I know that it says that I know everthing, but, like Socrates, I would protest that I know nothing worthwhile. As evidence, here are two questions.
Question 1: According to the Mellel guide, paragraph spacing determines the "space above and below and paragraph and the line spacing." So, if I set the above/below values to 12pt, for example, does this mean that line spacing has also been set to 12pt? This does not seem correct, because even when one does set the above/below values, one can still select a line spacing value under the "Line Spacing" option of the palette.
Question 2: If I want to create a "block quotation" paragraph style and ensure that the spacing above and below the quotation are equal, how do I accomodate the line spacing? For example, if my "body" paragraph style has a line spacing value of "double", then when I strike "return" and begin my block quotation, there is a double space between the bottom of the body and the top of the quotation. Well, if paragraph spacing can be set only in inches, centimeters, or points, what measurement (whether is be inches, centimeters, or points) would give me the equivalent of that double space below the quotation paragraph? I know that I could switch my line spacing to points, for example, but then I would need to know whether the paragraph spacing absorbs the line spacing or is simply added to it.
Clearly, I am confused about all of this spacing business. So, any help would be greatly appreciated. When I get lost in formatting issues, I always think carefully about whether I should move to LaTex and let Tex worry about formatting, but I never do make the move.
Paragraph spacing is separate from line spacing. Line spacing refers to the height of lines in the same paragraph. Paragraph spacing determines the amount of space between paragraphs.
One thing to keep in mind, though, is that Mellel's paragraph spacing is additive (unlike Word's). What this means is that if you have a before paragraph spacing of 6pt, and an after paragraph spacing of 12 pt, there will be 18pts between the paragraphs of the same style. (To contrast, Word would simply take the larger of the two values, so it would only have 12 pts between the paragraphs.)
If you want to have even spacing before and after for your block quote style, you'd need to know the before and after paragraph spacing settings of the paragraphs both before and after the block quote paragraph, and then you can determine the proper settings.
I now recall having read that spacing is additive in Mellel. Also, I know from experience that paragraph and line spacing are separate, but the explanation of paragraph spacing in the guide at least suggests otherwise. Perhaps that explanation could be cleaned up.
I suppose that I will switch all my measurements to points, track down some typographer's rules or conventions, and resolve these issues.
