Widows and orphans

In typesetting, a widow generally refers to a short line of text found at the end of a paragraph, column, or page. When a widow occurs at the top of a page or column, it is referred to as a orphan.

More specifically, an orphan can refer to the first line of a paragraph appearing on its own at the bottom of a page with the remaining portion of the paragraph appearing on the following page. The first line of the paragraph was "left behind" by the remaining portion of text. Collins English Dictionary defines an orphan in printing as, "The first line of a paragraph separated from the rest of the paragraph by occurring at the foot of a page." The converse situation, where all but the last line of a paragraph appears on the first page with the last line of that paragraph flowing to the top of the following page is known as a widow. A widow can also refer to a short line at the end of a paragraph: this is considered more problematic than the former kind.

An illustration of a widowed line, highlighted in yellow, appearing at the top of a page.

One easy way to remember the difference between and an orphan and a widow is to remember that orphans "have no past, but a future", while widows "have a past but no future" just as an orphan or widow in life.

Orphans and widows are considered sloppy typography and should be avoided. Some techniques for eliminating orphans and widows include:

• Forcing a page break early, producing a shorter page;
• Adjusting the leading, the space between lines of text;
• Adjusting the spacing between words to produce 'tighter' or 'looser' paragraphs;
• Adjusting the page's margins;
• Subtle scaling of the page, though too much non-uniform scaling can visibly distort the letters;
• Rewriting a portion of the paragraph.

See also

• Typography
• Widow (typesetting)