Book Layout & Formatting Ideas: Justification

Revised as of
14 May 2023

Justification is all about how the left and right margins of a text block align with the margin.

Full justification means your left and right margins are lined up evenly on both sides.

Left justification means only your left margin lines up evenly, which creates a “ragged right”.

Right justification means only your right margin lines up.

Centered is a type of justification, even though every line is centered, leaving both left and right ragged.

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Exploring Later . . .

You may also want to explore more detail at “Orphans, Rags, Runts, and Widows“, “Tracking and Kerning“, and “Typographical Rivers“. “Compound Words” can provide insight into hyphenating and “Publishing Software” can be useful in deciding if you could use desktop publishing software.

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Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, a.k.a. . . .

. . . typesetting, is all about the how the inside of your fiction or non-fiction book — whether print or eBook — looks and the experience it provides your reader. Explore which pages are required or optional, the order the pages should follow, whether the page should be verso or recto, the definitions of technical terms, each page’s content, and in-depth formatting that includes text alignment, margins, bleeds, the choice of font and sizes, linespacing, how and where to place graphics of all sorts, how to style chapter headings, the need for a table of contents, the inclusion of epigraphs, running heads and feet, and so much more. Yes, book cover design will also be covered. Do check with the style guide for your publisher or in your field for how your layout may differ in page order and requirements, whether it’s page order or formatting. Make a checklist.

At the very least, knowing more about book layout design will help you understand a book layout designer you may hire.

My research has evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us any questions you’ve had on this subject that have been a bête noire for you from either end. If you found this post on “Justification” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.

NOTE: Example pages provide a sample of what should be found on that page and/or an explanation of the text you’ll need to write for that page. It will be noted when the layout differs between a print and an eBook.

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Justification
Book Layout, Typesetting
Definition: The alignment of text relative to the left and/or right margins of a page, column, table cell, or tab. POST CONTENTS: Full-justification Left Justification Ragged Right Right Justification Centered Terminology Full-justification Left Justification Ragged Right Right Justification Centered Terminology
Full-justification	Definition: Left and right margins line up evenly on both sides. To accomplish this, the spaces between words and between glyphs or letters are stretched (loose lines) or compressed (tight lines). The last line of a paragraph is usually set for left justify as English is read from left to right. A.k.a. alignment, fully justified, justified, text alignment, text justification, type justification Credit to: Alred
Return to top or post contents	Fig. 1. An example of full justification, although there are some bubbles and rivers.
	Useful for:
	“More appropriate for publications aimed at a broad readership that expects a more formal, polished appearance”, i.e., newspapers, magazines, and hardcopy books. “Useful with multiple-column formats because the … alleys need the definition that full justification provides.” Credit to: Alred
	Problems with:
	Produces irregular spaces between words and unwanted blocks of text (see “Typographical Rivers“.) Some consider full-justify less readable than left justification.
	Style Guides Prefer:
	APA: No Chicago: No MLA: No In general: Do not full-justify an ASCII résumé.
Left Justification	Definition: Only your left margin lines up evenly, which creates a “ragged right“. The default style on the Internet. A.k.a. flush left, left align, left-aligned, ragged right, ranged left Credit to: Alred
Return to top or post contents	Fig. 2. A typical example of left justification.
	Useful for:
	Ebooks Languages that read from right to left. Considered easier to read/scan. Presents an informal appearance. In very narrow columns, where full justification would produce too much whitespace between characters or words on some lines.
	Problems with:
	Um, doesn’t look as pretty???
	Style Guides Prefer:
	APA: Use for student papers or manuscripts being submitted for publication. Hyphens are only acceptable “if your word-processing program automatically inserts breaks in long hyperlinks (such as in a DOI or URL in a reference list entry).” Table and figure numbers (bold) Titles (italics) Notes First line of the abstract Level 2 headings (bold) Level 3 headings (bold italic) Chicago: Paragraph text MLA: Paragraph text In general: Use left justification on an ASCII résumés and research papers.
Ragged Right	Definition: It’s another name for left justification, except this example is all about an extreme ragged right that needs to be cleaned up. “Clean up” by balancing the right edge to reduce the excess (see the possible fixes in the post on “Typographical Rivers”.
Return to top or post contents	Fig. 3. This right margin needs more balance; it’s too extreme.
Right Justification	Definition: Only your right margin lines up, leaving a ragged left. Standard justification in Arabic and Hebrew typography. A.k.a. flush right, right align, right-aligned, ragged left, ranged right
Return to top or post contents	Fig. 4. An example of text that has been right justified.
	Useful for:
	Languages that read from right to left Formatting data in spreadsheets or tables Set off special text such as attributions to authors of quotes printed in books and magazines, or text associated with an image to its right. Creating letterhead Navigation on websites Ideally, use three words or fewer per line; three lines or fewer of text
	Problems with:
	Difficult to read in a left-to-right language
	Style Guides Prefer:
	APA: Chicago: Page numbers MLA: Header at the top of each page Page numbers In general:
Centered	Definition: Every line is aligned to neither the left nor right margin; there is an even gap on each side of each line. A.k.a. center-aligned, center justify
	Fig. 5. While interesting as a shape, it is difficult to read centered text.
	Useful for:
	Commonly found on signs, flyers, and similar documents where grabbing the attention of the reader is the main focus, or visual appearance is important and the overall amount of centered text is small. Title of a work, headlines, poems, and songs Formatting data in spreadsheets or tables Can be fun to use in creating a shape with the text block Credit to: Typographic
	Problems with:
	Readability is horrible in a text block.
	Style Guides Prefer:
	APA: On a title page: title (bold), byline, affiliations (for professional papers); students papers should include course number and name, instructor, and assignment due date. Section labels (bold). Appendix labels and titles (bold) Level 1 headings (bold) Chicago: Titles Page numbers MLA: Titles

