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Although you can control quite a few widow and orphan settings with InDesign’s Keep Option settings, one problem remains: a too-short last line (sometimes called a “runt”). Let’s assume you have a style rule that states the last line of a paragraph must contain at least 10 characters. The following GREP Style trick helps you follow that style.
1. Start by creating a Character Style called “no break” that only has the No Break option enabled.
2. Next, add a new GREP Style to your paragraph style, set the Apply Style pop-up menu to the “no break” character style you created earlier, then enter the following regular expression in the To Text field:
.{10}$ (That’s a dot-curly-ten-curly-dollar sign.)
Now any 10 last characters of the paragraph will never be broken.
This article was last modified on May 6, 2020
This article was first published on June 24, 2019
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