[Solved] Drop Caps In Some Paragraphs Not Others

[Gruff18]

Despite using a style with paragraph formatted for drop caps, I'm not getting drop caps on short paragraphs i.e. only one sentence long. Have also tried when a chapter starts with a sentence-long paragraph, putting the first three lines of a new chapter together, still not getting drop caps. Any help greatly appreciated, many thanks in advance.

[RoryOF]

The default drop cap mechanism needs three lines to be effective. If the paragraph has only two lines, then the drop cap limits itself to that height; a single line does not show a drop cap, but if you turn on /view /Field shading (which doesn't print, same command to turn it off) you will see that the single line paragraph has a drop cap in waiting.

If you require drop caps of (say) three lines, no matter how many lines are in the paragraph, you will have to approach the matter from a different angle.

Edit: Note that Drop Cap is not a universal setting. It applies only to the style on which it was defined, and in substyles of that style.

[Bill]

Use Shift+Enter as necessary to add lines. On the third line insert a space then hit Enter to finish the paragraph.

[RoryOF]

Ingenious way to do this, Bill.

I normally open a chapter with drop caps, and usually manage to make the first sentence two if not three lines. If two lines, I leave the two line drop cap, as the blank line (white space) can look awkward.

[Gruff18]

Thank you both for your help and best wishes for 2022

[Gruff18]

Also I think I'm going to have to thank you in my novel Acknowledgments. It's such a great thing that we have so many experts there to help us when we get stuck. Working out a problem, with your help, gives a great feeling of achievement.

[RoryOF]

A problem that may arise using a Drop cap on a paragraph is that, if the paragraph opens with a leading quotation mark, the quotation mark drop capped does not look elegant. The literature on typesetting makes various suggestions; my preference is to omit such a leading quote, but your choice may differ.

[Gruff18]

I have just one other question. When I save the document then re-open it, all the drop caps are GONE! Is that because I have to somehow make it a style? Thank you.

[keme]

I have just one other question. When I save the document then re-open it, all the drop caps are GONE! Is that because I have to somehow make it a style? Thank you.

The reason is that you are saving to the RTF format, which does not support drop caps. (At least the OpenOffice "save filter" for RTF doesn't).

• When Writer is your tool, always use OpenDocument format for work in progress.
• If you are self publishing, export directly to the target format.
  OpenOffice Writer does not export to ePub format, only PDF. If you need ePub output, consider transitioning to LibreOffice.
  I prefer to work in OpenOffice (for stability mostly) but sometimes need functionality from LibreOffice. I have had OpenOffice and LibreOffice installed side by side on my computer for years. No problem!
• If you use a professional publishing/print service, use content styles to define the entire document structure and let the target service add the drop caps and any other formatting based on those styles.

[RoryOF]

OpenOffice Writer does not export to ePub format, only PDF. If you need ePub output, consider transitioning to LibreOffice.

I have used the conversion facilities of Calibre to generate ePub formats, which for my needs were quite successful. Calibre will convert directly from .odt format to the various ePub formats, but care and familiarization will be needed with setting the Calibre conversion parameters.

[Gruff18]

Ah, thank you! I thought I was going mad when I opened my document and all my work was gone...