[Stefan Blom[_3_]]

By default, recent versions of Word set the distance between two paragraphs to
whichever value of Spacing After and Spacing Before is the larger one. This can
be controlled via the compatibility option called "Don't use HTML paragraph auto
spacing" in Tools | Options, Compatibility tab. If the option is *cleared*, Word
sums the two distances.

There is also an option (in the Modify Style dialog box, click Format,
Paragraph) called "Don't add space between paragraphs of the same style" that is
relevant in this context.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP
(Message posted via news.eternal-september.org)



"Paul" wrote in message
...
In Word 2003, the spacing between paragraphs seems to be the sum of
the the following:
* The spacing after the preceding paragrapph
* The spacing before the next paragraph

Instead summing the two figures, is there a way to specify that the
*minimum* spacing after a paragraph, or the *minimum* spacing before a
paragraph? For example, if the space-after for the last paragraph is
less then the space-before the next paragraph, then the space-before
the next paragraph is used. But the two are not added.

This seems like it would make much more sense than the current summing
that is used. For example, for a bullet style paragraph, I know how
much space I need between bullets, which I can set as the space-before
the bullet style. However, the first bullet after a Heading 1 may
need more space, as dictated by the space-after for the Heading 1
style. I wouldn't want to add the two, because the space-before the
first bullet is immaterial in this situation.