Space between text and footnotes
Naja
-
Argitxu Posted messages 5292 Registration date Status Contributor Last intervention -
Argitxu Posted messages 5292 Registration date Status Contributor Last intervention -
Hello,
I have a layout problem that seems to be quite common with Word. I'm writing a document in double line spacing, with defined margins (3cm top, bottom, right and 4cm left) and justified text. Word leaves me with a huge space between the text and the footnotes, a space where 3 sentences could easily fit. It's very ugly; the last sentence on the page is cut off and continues on the next, leaving a big space on the previous page where the sentence begins. I've obviously searched for a solution on Google, and I keep coming across the same answer that doesn't work for me: switching to draft mode, displaying footnotes, selecting "Footnote Separator..." from the dropdown menu and then manually raising the separator. It doesn't work; it won't go any higher.
Is it possible to fit 2-3 sentences in that space? Word is really driving me crazy; I don’t understand its way of "thinking." I hope I've been clear enough.
Thank you in advance.
I have a layout problem that seems to be quite common with Word. I'm writing a document in double line spacing, with defined margins (3cm top, bottom, right and 4cm left) and justified text. Word leaves me with a huge space between the text and the footnotes, a space where 3 sentences could easily fit. It's very ugly; the last sentence on the page is cut off and continues on the next, leaving a big space on the previous page where the sentence begins. I've obviously searched for a solution on Google, and I keep coming across the same answer that doesn't work for me: switching to draft mode, displaying footnotes, selecting "Footnote Separator..." from the dropdown menu and then manually raising the separator. It doesn't work; it won't go any higher.
Is it possible to fit 2-3 sentences in that space? Word is really driving me crazy; I don’t understand its way of "thinking." I hope I've been clear enough.
Thank you in advance.
2 answers
-
Hello,
have you checked the paragraph format of the "Footnote" style (line spacing and space before/after)?
--
C-Claire-
- Select one of your footnotes in full (with its end-of-paragraph mark ¶), right-click, "Style", click on the "Modify" button, "Format", "Paragraph".
But it seems to me that this should already be visible in your notes.
If that doesn't solve your problem, upload a small sample of your document, with placeholder text if you wish, to https://www.cjoint.com/ and return to post the link here.
C-Claire - I tried to tinker with it, but it doesn't change much.
Here is an example of a document I just created: http://www.cjoint.com/c/EGepGWjVAj6
As you can see, the words "agglomération" and "new-yorkaise" are separated. I would like the first two sentences of the second page to be on the previous one so that it forms a nice unified paragraph; in my opinion, there is certainly enough space. - You are using Word 2013, and in this version, the text displays correctly as you indicated.
The fact that there are 2 lines that go to the next page is normal because the paragraph cannot fully fit at the bottom of the page. This is due to the fact that, by default, Word prevents there from being a single line left alone. This is an option in "Format," "Paragraph," "Line and Page Breaks" tab, checkbox "Avoid widows and orphans." If you disable this checkbox, you will have one more line at the bottom of the page, but there will still be an orphan on the next page, which goes against layout rules.
Footnotes have nothing to do with it.
So what is the solution?
Make sure that this paragraph fits on the page by subtly adjusting its line spacing ("Multiple": 1.8 for example).
For the game, I saved the document in 97-2003 format (.doc). And there, the page is okay.
But this solution doesn't please me because it goes against the idea of progress.
And this footnote issue, which is therefore normal with the management of widows and orphans, will arise again on other pages across all versions.
Opened in Word 2010 (same computer, same font, same printer), there is no problem either.
And they say the versions are compatible...
C-Claire - Thank you very much for taking the time to help me. I had indeed seen the "widows and orphans" option, but it only pushes the problem elsewhere.
I will leave it as is then, even though I find it quite ugly and not very pleasant to read. I prefer not to play with the line spacing knowing that this is a thesis and the formatting guidelines are pretty strict :/
-
-
Hello Naja
The Normal style in your example has a spacing after of 8 and a multiple line spacing of 1.08, while the text has a double line spacing as requested. You must have modified it manually.
Change the Normal style to double line spacing (right-click on the style / Modify / Format / Paragraph...)
And apply the Normal style to the text of the example, or select and press Ctrl Q to undo the manual modifications.
That will make it all neat ;-)
Then test on the example you gave, you can play around with right-click / paragraph / and check `don't add space between paragraphs of the same style'. The 2 lines will move up nicely and the entire paragraph will fit well on the first page. Here, it works well, the next part starts on a new paragraph that has a spacing of 8 and it won't be noticeable.
However, this won't work for all your page ends ;-( You will still save some, as you are right, it doesn't look pretty to see these unnecessary spaces. You can always apply this at the very end of writing when you have nothing left to move.
You can also test by saving your file in .doc format (97-2003) and you will see that the footers get restored. Your dissertation or thesis is classic in its formatting and if you don't need any new features from 2013, there is no downside to saving to an earlier format. Thousands of theses and dissertations have been beautifully done with older versions, as the basic functions necessary for styles, heading styles, and table of contents have always existed...
--
Argitxu-
Hello Argitxu and Naja
Naja, I just took a quick look at the document and I see that everything is done by hand... So, Argitxu is right, it needs to be cleaned up, especially for the Normal style, but be careful because the latter does not correspond to your text. So, before you do Ctrl+Q, make sure to redo the Normal style with the correct font since you are not using Calibri, with the right line spacing and justification.
Otherwise, for your information, Word 2013 has revised its justification. Up until version 2010, justification was rather average with often too much white space between words... Now it has a WordPerfect-style justification that compresses the spaces between words instead of extending them.
Conclusion: you can't have it all!!! :):)
m@rina
-
