How to Justify Text Without Large Gaps in Dreamweaver

Although left align is the default text alignment style in Dreamweaver; right align, center and justify are also offered. To justify text in Dreamweaver means to make the text flush with the right and left margins. Because the length of each line of text in a paragraph often differs, Dreamweaver inserts large gaps between words in the shorter lines when justifying text to make the lines even. Although typing wide paragraphs instead of narrow ones can eliminate some large gaps when using HTML formatting, using CSS formatting to change how Dreamweaver defines spacing and alignment settings eliminates large gaps more effectively.

Instructions

Using HTML Formatting

1. Open in Dreamweaver the file that contains the text that you want to justify.

2. Place the mouse pointer at the beginning of the text or highlight the text using your mouse.

3. Click "Format" at the top of the Dreamweaver screen.

4. Scroll down the drop-down menu and click "Align," then click "Justify" on the side menu.

5. Click "File" at the top of the Dreamweaver screen and select "Save" or "Save as" to save your changes.

Using CSS Formatting

1. Open in Dreamweaver the file that contains the text that you want to justify.

2. Click "Window" at the top of the Dreamweaver screen.

3. Scroll down the drop-down menu and click "CSS Styles" to open the CSS Styles panel.

4. Click the "Current" button on the CSS Styles panel.

5. Double-click the rule or property --- such as .text --- that relates to the text that you want to justify.

6. Wait for the CSS Rule Definition dialog box to open, then click "Block" under the Category menu on the left.

7. Define the following style properties on the Block screen: Word-spacing: = "-2px;" Letter-spacing: = "0px;" Text-align = "Justify;" White-space = "Normal." Leave the other properties blank because they do not affect the gaps in the text.

8. Click "File" at the top of the Dreamweaver screen and select "Save" or "Save as" to save your changes.

References

• Adobe: Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 & CS5.5 - Align Text On a Page
• Adobe: Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 & CS5.5 - Define CSS Style Block Properties
• W3Schools.com: CSS Text