Re: [Groff] holistic widow elimination

[Robert Thorsby]

On 08/01/12 08:31:40, Peter Schaffter wrote:
> > So, dealing with orphans by changing the line spacing, is just
> > a "no other choice" solution. You should prefer dealing with
> > interword and interletter spaces.
> 
> Correct.  The shortening or lengthening of paragraphs to avoid
> widows and orphans requires the skillful manipulation of
> letter- and word-spacing on a line-by-line basis, not an overall
> change of leading that merely expands or contracts the depth of the
> text.
> 
> Would that the process could be automated, but I have yet to be
> shown that it can.  Typography is still, after all these years,
> an art that requires a good eye, a deft hand, and human judgment.

Is there an alternative method that is better/faster/cleaner than the use 
of complementary values for \s and \H? For example,

\s'-100u'\H'+100u'The quick brown fox ...\H'0'\s0

will "shorten" the text by a "little" amount. But finding the smallest 
value that achieves the requisite effect (usually moving one word up or 
down a line) is a PITA.

[100u -- 1/10 of a point -- was chosen for the nonce, I usually start 
with 250u]

Also, this "Poor Man's Track-Kerning" is, of course, not strictly kosher 
because it affects the inter-word spacing as much as the inter-character 
spacing. What method do others use?

Robert Thorsby
To be or not to be. -- Shakespeare
To do is to be. -- Nietzsche
To be is to do. -- Sartre
Do be do be do. -- Sinatra