Negative Space After Style?

Question

Below is an image of what I'm trying to accomplish. I attempted to make the graphic as simple as possible although I have some more complex instances of this in a fairly complex book layout.

Notes:

I know that I can simply create an alternate body style with less space before the paragraph and assign it to the paragraphs that follow the head. But, I'm trying to learn how to do something in a more automatic manner to save lots of time applying styles.
I prefer to work with space before rather than space after and would run into the same problem in reverse.

Ideally I could set a "negative" space in the space after panel for the head style, but I don't think this is doable.

Any suggestions?

TᴀW · Accepted Answer

I think you would need to create separate styles (e.g. "BodyText" and "BodyTextFollowingHeading") which is what I do all the time.

Then, to actually apply the styles, it's best with a script. There are both free scripts and paid ones that will do this:

Free:

https://indesignsecrets.com/find-change-the-next-paragraph-style-with-a-script.php

Or my own paid version:

https://www.id-extras.com/products/change-consecutive-paragraphs

(In the comments section I also mention the "Pro" version, which lets you save all these replacements so they can be run automatically the next time you create a similar document).

Ariel

knic pfost · Answer

There is another option! You only need two styles, Head and Body.

For your Body Style, set "Space Before" and "Space After" to 0pt (yes, zero).
Then, in the same style window, set "Space Between Paragraphs Using the Same Style" to whatever your current "Space before Body Style" happens to be.
Finally, set your Head Style spacing to whatever you want.

Yes, for your Head Style, you will have to use "Space After" as well as "Space Before"—but the benefit is that your Head Style will be the only style defining the space between Head and Body content, and won't be affected by the space between your Body paragraphs.

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