Spacing, margins, paragraphing and carriage/line control
This domain tests page layout and line control: margins, spacing, paragraphing and the correct use of the carriage return or line advance. These are mechanical marks that are easy to lose through carelessness.
Page setup
- At 10 pitch, one inch equals 10 characters. On 8.5-inch paper with one-inch margins, the typing line is 6.5 inches, or about 65 characters.
- Set the left margin before typing and set the right margin by the scale or bell; do not guess line length.
- Indent the first line of a paragraph five spaces unless the copy uses block style with no indent.
Carriage and line control
- At the end of a line, return the carriage fully and advance one line for single spacing.
- Do not use the carriage return to move within a line; use the space bar.
- Keep the paper straight under the bail and check it after several lines; a tilted sheet produces uneven margins.
Worked example
A 20-word sentence of about 100 strokes will not fit on a 65-character line. Break at a word boundary near the right margin, return the carriage fully, and continue at the left margin. Do not hyphenate a word unless the copy does, and do not squeeze extra characters into the margin. The reasoning: a line break at a word boundary is a normal layout decision; overprinting or running into the margin is a mechanical fault.
Traps
- Half-returning the carriage so the next line starts in the middle.
- Accidentally setting double line spacing.
- Indenting with the space bar inconsistently from paragraph to paragraph.