Inconsistent line spacing in Pages app despite identical markup and properties

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Inconsistent line spacing in Pages app despite identical markup and properties

The Pages app is spacing my lines inconsistently, although the lines have identical markup and properties. I've attached screenshots (with "invisibles" and the layout guides shown). Note the extra space after line ending with "antechamber." Any thoughts on why this is happening? I've tried to highlight the lines with too much space and adjust the line spacing, but it changes the entire paragraph. Changing the "return" to a "paragraph" after "antechamber" did not help. The only workaround I can imagine is to create a separate text box and position it manually, but that seems like an ugly fix. - Thanks in advance for your thoughts - Jim

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

MacBook Pro 16″

Posted on Apr 2, 2025 6:17 AM

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Answer 1

VikingOSX

Level 10

119,813 points

Apr 2, 2025 6:26 AM in response to CrotonCouncilOnTheArts

Select all of the lines you have shown, and then set Spacing < Lines to 1.3. You will see them rearranged with correct spacing.

That said, those are soft returns (shift+return) that you have shown, and ordinarily, one ends lines with a hard return paragraph mark ¶ that is also a line feed.

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Answer 2

Apr 2, 2025 7:33 AM in response to VikingOSX

Hi VikingOSX,

Thank you for reading my question, and posting such a quick reply. It's great to know this community is alive and well. It's the first time I've asked a question, and it's great to know that people are engaged.

Your fix did not work for me, however. Setting the line spacing to 1.3 does not change the appearance of the text. In general, the reason I use "soft returns (shift+return,) for the stanzas of a poem is that I use a "hard return" (a paragraph) to separate stanzas, and leave extra space between stanzas. This lets me vary the white space quite nicely between lines and stanzas.

The poem in this example has only one stanza, and your suggestion provides a nice workaround. I replaced all of the soft returns with hard returns, and then the spacing is consistent. So problem solved for this poem.

But the inconsistent line spacing appears to be a bug in Pages - I'm using version 14.3 (7042.0.76) on macOS Sequoia Version 15.3.2 on a MacBookPro with an M4 Pro chip. Looks like I'll have to abandon my strategy for formatting poems ... too bad, because it was elegant.

Thanks again for your attentiveness to this forums, and your thoughts and suggestions.

– Jim

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Answer 3

VikingOSX

Level 10

119,813 points

Apr 2, 2025 8:36 AM in response to CrotonCouncilOnTheArts

I typed in your exact text with soft returns and once selected, I set Spacing > Lines to 1.3 and the spacing was the same across each verse. That was the basis for my answer.

That Spacing > Lines can also be changed to Exactly and you would need to use points that are a 1.3 multiple of the font size used in the verses. So, with the verses selected, text set to 14 pt would require Spacing > Exactly set to 18.2 pt to replicate Lines at 1.3.

I cannot replicate any instance of inconsistent line spacing here with Pages v14.3 on Sequoia v15.4, so too early for bug pronouncement.

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Inconsistent line spacing in Pages app despite identical markup and properties