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Eliminate the added space beween lines when adding an inline equation

Anonymous
2011-09-23T15:58:59+00:00

I'm writing a dissertation for music theory and use only a couple of the equations inline. Specifically the ^ accent to indicate scale degree and the 2x1 matrix to indicate chord inversion.  Whenever I include these, it adds slightly o the space between its line and the line above (I double space everything).  Is there a way to keep word from adding this extra  space without having to manually adjust each line separately (there are probably 100's of such lines throughout the document).

Thanks in advance

Below are links to a couple of examples from the document. The second shows the gap as a little more pronounced that the first but both should be evidently larger than they normally should.

Example 1

Example 2

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Suzanne S Barnhill 277.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2011-09-24T16:44:59+00:00

Instead of using double spacing, set the line spacing to Exactly some amount. If you're using (as it appears) the ordinary 12-point Times New Roman, try using Exactly 24 points. This is actually a little less than double spacing, which to me always looks a little too spacey. Exactly 24 points also gives you exactly three lines per inch, the same as double spacing on a typewriter.

Note that by default, multiple spacing (including double) adds the space below the text baseline, whereas Exactly spacing adds it above, which may cause issues with headings (also, this space isn't suppressed at the tops of pages), but you can change this by enabling the Compatibility Option "Don't center 'exact line height' lines" (which is a little misleading since Exactly spacing isn't centered to begin with).

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  1. Suzanne S Barnhill 277.7K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2011-09-24T22:06:42+00:00

    The default leading for Times New Roman is approximately 120%, meaning that single spacing for 12-pt type is about 14.4 and double spacing about 28.8. Other fonts have different leading programmed in, so if you want documents with mixed fonts to have consistent line spacing, it is advisable to use Exactly spacing in multiples of the same amounts. This can get quite complicated, and most people settle for something that just looks good.

    The eye is often a better gauge than a calculator, anyway. For example, if you use Word's built-in vertical centering for a title page, you'll find that the title, though mathematically centered, will look too low on the page, and you'll end up having to add some Spacing After. So I find it's usually easier just to add a big glob of Spacing Before in the first place and avoid vertical centering.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-09-24T20:20:19+00:00

    This was spot on. Thank you. Some experimenting and everything worked exactly right. using 24 pt exactly, however cut a little off the bottom of the matrix so I'll probably go with about 27.7 which was as close as I could possibly come to double spacing (thus, I won't have to replace all of my examples and graphics). Now I just need to decide if I want to go through the entire 110 pages that I've written thus far to fix something that my committee probably won't notice anyway but bugs the **** out of me! Thanks again!

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-09-24T16:20:29+00:00

    AFAIK.... this is how Word works.

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