Paragraph Spacing

A paragraph has three spacing properties. It can have spacing that separates it from the prior paragraph, spacing that separates it from the following paragraph, and line spacing less than or greater than the default single line spacing.

Candidate protocol

Get and set space before/after:

>>> paragraph = TextFrame.add_paragraph()
>>> paragraph.space_before
0
>>> paragraph.space_before = Pt(6)
>>> paragraph.space_before
76200
>>> paragraph.space_before.pt
6.0

An existing paragraph that somehow has space before or after set in terms of lines (<a:spcPct>) will return a value of Length(0) for that property.

Get and set line spacing:

>>> paragraph = TextFrame.add_paragraph()
>>> paragraph.line_spacing
1.0
>>> isinstance(paragraph.line_spacing, float)
True
>>> paragraph.line_spacing = Pt(18)
>>> paragraph.line_spacing
228600
>>> isinstance(paragraph.line_spacing, Length)
True
>>> isinstance(paragraph.line_spacing, int)
True
>>> paragraph.line_spacing.pt
18.0

• The default value for Paragraph.line_spacing is 1.0 (lines).

• The units of the return value can be distinguished by its type. In practice, units can also be distinguished by magnitude. Lines are returned as a small-ish float. Point values are returned as a Length value.

  If type is the most convenient discriminator, the expression isinstance(line_spacing, float) will serve as an effective is_lines predicate.

  In practice, line values will rarely be greater than 3.0 and it would be hard to imagine a useful line spacing less than 1 pt (12700). If magnitude is the most convenient discriminator, 256 can be assumed to be a safe threshold value.

MS API

LineRuleAfter

Determines whether line spacing after the last line in each paragraph is set to a specific number of points or lines. Read/write.

LineRuleBefore

Determines whether line spacing before the first line in each paragraph is set to a specific number of points or lines. Read/write.

LineRuleWithin

Determines whether line spacing between base lines is set to a specific number of points or lines. Read/write.

SpaceAfter

Returns or sets the amount of space after the last line in each paragraph of the specified text, in points or lines. Read/write.

SpaceBefore

Returns or sets the amount of space before the first line in each paragraph of the specified text, in points or lines. Read/write.

SpaceWithin

Returns or sets the amount of space between base lines in the specified text, in points or lines. Read/write.

PowerPoint behavior

• The UI doesn’t appear to allow line spacing to be set in units of lines, although the XML and MS API allow it to be specified so.

XML specimens

Default paragraph spacing:

<a:p>
  <a:r>
    <a:t>Paragraph with default spacing</a:t>
  </a:r>
</a:p>

Spacing before = 6 pt:

<a:p>
  <a:pPr>
    <a:spcBef>
      <a:spcPts val="600"/>
    </a:spcBef>
  </a:pPr>
  <a:r>
    <a:t>Paragraph spacing before = 6pt</a:t>
  </a:r>
</a:p>

Spacing after = 12 pt:

<a:p>
  <a:pPr>
    <a:spcAft>
      <a:spcPts val="1200"/>
    </a:spcAft>
  </a:pPr>
  <a:r>
    <a:t>Paragraph spacing after = 12pt</a:t>
  </a:r>
</a:p>

Line spacing = 24 pt:

<a:p>
  <a:pPr>
    <a:lnSpc>
      <a:spcPts val="2400"/>
    </a:lnSpc>
  </a:pPr>
  <a:r>
    <a:t>Paragraph line spacing = 24pt</a:t>
  </a:r>
  <a:br/>
  <a:r>
    <a:t>second line</a:t>
  </a:r>
</a:p>

Line spacing = 2 lines:

<a:p>
  <a:pPr>
    <a:lnSpc>
      <a:spcPct val="200000"/>
    </a:lnSpc>
  </a:pPr>
  <a:r>
    <a:t>Paragraph line spacing = 2 line</a:t>
  </a:r>
  <a:br/>
  <a:r>
    <a:t>second line</a:t>
  </a:r>
</a:p>

Schema excerpt

<xsd:complexType name="CT_TextParagraph">
  <xsd:sequence>
    <xsd:element name="pPr"        type="CT_TextParagraphProperties" minOccurs="0"/>
    <xsd:group    ref="EG_TextRun" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
    <xsd:element name="endParaRPr" type="CT_TextCharacterProperties" minOccurs="0"/>
  </xsd:sequence>
</xsd:complexType>

