Black Lines through text - on return command?

[DrGs A]

I have a 2019 Apple Macbook pro - with Sonoma OS 

and Adobe InDesign 2024 

I've been working on a book - with 6 chapters  

it is only in the 6th chapter that I've begun to get these black lines appearing through my text - 

they seem to be generated when I press the 'return' key?

Can anybody help?

What Have I done wrong and

How can I get back to normal ? - Gary 

[Derek Cross]

Presumaby you've tried resetting the InDesign Preferences?
And also consider saving the document as an IDML to clear out the crud that builds up.

[DrGs A]

Thanks Derek -

I have checked and rechecked the  Paragraph Styles options  but nothing I can see there seems to make any difference.

Looking at the Preferences at the moment - but to be honest I'm not really familiar enough with the options to locate the trouble spots - most of the settings seem OK?  - Gary 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

@DrGs A 

What are the exact versions of OS and InDesign? 

[DrGs A]

Cheers Robert - 

I think I'm going to have to copy out all the infected text out of that chapter and re-format it all again? 

It not as big a job as it migth seem 

Details of In design and Mac Book pro as requested below - G 

 

 

[rob day]

Hi @DrGs A , Can you share the file saved as an IDML?

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

Hi @DrGs A , Can you share the file saved as an IDML?

By @rob day

I think IDMLing might fix it - so INDD could be better? 

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

[...] 

Details of In design and Mac Book pro as requested below - G 

By @DrGs A

There is nothing about InDesign? 

[leo.r]

While it doesn't look like this, I still wonder if you have a paragraph border specified somewhere in your paragraph styles?

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Looking closely at the example, I'd say this. It's even on the blank paragraph lines.

Although I can't quite figure out what settings are producing the varying line lengths.

OP: Check Paragraph Rules, Underlines, Strikethrough and Paragraph Borders. If none of those are set to decorate the text, you may have a corrupted doc.

It's also poor practice to use blank paragraphs for spacing. Look into paragraph spacing while you're sifting through the paragraph style menus. 🙂

[DrGs A]

Thank you James - - I have been through all the Paragraph style options 100,000 times , (Underlines, Paragraph Border Shading,Striikethrough options etc  etc. ) I can't get to it that way 

Also appreciate the tip on the using blank prargraphs for spaces. I haven't had the knowledge to set everything up properly inthe first round - but I hope to get to it when the project begins to settle a bit. Thanks james 

[Nick Passmore]

The length of the rule after each paragraph is related to the length of the last line of the paragraph but with some negative right indent. So my money's definitely on Rule Below. Though why the OP can't find where that's being set I cannot say.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Good observation, although I can't figure out why it's not consistent on the empty paragraph. But I'm betting that wooden nickel on this —

@DrGs A , you say you've been forward and back through the paragraph style, and I don't have a clear picture of your skill level, so forgive me if this is obvious-stupid-novice, but: did you check the Rule Below settings that don't appear until you switch from Rule Above to Rule Below in the Pararagraph Rules menu?

It's a whole second menu hidden by that drop-down choice, and I think NP is right that the glitch (via setting or document corruption) is tied to a rule-below issue.

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

You guys are on the right track. There is definitely a Paragraph Rule applied based on the width of the text that has a defined indent at right.

"Good observation, although I can't figure out why it's not consistent on the empty paragraph"

It doesn't show on the empty paragarph as there is no text to apply the indented paragarph rule to. As soon as you add text long enough, the rule line will start showing.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Oh, I was seeing it on a blank line but now I see it's a folded right-justified line. So it is consistent.

[BobLevine]

Did this text come from a Google Doc? I've seen this kind of thing with Google Docs saved as Word and then placed into InDesign.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

My bet is on problems with graphics acceleration - @DrGs A can you turn it off or on in the preferences?

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Also, this is kind of lost in the passing (mentioned but not emphasized): if it's not a cryptic setting, as suggested, and the file is corrupted, the first thing to try is an export to IDML, then open that file and save as INDD under a new name. That "purge" often fixes frustrating little document faults like this one, which could have been caused by any bump in the editing or import path. (Both Derek and Robert mentioned this, but only briefly, and I don't see where it was tried.)