Adobe Illustrator
Orphans and widows in typography.
Master the art of flawless text flow in Adobe Illustrator. Learn to find and correct orphans and widows in typography for more professional-looking designs.
What are widows and orphans?
Widow and orphan are typesetting problems that can disrupt the flow of your text. Find out what they are and how to fix them within this quick guide.
Widows vs orphans: what’s the difference?
A widow is a single word or short line that appears at the end of a paragraph but gets pushed to the top of the next page or column.
An orphan is a single word or short line of text at the beginning of a page or column, separated from the rest of its paragraph.
The Paragraph panel in Adobe Illustrator, with its "Keep with Next" and "Keep Lines Together" options, can help prevent widows and orphans.
How to identify orphans and widows.
Adobe Illustrator can help you spot these typographic troublemakers.
Eliminating widows and orphans keeps the text flowing and prevents distractions from awkward line breaks for a smooth reading experience.
Use the Story panel (Window > Type > Story) to identify widows and orphans. The panel highlights potential issues with color-coded warnings.
The Type > Show Hidden Characters option can help identify non-breaking spaces and other special characters that might affect line breaks.
Restore harmony to your layouts.
With these tips, even beginners can create clean, professional-looking typography.