LO Writer unwanted line spacing change

JUSTROB · August 12, 2021, 1:12pm

I created a document that I created in LO Writer but saved it as .docx
I printed it as a pdf (see pdf without the 2 in title)
Then, because I want to add these chapters to a main document, I saved it as .odt file
Now, if you look at both .docx and .odt files comparing them to the first pdf it appears as though each line is a pixel or two higher making less lines per page.

Comparing my 2 pdf conversions it seems the 1 line spacing between paragraphs is larger in my now 13 page document.

I don’t see a way to attach my documents like the old ask.libreoffice.org
How can I attach my documents?

Any suggestions?
Thank you

anon73440385 · August 12, 2021, 3:30pm

Use the upload symbol:
Upload-2021-08-12-172942

JUSTROB · August 12, 2021, 3:50pm

Chapter 4 ~ The Valley of the Shadow of Death.docx (17.2 KB)
Chapter 4 ~ The Valley of the Shadow of Death.odt (26.9 KB)

It won’t let me upload the pdfs where you can see the spacing difference

anon73440385 · August 12, 2021, 4:37pm

Did you try the old workaround adding an .odt extension to the PDF file?

JUSTROB · August 12, 2021, 5:18pm

Please remove the .doc extension and replace with .pdf to view the pdf files and the difference in line spacing
Chapter 4 ~ The Valley of the Shadow of Death .doc (83.1 KB)
Chapter 4 ~ The Valley of the Shadow of Death 2 .doc (84.1 KB)

EarnestAl · August 12, 2021, 9:41pm

As I understand it, with above line spacing and below line spacing, Word takes the larger of the two heights and applies that. LibreOffice Writer adds the below line spacing of the previous paragraph to the above line spacing of the current paragraph, i.e. the spacings are added together. Could this be what is happening?
I can’t check your files as no computer today

JUSTROB · August 13, 2021, 2:57am

All spacings under paragraphs are said to 0.0"

EarnestAl · August 13, 2021, 5:27am

~~The difference must be in Print to PDF (NitroPDF) that you used to create the pdfs. You must address your questions to them.~~
When I export to pdf from Writer the spacing is identical (allowing for differences in the text content). Below is the results of export to pdf from LibreOffice from the odt and from the docx. A screen shot (page 4) of odt exported to pdf is overlaid by the same resolution screenshot of the docx exported to pdf (white made transparent) shows line spacing and, in fact, everything to be the same except for some text in the middle.

Incidentally, the Nitropdf pdf is 30% larger file size compared to export from Writer and is unlikely to retain any hyperlinks, bookmarks, or TOC links. Cheers, Al
PS Segoe is a Microsoft brand font. It behaves slightly differently in Microsoft Word than in other programs. There was a question in the past with Segoe font issue giving the wrong character in https://ask.libreoffice.org/en/question/316522/segoe-script/ (no longer available). Changing font back to the underlying Times New Roman (Ctrl+M in Writer) makes the document in Word virtually the same length with the same word at the same page breaks as Writer.
Unless you are using it in a Windows app or are using it in Microsoft office, the licensing says you are not allowed to use it in a non Windows app. I interpret this to mean it might not be licensed for LibreOffice. I would suggest finding an open source alternative font.

ajlittoz · August 13, 2021, 11:33am

My system is Fedora Linux 34 with LO 7.1.5.2 without Segoe Print. This means I can’t display exactly your document.

However, I get a layout difference starting at end of page 3. I have more lines in .odt than in .docx. “When the doctors came …abdomen just to the” are at bottom of page 3 while they are flushed next page in .docx.

Though the page settings are exactly the same in both formats, I suspect some “conversion black magic” behind it. In ODF, margins are strictly non-printing areas. Header and footer (and their separator spaces) are allocated from the printing area, reducing the space for “discourse” text. In docx, margins define document text area and header or footer are allocated inside margins.

This means, some (simple) arithmetic formulas must be applied to the margin dimensions to translate the layout. But it is likely some residue is left off in the calculations. This does not make any difference in the first pages. After a certain number of pages, accumulating the page residues reclaims enough space for a line.

I am afraid there is no automatic solution for this. You could eventually adjust the margins by adding or subtracting a tiny amount so that you end up with the same layout, but is is neither user-friendly, nor reasonable.

I suspect also your .odt has also being processed by Word or comes from a converted .docx document because it contains styles (ConvertedX) which are signatures of a previous conversion.

Note also your document is not formatted at all (everything is Default Paragraph Style; vertical spacing is done with empty paragraphs; manual formatting; …). This is the surest way to get conversion “glitches”. Styling is much more reliable.