in Design
Widows and orphans
A stranded line at the top or bottom of a page is small, but readers feel it. What widows and orphans are, and how typesetters remove them.
Widows and orphans are single lines of a paragraph separated from the rest of it by a page break. They are among the oldest concerns of typesetting, and they are still among the first things a careful reader or editor notices in a badly made book.
Which is which
The terminology is not fully settled, and different style guides and software use the words differently. A common usage, and the one Robert Bringhurst follows, is this: an orphan is the first line of a paragraph left alone at the foot of a page, with the rest of the paragraph overleaf; a widow is the last line of a paragraph carried alone to the top of the next page.
Some people use the terms the other way round, and some also call a very short last line of a paragraph, such as a single word on its own, a widow. That short line is sometimes called a runt instead. The names matter less than agreeing on them within a project, so that everyone means the same thing when a proof comes back marked.
Why they matter
A widow at the head of a page is the more visible fault. The page begins with a fragment, often only a word or two long, and the top of the text block looks ragged. It also breaks the connection between the end of a thought and the rest of it.
An orphan at the foot of a page is less conspicuous, and some designers tolerate it more readily. Both, though, leave the shape of the page looking accidental, and a book that looks accidental loses some of the reader’s trust.
A single-word last line within a page is a smaller issue. It leaves an awkward gap between paragraphs, and on a narrow measure it can make a page look full of holes.
How they are fixed
Layout software can be set to prevent widows and orphans automatically, by keeping a minimum number of lines of a paragraph together at the start and end. This helps, but it works by moving lines onto the next page, which leaves pages of uneven depth. In a book where facing pages should align, uneven depths are their own fault.
The standard solutions are subtler, and a good typesetter usually combines them.
Adjusting the spacing. A very small change to tracking or word spacing across a paragraph can pull it in by a line or push it out by one. The change must be small enough that it cannot be seen, and it is best applied to a paragraph with many long lines, where it has room to work.
Running a spread long or short. It is an accepted convention to let both pages of a spread run one line longer or shorter than the standard depth, provided they match each other. A single short page stands out; a matching pair usually does not.
Revising the text. In non-fiction especially, a small rewording can solve the problem cleanly. This needs the author’s or editor’s agreement, and in fiction it should be used with great care. It is also the reason typesetters and editors like to have final text before pages are made up.
When to fix them
Widows and orphans are best dealt with at the final pass, after corrections, because every change to the text can move page breaks further on. Fixing them too early means fixing them again.
The aim is not a mechanical rule but a series of pages that look deliberate from beginning to end.