Tip #5 - Use Blank Line Fonts for Fine Vertical Adjustments

If you are trying to very precisely adjust the vertical placement of lines on a score one good technique is to insert a blank text line somewhere near the line for which you are trying to achieve precise positioning, and then adjust the font for the blank line (put the caret in the line, then hit Ctrl+F) to finely tune its height -and the position of lines below it. Changing the font by a point or two permits extremely precise adjustments. I use this technique when laying out the ads for MusEdit which appear in various magazines (which I'll be describing in more detail in tomorrow's tip).

One point: make sure you put this "position adjustment" line someplace where you can easily find it again! I typically put it directly above the first line whose precise position I care about. Then when I have to make a fine adjustment I place the caret in the important line and hit up arrow once, then I know I'm in the "fine adjustment" line. All other blank lines which are used for spacing can then be of one uniform font.

Example:

Title Line (any font)
(blank) (12 pt. Arial - for example)
(blank) (12 pt. Arial)
(blank) (12 pt. Arial)
(blank) -position adjustment line- (8 pt. Arial)
Text which has to be precisely 1.25 inches below title (any font)

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