Inspiring

Answered

Indesign inserting spaces between words

Forum|Forum|1 month ago
May 28, 2026
4 replies
108 views

Windows 11/64 - INDD 2026 up-to-date - Intel Ultimate 9 3.5 - 96 Gig Ram - Nvdia 5080

I am trying to finish a historical quarterly and InDesign is inserting spaces between words that I cannot remove. I am trying to get this job to the printer and this is holding me up. Screen shot attached. Any help appreciated.

Thanks to those who know more than me.

Joe

Correct answer Joseph374224441v8g

Thanks to all your interest and replies. I did try the showing marks and did not see an issue. The section was narrow. I had the image on the left side of the page and decided to switch the image to the right -- and then the type flowed OK. I am still stumped as to exactly what the problem was, but the workaround got it to the press on time.

Thanks again,

Joe

Abhishek Rao

Community Manager

Hi @Joseph374224441v8g,

Just following up on this. Were you able to try the suggestions shared by the experts?

Could you please let us know whether the issue has been resolved or if you're still seeing the unexpected spacing? If it persists, please share an updated screenshot with Type > Show Hidden Characters enabled so we can investigate further and proceed accordingly.

Looking forward to your update.

Thanks,
Abhishek

rob day

Community Expert

Hi @Joseph374224441v8g , Maybe an errant Right Indent Tab?

J

Joseph374224441v8gAuthorCorrect answer

Inspiring

Thanks to all your interest and replies. I did try the showing marks and did not see an issue. The section was narrow. I had the image on the left side of the page and decided to switch the image to the right -- and then the type flowed OK. I am still stumped as to exactly what the problem was, but the workaround got it to the press on time.

Thanks again,

Joe

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

Can you upload the problem page/file?

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

What is your Justification Composer set to?
Also, depending on your hyphenation settings, your text column may just be too narrow.

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

TᴀW

Legend

I’m not sure if that would explain why the space between their and hawks is so wide but not between the other words on that line, though.

Another screenshot with Show Hidden Characters would help...

id-extras.com | InDesign tools & scripts for typesetters, form designers, and translators

Dave Creamer of IDEAS

Community Expert

You are correct of course. Could be a tab, extra spaces, or any number of things...

David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)

Mike Witherell

Community Expert

When you Show Hidden Characters (Type menu) do you see anything like extra characters like spacebar spaces or tabs?

What happens if you open the textframe in Edit > Story Editor mode Cmd/Ctrl+Y ? What do you see?

Mike Witherell

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