Increasing text space across a page

[hampshireman]

I have have just copied a document which is 65 pages long, but only occupies about 60% of the page width, leaving a gap down the RH side. Is it possible to stretch the text the full width of the page and therefore reduce the number of pages? I tend to use Times New Roman 12 pt for all my text.

[acknak]

Try View > Nonprinting characters: ON

Check what appears at the right side of each line. If you see a down-left arrow, that is a line break and you can use Find/Replace to change them to spaces.

If you see a paragraph mark, ¶, they can be changed but it will take more effort.

[RoryOF]

What is your Page size? In addition to what acknak recommends, how are the paragraphs separated? Are they an indented line at the start of a paragraph, or a blank line between paragraphs?

[hampshireman]

Thank you both. I will check all as advised and report back

[hampshireman]

There is no down-left hand arrow
There is the mark you mention just above the first line of the para and then the same one after the last word. Like this sample I cut and pasted, but I haven't got the mark : -
é
-Yes Robert, after a lot of thinking, I made a decision.é
é

They are indented, hope this helps.

[RoryOF]

Single lines, such as you showed, are exactly that, single lines, and ought not be amalgamated to other single lines, as the meaning of the text becomes unclear (one looses who is speaking).

How are longer sections of text handled? Are such sections of text treated as individual lines, each line terminated by a pilcrow (the backward's P), but the lines not separated from each other by blank lines (a single pilcrow on its own), except to mark the start and end of the paragraph.

Also, please give Page Size and Orientation (Portrait or Landscape) and Margins - you can get these figures from /Format /Page : Page tab.

We need this information, as converting a document to use wider lines on the page is actually quite simple, but if one gives incorrect instructions due to incorrect information one can end up with a dreadful mess.