decorative banner

Specifying leading


    Leading determines the amount of vertical space between baselines. Leading is always measured in units specified in the Type pop-up menu in the Units & Undo Preferences dialog box (the default units are points). If a line of type contains characters with different leading values, the line's leading is set to the greater of the two values.

    You can adjust leading in the Character palette or directly from the keyboard. The default Auto-Leading option sets the leading at 120% of the type size. For example, 10-point type would have a leading value of 12 points (120% of 10 points).

To change the leading value using the Character palette:

  1. Do one of the following:
    • Use a selection tool to select any type container or type path.
    • Use the type tools to select a block of type.
  2. In the Character palette, enter a value in the Leading text box  the Leading text box , or choose a value from the pop-up menu.
  3. Press Enter or Return.
  4. Note: To set the leading to the same value as the font size, double-click the Leading icon. To reset a setting to its default value, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) the associated icon in the palette.

To specify leading before a paragraph:

  1. Do one of the following:
    • To apply leading to a single paragraph in text, use the type tool to click anywhere in the paragraph.
    • To apply leading to all paragraphs in a type container, use the selection tool to select the entire type container.
  2. In the Paragraph palette, do one of the following:
    • Enter a value in the Space before Paragraph text box  the Space before Paragraph text box .
    • Press Up Arrow or Down Arrow to increase or decrease the leading value.
  3. Press Enter, Return, or Tab.
  4. Note: You can specify leading before a paragraph with area type only.