I’m loving Scrivener and am really looking forward to 2.0! There’s something I don’t understand though, and I seem to be unable to figure it out on my own.
Whenever I press enter, a space appears between the line I was at and the one I’m about to start typing after hitting enter. However, when I export my writings, these spaces (that make the text more pleasing to the eye and therefore easier to read) are gone.
I have a feeling that the answer to my question is embarrassingly simple and has probably been in my face all along, but I’ll just take the embarrasment upon me if it means I can deliver my text the way I want.
Thanks in advance, D, Amsterdam.
EDIT: when I display invisibles, it turns out that Scrivener seemingly randomly, displays some page breaks with and some without a space. i.e., there’s one Paragraph Break, but in some scrivenings it displays as a space, but it others it doesn’t.
Just to clarify, I’ll post some screenshots of what it sounds like you are describing. In the example on the left is Scrivener with [b]Text/Show Invisibles[/b] turned on. The symbols on the end of the line indicate where I’ve pressed the [b]Return[/b] key.
The example on the right is a hypothetical file after it has been compiled to RTF, and then dragged back into Scrivener. Note there is only one paragraph return after each line now.
[size=9]Hypothetical result of removed return.[/size]
Actually, as far as I know, this product is impossible to obtain. There are no options in Scrivener’s compile that will strip physical return characters like this, which is why I ask for clarification.
Thanks for answering! Just before I read your post, I made an edit to my previous post. I’ve included a picture to show you what I mean.
Do you see what I mean? In both cases there’s a space, but I don’t understand what it is coming from in the first picture! The double paragraph breaks export just fine, but the single one (logically) doesn’t.
Look at the ruler in the third pane of the “Compile” dialog, and click on “Spacing : Other” and set it to the setting you find on the ruler in the “Preferences : Text Editing”. That way the spacing on compile will be the same as the spacing in which you edit.
Ah, okay. In rich text, it is possible to add space between paragraphs, space that isn’t actually in the file at all, except as a part of the formatting definition. If you place the cursor in a paragraph and show the ruler ([b]Cmd-R[/b]), you’ll see a “Spacing” menu. If you select “Other…” from that, you’ll get a little sheet that displays a lot of options. The bottom option, “Paragraph Spacing (after)” lets you add space that isn’t really there. Roughly equivalent to font size. So 6pt is about half a normal line (with a 12pt font). To add a full empty line, set it to 12pt.
Now, since this is just a formatting convention, it could be entirely stripped out by Compile in the third tab, where it is possible to set a new Ruler to be applied to the entire compiled file. This can be desirable as it makes the document look uniform.
In most cases it is best to standardise on one method or the other. You should either put a physical return between paragraphs, or only use format added spacing. If you mix it up, then it can be more difficult to get a uniform look later on.
So check the third tab in Compile and see what is happening with the ruler. It’s probably stripping out paragraph spacing that is why some of them disappear.
A slightly covert option, if I might add, but not meaning to criticize my beloved Scrivener
I have one more question: in Scrivener, a Paragraph Break looks identical to a Line Break, which confuses me. Two Paragraph breaks to create a space between two Paragraphs seems not the correct, official way.
What is the difference between the two in daily practical use?
Line breaks should not be looking the same as paragraph breaks, make sure you are using the right keyboard shortcut to insert them (Cmd-Opt-Return). The difference between the two is that a line break still operates within the formatting constraints of a single paragraph. Here is an example:
In this case I have use an exaggerated after-paragraph spacing to illustrate. The first line is set to be indented by about a centimetre. The line break thus sets the second line as flush to the left side of the page instead of indented, and using the 1.5x line spacing between the first line and second. After that, a newline is entered, creating a paragraph break. This one is spaced 24pt away and indented again since it is the first line. Of course, the symbol is different, also.
Use line breaks to create lists, addresses, and other constructs that fall within a single paragraph.
The one case where line breaks will look the same as paragraph breaks (excluding show invisibles, of course) is when there is no paragraph spacing being added, and no indenting of any kind. Since standard typesetting practices either use paragraph spacing, or some form of first-line indent to indicate paragraphs, it is unlikely to come across cases like this.
On your second point, yes you are right. Using two newlines between paragraphs is not what most people using word processors do. However you will see it from time to time because some applications and uses require a full empty line between paragraphs.