<xsd:complexType name="CT_TextParagraphProperties">
  <xsd:sequence>
    <xsd:element name="lnSpc"       type="CT_TextSpacing"             minOccurs="0"/>
    <xsd:element name="spcBef"      type="CT_TextSpacing"             minOccurs="0"/>
    <xsd:element name="spcAft"      type="CT_TextSpacing"             minOccurs="0"/>
    <xsd:choice minOccurs="0">       <!-- EG_TextBulletColor -->
      <xsd:element name="buClrTx"   type="CT_TextBulletColorFollowText"/>
      <xsd:element name="buClr"     type="CT_Color"/>
    </xsd:choice>
    <xsd:choice minOccurs="0">       <!-- EG_TextBulletSize -->
      <xsd:element name="buSzTx"    type="CT_TextBulletSizeFollowText"/>
      <xsd:element name="buSzPct"   type="CT_TextBulletSizePercent"/>
      <xsd:element name="buSzPts"   type="CT_TextBulletSizePoint"/>
    </xsd:choice>
    <xsd:choice minOccurs="0">       <!-- EG_TextBulletTypeface -->
      <xsd:element name="buFontTx"  type="CT_TextBulletTypefaceFollowText"/>
      <xsd:element name="buFont"    type="CT_TextFont"/>
    </xsd:choice>
    <xsd:choice minOccurs="0">       <!-- EG_TextBullet -->
      <xsd:element name="buNone"    type="CT_TextNoBullet"/>
      <xsd:element name="buAutoNum" type="CT_TextAutonumberBullet"/>
      <xsd:element name="buChar"    type="CT_TextCharBullet"/>
      <xsd:element name="buBlip"    type="CT_TextBlipBullet"/>
    </xsd:choice>
    <xsd:element name="tabLst"      type="CT_TextTabStopList"         minOccurs="0"/>
    <xsd:element name="defRPr"      type="CT_TextCharacterProperties" minOccurs="0"/>
    <xsd:element name="extLst"      type="CT_OfficeArtExtensionList"  minOccurs="0"/>
  </xsd:sequence>
  <xsd:attribute name="marL"         type="ST_TextMargin"/>
  <xsd:attribute name="marR"         type="ST_TextMargin"/>
  <xsd:attribute name="lvl"          type="ST_TextIndentLevelType"/>
  <xsd:attribute name="indent"       type="ST_TextIndent"/>
  <xsd:attribute name="algn"         type="ST_TextAlignType"/>
  <xsd:attribute name="defTabSz"     type="ST_Coordinate32"/>
  <xsd:attribute name="rtl"          type="xsd:boolean"/>
  <xsd:attribute name="eaLnBrk"      type="xsd:boolean"/>
  <xsd:attribute name="fontAlgn"     type="ST_TextFontAlignType"/>
  <xsd:attribute name="latinLnBrk"   type="xsd:boolean"/>
  <xsd:attribute name="hangingPunct" type="xsd:boolean"/>
</xsd:complexType>

<xsd:complexType name="CT_TextSpacing">
  <xsd:choice>
    <xsd:element name="spcPct" type="CT_TextSpacingPercent"/>
    <xsd:element name="spcPts" type="CT_TextSpacingPoint"/>
  </xsd:choice>
</xsd:complexType>

<xsd:complexType name="CT_TextSpacingPercent">
  <xsd:attribute name="val" type="ST_TextSpacingPercentOrPercentString" use="required"/>
</xsd:complexType>

<xsd:simpleType name="ST_TextSpacingPercentOrPercentString">
  <xsd:union memberTypes="ST_TextSpacingPercent s:ST_Percentage"/>
</xsd:simpleType>

<xsd:simpleType name="ST_TextSpacingPercent">
  <xsd:restriction base="ST_PercentageDecimal">
    <xsd:minInclusive value="0"/>
    <xsd:maxInclusive value="13200000"/>
  </xsd:restriction>
</xsd:simpleType>

<xsd:simpleType name="ST_Percentage">
  <xsd:restriction base="xsd:string">
    <xsd:pattern value="-?[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?%"/>
  </xsd:restriction>
</xsd:simpleType>

<xsd:complexType name="CT_TextSpacingPoint">
  <xsd:attribute name="val" type="ST_TextSpacingPoint" use="required"/>
</xsd:complexType>

<xsd:simpleType name="ST_TextSpacingPoint">
  <xsd:restriction base="xsd:int">
    <xsd:minInclusive value="0"/>
    <xsd:maxInclusive value="158400"/>
  </xsd:restriction>
</xsd:simpleType>