Should I have spaces between paragraphs or paragraph indents?

Question

   I am creating a pdf interactive document/ebook, and am wondering whether to use a space between paragraphs or use indents. Is there a standard?

Answer 1

dopfel wrote:
Scott Falkner wrote:
It is entirely up to you. Use one or the other, but not both. If you are using paragraph Styles it is easy to make a global change and see which reads better. Generally, I prefer spaces to indents. The space should be either one line of lead (i.e. equal to the paragraph’s leading value) or half a line of lead if one full line looks to large.
My reply is in reference to the above quote regarding how to make a
global change so that all of the paragraphs in the document have spaces between them w/o having to select each and every paragraph and applying the 'paragraphspacing' style.
How do I go about this ?
Format a paragraph as you want all similar paragraphs  to look. Now go to the Paragraph Styles panel and create a new Style. Right-click on the new style to edit the style and give it an intuitive name. Now you can format any text the same way by first selecting the text, then clicking on the style in the Paragraph Styles panel. If you later want to change all of the paragraphs using that style, just right-click on the style and change any attributes to globally change all paragraphs in the document using that style.
secondary:  not certain the below applies to my question regarding spaces between paragraphs and changing them globally.
i have also found and wondered about using the setting for the 'align to grid' where default is none and options are
'all lines'  or 'first line only'.  Does this apply in any way to a regular layout of a 'novel'  ?
i do not know what this refers to.
The space should be either one line of lead (i.e. equal to the paragraph’s leading value) or half a line of lead if one full line looks to large.
thanks again.
Leading is the term for the space from the baseline of one line of text to the baseline of the next line within a paragraph. The default is “Auto”, which is 120% of the point size. For 12 point text, Auto equals 14.4 point leading. First: Don’t use Auto leading. Change the leading of your style to a number. About 120% is as good a place to start as any, but it depends on the typeface. You may decide to use 11 point text on 14 point leading.
Because you will have columnd of text next to each other on the page, or pages of text neext to each other on a two-page spread, you want to make sure your text lines up neatly in columns or pages (although for pages it is less critical). The easiest way to do this is to use paragraph spacing equal to your leading, i.e. 14 points. This way, no matter how many paragraphs (and thus, blank lines between paragraphs) you have, the text will always have a heigh that is multiples of 14 points, so bottom baselines will always line up.
You may decide that looks like too much space, and want to use a lower value. The next best value is half the leading, or 7 points. That way, about half of the time your columns or pages will line up and the bottom baselines will sync.
Once again, it is ultimately up to you how you want the text to look and how you want your pages or column to look next to each other. If 14 (or whatever your leading is) looks too small or 7 (or whatever half the leading is) looks too big, then go with what looks best. Always try to keep an eye on the big picture, though. Don’t just look at one line of text, look at the entire paragraph. Don’t just look at one paragraph, look at the column. Don’t just look at one column, look at the page. Don’t just look at one page, look at the spread. And always keep the reader in mind. You are designing the document for the reader, not for yourself.