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Terminology

Term	Definition
alignment	Returns each line of continuous text return to one side of the margin.
alley	The space between columns.
copy block	Treated as an independent element in the layout design, there is usually more than one line of text that is justified in its frame.
flush	Text that is aligned to a margin, frame, photo or other elements.
gutter	Empty space between facing pages of a book (inner margins). Also see alley
loose line	Spaces between words, glyphs, or letters are stretched.
margin	The area between the main content of a page and the page edges, defining where a line of text begins and ends.
negative space	Extra white space around your text.
ragged	One side aligns with an edge.
tight line	Spaces between words, glyphs, or letters are compressed.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Book Layout & Formatting Ideas by exploring its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Word Confusions, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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Resources for Justification

Some of these links may be affiliate links, and I will earn a small percentage, if you should buy it. It does not affect the price you pay.

Alred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu. The Business Writer’s Handbook, Ed 12. Bedford/St. Martin’s: 2018. <https://amzn.to/3mkhxai>. Spiral-bound.

Chicago Manual of Style. Ed. 15. University of Chicago Press: 2003. <https://amzn.to/3JWIwSo>. The 17th edition is the most recent. <https://amzn.to/3JXugJ4>. Print.

Nordquist, Richard. “Justification (Typesetting and Composition).” ThoughtCo. 19 Jan 2020. Web. 8 Apr 2023. <https://www.thoughtco.com/justification-typesetting-and-composition-1691208>.

“Paragraph Alignment and Indentation.” APA Style. Last updated July 2022. Web. 10 Apr 2023. <https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/paragraph-format>.

“Typographic Alignment.” Wikipedia. 10 Aug 2022. Web. 10 Apr 2023. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typographic_alignment>.

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Pinterest Photo Credits:

Please Sign In and Out Here by Alex Borland, via PublicDomainPictures.net, and Newspaper Article, via PeakPX, are both under the CC0 license. Messy Left Align is (WT-en) Cacahuate at English WikiVoyage is under the CC SA-1 license and Bhs Psalm 1 is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license are both via Wikimedia Commons.