# Unwanted empty lines **URL:** \ **Category:** Scrivener for macOS\ **Tags:** support\ **Created:** [February 17, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679 "2023-02-17T15:01:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chaarrliie](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/chaarrliie/32/15859_2.png) [@chaarrliie](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/chaarrliie)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679/1 "2023-02-17T15:01:21Z")
I have the same issue : after I hit return, I get the invisible character ¶ (great). But when I compile an ebook, I get a line break after each ¶ (not great) which is not the case when I compile a PDF. I have the exact same settings in another project and I have no issues with ebook compilation… I can’t find how to fix that… Thanks for your help ---
**Author:** ![kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/kewms/32/15720_2.png) [@kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/kewms)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 4:46pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679/2 "2023-02-17T16:46:00Z")
Split to a new thread because the old one predates the current version of Scrivener. Creating a new line is what hitting return is supposed to do, so I’m not sure I understand the issue. Could you post a screenshot? (I’ll check your trust level to make sure you can.) ---
**Author:** ![chaarrliie](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/chaarrliie/32/15859_2.png) [@chaarrliie](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/chaarrliie)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679/3 "2023-02-17T17:30:30Z")
This is what I have in editor: [![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/2f11t3fuuydh1dg/editor.png?dl=0) ](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/2f11t3fuuydh1dg/editor.png?dl=0) This is what I have on PDF: [![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/o1f0feyhnbfckg1/pdf.png?dl=0) ](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/o1f0feyhnbfckg1/pdf.png?dl=0) This is on ebook: [![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/g1p6hynxdsj2q9h/ebook.png?dl=0) ](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/g1p6hynxdsj2q9h/ebook.png?dl=0) I “fixed” the issue by pasting another project’s CSS in the custom CSS section, but I still didn’t understand why the ebook settings compiled into this… ---
**Author:** ![drmajorbob](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/drmajorbob/32/15777_2.png) [@drmajorbob](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/drmajorbob)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 4:02pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679/4 "2023-02-18T16:02:34Z")
Those are not empty lines. Select any paragraph and go here in the menus: ![spacing](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/uploads/default/original/3X/0/7/07d4ff80e5ce30a5c4023aa3c8d3e325a905befa.jpeg) That takes you here: ![after-before](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/uploads/default/original/3X/9/2/9233769189780dd5871abcfab7932d2d3b22f6bd.png) Your paragraphs seem to have a few extra points in the last box in the eBook compile, but not in the PDF compile. That means (or should mean) that you’re using two Compile Formats, one for PDF and another for eBooks. Here’s what I mean by a Format in this context: ![Formats](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/uploads/default/original/3X/6/2/6249a92b24829489aa48c6ab26a9f2ec797bdf9d.jpeg) Personally, I use the same Format for all target file types. By pasting CSS into the ebook compile, you overrode the Format’s normal settings. That was the fix you came up with. ---
**Author:** ![chaarrliie](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/chaarrliie/32/15859_2.png) [@chaarrliie](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/chaarrliie)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679/5 "2023-02-18T16:45:43Z")
Thanks for your answer. No, it’s not inter-line spacing, I have 0 in both settings, I’ve thought about that… I indeed use different format for pdf and ebook because I need different settings for each format. ---
**Author:** ![Kevitec57](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/kevitec57/32/20364_2.png) [@Kevitec57](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Kevitec57)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 5:03pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679/6 "2023-02-18T17:03:28Z")
At face value, your line spacing (line height multiple) and paragraph spacing appear to be the same in your editor and PDF output (that is, you cannot distinguish what is a paragraph normally achieved by having narrower line spacing), whereas for your ebook, there is a clear distinction. ---
**Author:** ![drmajorbob](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/drmajorbob/32/15777_2.png) [@drmajorbob](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/drmajorbob)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 5:09pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679/7 "2023-02-18T17:09:32Z")
> [@chaarrliie](#): > > No, it’s not inter-line spacing, I have 0 in both settings, I’ve thought about that… You do have inter-line spacing. You just have to find where it is, probably in one or more layouts in the ebook Format, not in the Editor. ---
**Author:** ![chaarrliie](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/chaarrliie/32/15859_2.png) [@chaarrliie](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/chaarrliie)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 6:19pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679/8 "2023-02-18T18:19:02Z")
I think the only place would be the css of the format, I don’t know how, since every other settings is not set that way… ---
**Author:** ![drmajorbob](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/drmajorbob/32/15777_2.png) [@drmajorbob](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/drmajorbob)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 6:36pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679/9 "2023-02-18T18:36:16Z")
CSS is determined by layouts and styles, unless you modify it manually (as you did). ---
**Author:** ![Vincent\_Vincent](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/vincent_vincent/32/19680_2.png) [@Vincent\_Vincent](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Vincent_Vincent)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 2:12am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679/11 "2023-02-21T02:12:03Z")
Bonjour chez vous. 🙂 From what I can see in your screenshots, the problem is not that you have extra space / empty lines, but rather that your line spacing in the epub is less for a paragraph than in the editor or in your PDF… Likely you have a space after (or before) to your paragraphs that creates the illusion. Fix: go to the compile format you used for your epub compile, and in the layouts, make sure the line spacing matches what you have in the editor. ![image](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/uploads/default/original/3X/c/3/c3b6c4057031a6d70973b20b8bcc83ae5a8e7634.png) Or remove the space after/before. (At this point, might as well remove it no matter what, as fixing the line spacing to match it makes it useless, and otherwise you don’t want it.) ![image](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/uploads/default/original/3X/5/c/5c114d2ad33c5073bb4a05aaac154488e9978e30.png) ![image](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/uploads/default/original/3X/8/f/8f816a8b6eb968a16278019ddc4496921cf8c84b.png) Fix all concerned layouts. ---
**Author:** ![chaarrliie](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/chaarrliie/32/15859_2.png) [@chaarrliie](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/chaarrliie)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 9:16am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679/12 "2023-02-21T09:16:19Z")
Bonjour Vincent 😊 Thanks for your answer. Unfortunately, the layout of the format has the same line spacing setting as the editor, and there is no space before/after set anywhere 🙁 I haven’t found where this behaviors comes from, but have fixed the issue by creating a new format from scratch. I made the exact same settings and now it’s ok, I don’t know what changed 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Vincent\_Vincent](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/vincent_vincent/32/19680_2.png) [@Vincent\_Vincent](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/Vincent_Vincent)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 12:27pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679/13 "2023-02-21T12:27:52Z")
Good that it’s fixed. Perhaps then it was due to the formatting in the CSS panel, and you’ve overridden it by pasting the CSS from your other compile format ? If you are into finding out and willing to export and upload your broken compile format, I can investigate, see what went wrong. ---
**Author:** ![chaarrliie](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/chaarrliie/32/15859_2.png) [@chaarrliie](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/chaarrliie)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unwanted-empty-lines/132679/14 "2023-02-21T13:23:53Z")
Damn, I would have liked to, but I erased it. I’ll see if I can reproduce the issue, in which case I’ll send it to you, thanks! 🙂