Underline will not display or print

[bobs93071610]

I have one word that needs to be underlined in a sentence. The character property says it is underlined, but it does not display underline. All the other underlined text in the frame displays fine.

This line is shorter than the others. If I type extra text at the end of the line, the underline shows up when the text wraps to the next line.

Spaces don't wrap and I need a CR at the end of the line. 

How can I fix this?

Bob

[innovative_adventurer5D56]

this may will help

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/formatting-characters.html#:~:text=From%20the%20Character%20p...

[Bill Silbert]

Did you check the Underline Options dialog (found under the Character Panel pull-down menu) to make sure that the underline color is matching the text color?

[bobs93071610]

Thank you for the suggestions. Yes to the Underline Options. The options for all of the underlines in the frame are just alike.

When I increase the length of the line so that it wraps to the next line, the underline appears. I take it from that that it is not an issue with the character or underline options. 

Is there a paragraph option someplace that says not to display anything below the line if the line is the only one in the paragraph? That or a bug seems to be what I have.

Bob

[Laubender]

Hi @bobs93071610 ,

please share a sample document with a text frame showing the issue.

Thanks,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[bobs93071610]

As requested, I've attached the page with the underlining issue.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

I've only had a few minutes with this, and primarily focused on the paragraph settings and creating a clean underline character style to apply in place of the spot formatting you're using (a no-no, really)... and you're right. If this paragraph style is one line, the underlines disappear.

I'll look at it later in the day if someone else doesn't spot the glitch. This is really weird!

ETA, 30s later: if you turn off the paragraph shading of 10% black, the problem goes away. I'd reformat the doc to use a shaded text frame or such, and take all the shading off the text. I have no idea WHY this is occurring, but that would be a better structural choice anyway.

—

[BobLevine · Accepted solution]

You don't have enough leading in the line below. Increase it and the underline will show up.

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

That seems to be the actual problem. Either take the shading off the text, or increase all the line spacing slightly, and then the underline should show up.

I would create a specific Underline style and tweak it for a clean appearance (weight and offset) and apply it instead of the spot formatting.

—

[BobLevine]

The fact that it's such a thick underline isn't helping, either.

[bobs93071610]

Thank you very much! That did it. 

Bob 

[Laubender]

What also helps:

[1] Enable paragraph border in your paragraph style and set its line weight to value 0.

Then, and only then, the already enabled option you checked can kick in:

[ x ] Merge Conseceutive Borders and Shading with same Settings

To the effect that all shading of all of your paragraphs is stacked behind the paragraphs and cannot obscure a given underline of a paragraph before! So there is no need to change the leading or the distance between paragraphs.

Download your sample document that I edited to this effect from my Dropbox account:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/707i3j56vdp4zgh/Underlined%20Text%20Issue-EDITED.indd?dl=1

Conclusion:
Paragraph shading of the next paragraph obscured your underline of the previous paragraph.

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[Laubender]

Ok. Maybe I was a bit wrong on this and what we see is a real bug with paragraph shading and underline.

But my solution is working as far as I can see. Have to think more about it why my solution is working…

Regards,
Uwe Laubender
( Adobe Community Expert )

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

Exactly where I'm at. The problem is obvious, but the reason it's occurring seems to be a collision of settings that really shouldn't collide.

I will be experimenting when I have time and see if I can pinpoint exactly what's interfering with what. But I suspect an actual bug lies at the root of it.

—

[James Gifford—NitroPress]

After some experimentation with a clean file, I find that this effect (underline disappears on single lines only) occurs only when:

1. Background shading is enabled; and
2. The leading is less than the (bottom) shading offset; and
3. Merge borders in successive paragraphs is not enabled.

The background shading on the bottom of a paragraph will mask the underline if the underline extends into a defined shading offset. If the underline offset is changed (to bring the underline up into the text) it appears. If the shading offset is reduced below the underline offset, the underline reappears. If 'merge borders' is enabled, the underlines appear regardless of other settings.

So I am not sure if this is a bug or the three settings (shading offset, underline placement, and borders merge) interacting exactly as they should. The really simple solution is not to use paragraph shading, but place text in a shaded frame. That gets around all combinations of the problem. Second is to make sure any shading offset is small enough to not obscure the underline because it is offset into that same space. Third is to make sure leading is sufficient to bring the underline up out of the shading offset/border.

Weird one!

My thought here is that underlines are being applied at the wrong display layer (in the technical rendering of the content). Underlines (and strikethrough/overlines, probably) should be rendered on the text layer, or one immediately adjacent, but definitely above the layer used for paragraph shading and maybe borders/rules as well. (A bit hand-wavy, there, since I have no knowledge of the actual display rendering process.)

—