If you then drag the bottom margin of the “frame” that contains the line numbers in order to show all of the numbers, the body text might not appear on the last numbered line of the page, in which case you have to change the bottom page margin. Sometimes, for example, it hides some of the line numbers. More often than not, changing the line spacing of the line numbers causes one or more additional problems. Wouldn’t it be simpler to change the line spacing of the line numbers?Īlthough the idea seems sensible in theory, it doesn’t work well in practice. People sometimes ask – logically enough – why it’s necessary to change the line spacing of all of the text in the document to match (or, in the case of “pleading single spacing,” be exactly half of) the spacing of the line numbers. Why Not Simply Adjust the Spacing of the Line Numbers? (Word usually changes the 11.375 pt to 11.4 pt. In other words, if the line numbers are spaced Exactly 22.75 points apart, you’ll need to set the “pleading double-spaced” paragraphs at 22.75 points and “pleading single-spaced” paragraphs at 11.375 points. You’ll also need to select any “pleading single-spaced” paragraphs in your document and use the same technique to apply “Exactly” spacing that is half the number of points set for the line numbers. Just select each of those paragraphs, open the Paragraph dialog, and change the line spacing to “Exactly” and the number of points you noted for the line numbers. To get the text to align with the pleading line numbers, you’ll need to adjust the line spacing of the “pleading double spaced” paragraphs in the document to match it. Note: This figure can vary from document to document, because template designers often tweak the line spacing of the pleading line numbers, whether the original template was created with the Pleading Wizard, downloaded from the Internet, or created from scratch by some ambitious techie. Usually it is set at “Exactly” a certain number of points – for example, 22.75 pt, or 23.15 pt, or 24 pt, or some such figure. Next, right-click somewhere within the line numbers and choose “Paragraph.” When the Paragraph dialog opens, note the figure shown under Spacing, Line spacing. To do so, open the header editing screen by double-clicking within the white space at the top of any page (or, alternatively, right-click at the top of any page, then choose “Edit Header”). To fix the problem, you must start by determining the existing line spacing for the pleading line numbers in your document. (I often call this figure “pleading double spacing” to differentiate it from true double spacing.) Thus, applying true double spacing usually results in text that is “taller” than the pleading line numbers.Ĭhanging the Line Spacing in the Document to Match That of the Line Numbers ) By contrast, the Pleading Wizard compresses the area where the line numbers appear, resulting in line spacing (i.e., line height) for the line numbers that is significantly smaller / more compressed vertically - typically 22.75 points. (A “point” is a unit of measurement that refers to the height of characters. Thus, if your body text font is Times New Roman set at 12 points, double-spaced lines actually are spaced about 27.6 to 28.8 points apart. That is because of an aspect of typography called “leading” (rhymes with “sledding”), which refers to the vertical distance between lines of type – often adjusted to improve readability.Īs a result of leading, true double spacing varies between 220% and 270% of the size (height) of your chosen font, and true single spacing varies between 110% and 135% of the size (height) of that font. People often attempt to fix the problem by applying true double and single spacing to the document text. Why Applying True Double-Spacing Doesn’t Work Because of the way the Wizard stretched the line numbers to make them equidistant and to fit them within the space allocated for text - assuming a 1″ top margin, a 1″ bottom margin, and a 12-point font - the line spacing of the line numbers ended up being a fraction of true double-spacing. The problem usually occurs in documents that are based on a pleading template originally generated by Word’s “Pleading Wizard” (a deprecated / retired feature that was available in versions of the program prior to Word 2007). One of the most common questions I hear from training clients and others in the legal profession has to do with text that is out of alignment with the line numbers in pleading paper. Aligning text with pleading line numbers in Word (substantially rewritten)