Fix Ugly Justified Text in Adobe InDesign | Justification Settings Explained
Have you ever noticed large and uneven gaps between words after applying Justify in Adobe InDesign?
This is a common problem when working with books, magazines, newspapers, brochures, reports, and other long documents.
Fortunately, Adobe InDesign provides powerful Justification Settings that give you better control over how your text is composed.
In this tutorial, we will look at Word Spacing, Letter Spacing, Glyph Scaling, Single Word Justification, Auto Leading, and Adobe Paragraph Composer.
Watch the Full Video Tutorial
Watch the complete tutorial below to see how these Justification settings work in a real Adobe InDesign document.
What is Justification in Adobe InDesign?
Justification aligns text along both the left and right edges of a text frame.
When you apply Justify All Lines, InDesign adjusts the spacing between words and, depending on your settings, letters and glyph widths to fit the text properly within the text frame.
However, if the text frame is narrow or the justification settings are not suitable, you may see large gaps between words.
This is why understanding the Justification settings is important for creating clean and professional page layouts.
1. Word Spacing
Word Spacing controls the amount of space between words.
The Justification dialog provides three values:
- Minimum
- Desired
- Maximum
The Desired value represents the preferred word spacing, while the Minimum and Maximum values define the range InDesign can use when composing justified text.
As a starting point, you can try:
85% / 100% / 115%
These values should be adjusted according to the font, column width, font size, and overall design.
2. Letter Spacing
Letter Spacing controls the spacing between individual characters.
Small adjustments can give InDesign more flexibility when composing justified paragraphs.
A useful starting point is:
-2% / 0% / 2%
Keep these adjustments subtle so the typography continues to look natural.
3. Glyph Scaling
Glyph Scaling controls the horizontal width of characters.
For example:
98% / 100% / 102%
This allows InDesign to slightly compress or expand characters when necessary to improve the overall justification.
Glyph Scaling should generally be kept within a small range because excessive scaling can make the characters look distorted.
4. Single Word Justification
Sometimes a narrow text column causes a single word to appear on a line by itself.
If the paragraph is fully justified, that single word can become excessively stretched and create an unattractive result.
InDesign allows you to control how a single-word line is aligned, including left, center, right, or full justification.
For many professional layouts, Align Left produces a more natural appearance.
5. Auto Leading
Auto Leading determines the default line spacing when a specific leading value has not been assigned to the text.
This can be useful when working with different font sizes and maintaining consistent paragraph spacing throughout a document.
6. Adobe Paragraph Composer
One of the most useful options in Adobe InDesign is Adobe Paragraph Composer.
Unlike the Single-line Composer, which evaluates one line at a time, Paragraph Composer considers the entire paragraph when determining line breaks and spacing.
This can produce more even spacing throughout the paragraph and help reduce awkward gaps.
For books, magazines, reports, newspapers, and other long-form publications, Adobe Paragraph Composer can be especially useful.
Recommended Starting Settings
| Setting | Starting Value |
|---|---|
| Word Spacing | 85 / 100 / 115 |
| Letter Spacing | -2 / 0 / 2 |
| Glyph Scaling | 98 / 100 / 102 |
| Composer | Adobe Paragraph Composer |
Note: These are starting values, not fixed rules. The ideal settings depend on the font, text frame width, font size, hyphenation, and the overall layout.
Why Does Justified Text Have Large Gaps?
Large gaps usually appear when InDesign has limited options for fitting words into a line. A narrow column, long words, lack of hyphenation, or unsuitable justification settings can all contribute to uneven spacing.
Instead of manually adjusting every line, it is better to use the available composition and justification controls to let InDesign create a more balanced paragraph.
Where Can You Use These Settings?
These techniques are particularly useful for professional publishing and DTP projects such as:
- Books
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Brochures
- Catalogs
- Company Profiles
- Annual Reports
- Educational Materials
- Newspaper Layouts
- Professional DTP Projects
Before and After
When the default settings create large gaps, the paragraph can look uneven and difficult to read.
After adjusting Word Spacing, Letter Spacing, Glyph Scaling, and the Paragraph Composer, the same paragraph can look much cleaner and more balanced.
The goal is not simply to make both edges perfectly aligned. The goal is to achieve a comfortable reading experience while maintaining a professional page layout.
Final Thoughts
Good typography is not only about choosing the right font. Spacing, alignment, composition, and consistency are equally important.
By understanding the Justification settings in Adobe InDesign, you can reduce unwanted gaps and create cleaner, more professional-looking paragraphs.
Once you understand these settings, you will have much better control over text-heavy layouts and long documents.
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