating.

   Before Last X Letters: Set how many characters must remain after the hyphen.

   Hyphen Limit: Controls the maximum number of consecutive hyphens in a paragraph.

   Hyphenation Zone: For ragged text, this adjusts the width of the hyphenation zone before InDesign forces hyphenation.

   Better Spacing/More Hyphens: A slider allows you to balance between fewer hyphens and better word spacing.

3. Check the Preview box  to see how your changes will affect the text in real-time.

4. Click OK to apply the changes

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• You can also (and we would recommend you do) save the Hyphenation settings as part of a Paragraph Style

Particularly important when using justified text, by adjusting these settings you can control how tightly or loosely InDesign spaces your text, improving readability and overall design aesthetics.

1. To customise Justification settings for selected text
2. In the Paragraph panel or Paragraph Control panel click on the panel menu and choose Justification‍
3. In the dialog box choose how to alter the following settings:
   Word Spacing: Adjusts the space between words. Set the values for minimum, desired, and maximum spacing. Typical values include 80%, 100%, and 133%.
   Letter Spacing: Adjusts space between letters. Usually set to 0%, but can range from negative (for tighter spacing) to positive (for looser spacing).
   Glyph Scaling: Controls horizontal scaling of characters, typically set between 97% and 103%.
   Auto Leading: Define the automatic leading as a percentage of the type size (default is 120%).
   Single Word Justification: Choose how InDesign handles single words in a justified paragraph. Options include Full Justify, Align Left, Align Right, or Center.
4. To see how your changes affect the text in real time, check the Preview box.
5. Click OK to apply.

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• You can also (and we would recommend you do) save the Justification settings as part of a Paragraph Style

Hanging punctuation will move e.g. opening quotation marks beyond the left edge of the frame and (in justified text) hyphens beyond the right edge to help create a more balanced block of text

1] Click in the text frame to edit

• NB Optical Margin Alignment will apply to all the text in a text frame, whether all selected or not

2] Choose Type menu>Story

3] Click the checkbox for Optical Margin Alignment

4] Type a value for the Align based on size field, Try the same as the font size initially

5] Adjust the value using the up and down chevrons at left as required

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1. Click with Type Tool [T] to place insertion point in text at appropriate point
2. Choose InDesign Type menu > Break Character
   • Column Break [Enter]
   • Frame Break [Shift+Enter]
   • Page Break [Cmd/Ctrl+Enter]
   • Odd Page Break
   • Even Page Break
   • Forced Line Break [Soft return] [Shift+Return]
   • Discretionary Line Break
3. If not already on, choose InDesign Type menu > Show Hidden Characters [Alt+Cmd/Ctrl+I] to see hidden break characters

By adjusting the settings in this dialog, you can ensure that headings stay with their following text, prevent paragraph breaks in awkward places (like splitting a title and body text), and improve overall readability and layout structure.

To customise Keep Options settings for selected text:

1. In the Paragraph panel or Paragraph Control panel click on the panel menu and choose Keep Options
2. In the Keep Options dialog box, there are several options:
   Keep with Previous: Turn on to keep the first line of the current paragraph with the last line of the previous paragraph.
   Keep with Next X Lines: Forces the selected paragraph to stay with the following lines. For instance, to ensure a heading stays with its subsequent paragraph, you could set this to “2” or more lines.
   Keep Lines Together: Ensures that a paragraph doesn’t split awkwardly across columns or pages.
   All Lines in Paragraph: Keeps the entire paragraph together.
   At Start/End of Paragraph: Specifies the minimum number of lines that should remain together at the start or end of a column/page (widow and orphan control).
   Start Paragraph: Lets you control whether the paragraph starts in the next column, next frame, or on the next page. Useful for managing larger breaks in text flow.
3. Check the Preview box  to see how your changes will affect the text in real-time.
4. Click OK to apply the changes

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• You can also (and we would recommend you do) save the Keep Options settings as part of a Paragraph Style