When compiling my MS for print, I noticed that there are several chapters that end with a single line of text on the last page. Is there any setting that will enable me to avoid this? Like something that tells it to fudge the margin and put the single line of text on the previous page? I’ve tried messing with the margins and what not, but I always seem to end up with single lines of text on some chapters no matter what I do.
Have you tried the widow and orphan control in compile?
I don’t think so. I’ve never heard of it.
I don’t understand how to use the widows and orphans setting. Correct me if I’m wrong, it seems to only be available in the “Proofing” mode. When I changed to this mode, it wouldn’t allow for certain fonts that were in my MS, which is an even bigger problem. And there were still the single lines of text anyway, so … I don’t know.
The widow/orphan control will keep paragraphs together when possible in order to avoid single lines right before or after a page flip. It does not adjust the margins of the page, which means that it is only helpful in limited circumstances. For instance, if the last paragraph is 15 lines long, you probably don’t want to force the whole thing to the last page because that would leave a big gap on the next-to-last page.
One possible solution would be to insert a manual page break somewhere in the last paragraph. (If you plan to create an ebook, too, note that the automatic ebook ToC generator uses page breaks to identify table of contents entries.)
Another would be to tweak the page layout in a more sophisticated layout tool, rather than sending it directly to print/PDF format.
Katherine