2022

A Guide to QuarkXPress 2022 | 227
Controlling leading
Leading is a measure of line spacing — the distance between text baselines in
paragraphs. When you specify a leading value, it is applied to all lines in
selected paragraphs. You can specify leading by four methods:
Absolute leading sets the distance between baselines of text to a specific ●
value, regardless of the size of characters on the lines. For example, if you
specify an absolute leading value of 16 points for a paragraph, all baselines
will be spaced 16 points apart. When specifying absolute leading, use a value
that is the total vertical distance you want between text baselines.
Proportional leading allows you to set the leading in terms of a percentage, ●
dependent upon the font size. Each paragraph can then have a different
leading depending on the largest font size in the paragraph. For example, if
you specify a proportional leading value of 50% and the font size of the
tallest character in the paragraph is 36 pt., all baselines will be spaced 54
points apart (36 plus 50% of 36). Using proportional leading can solve
problems that can appear with text that contains inline graphics, inline boxes
and inline tables. The boundary value limit for proportional leading is -100%
to 5000%
When importing Word documents, the text is automatically mapped using 
proportional leading.
Incremental leading combines a base amount of auto leading with an ●
absolute value specified in the Leading field. Incremental leading values
must be preceded by a plus (+) or minus (–) sign.
Auto leading means the application uses the value in the Auto Leading field ●
(QuarkXPress/Edit > Preferences > Paragraph pane) to decide whether
percentage-based or incremental auto leading occurs. The default —
percentage-based — takes the base amount of auto leading and adds to it a
fixed percentage of the largest font size on the upper line to determine the
total amount of leading between an auto-leaded line and the line above it.
The default value for percentage-based auto leading is 20%. To specify auto
leading, enter auto or 0pt in the Leading field.
To set the alignment of selected paragraphs, do one of the following things:
Use the Leading controls in the Home or Paragraph tab of the Measurements ●
palette.
Use keyboard increments to automatically increase/decrease the value in 
this field. See “Palettes” for more information.
Use the ticker controls with or without Shift or Alt/Opt modifier to modify the ●
leading.
Use the keyboard commands. ●