justified type

Sometimes the push of a button on the computer is not enough.

Rivers can be beautiful, but not in typography! Typographic "rivers" are visually distracting areas
of white space that look like rivers winding through the text. This problem occurs when working with justified type, where both sides are straight. In
word-processing programs, justification can be achieved by simply pushing a button, but the computer is not perfect. Often, there will be too many words on some lines and not enough on others—creating rivers! The solution is to go in and adjust manually. If there are too many words, move some down, or not enough words, move some back up. Compare the example to the left showing undesirable "rivers" with the image at the top revealing a nicely justified body of text. Then decide if you are willing to do the extra work to make your justified type look good!