w:spacing (Spacing)

Controls space before and after a paragraph and the line spacing rule and value.

Parent elements

w:pPr
w:lvl

Description

w:spacing controls the whitespace before and after a paragraph and the spacing between lines within it. It is defined in ECMA-376 Part 1 §17.3.1.33.

When applied inside w:rPr, w:spacing instead controls character spacing (tracking/kerning offset) for the run, using a different set of attributes from the paragraph variant.

Attributes (paragraph context — inside `w:pPr`)

Attribute	Type	Possible Values	Description
`w:before`	`ST_TwipsMeasure`	Non-negative integer in twips (e.g. `240` = 12 pt).	Space added above the paragraph.
`w:after`	`ST_TwipsMeasure`	Non-negative integer in twips.	Space added below the paragraph.
`w:beforeLines`	`xsd:integer`	Percentage in fiftieths of a line (e.g. `100` = 1 line). Takes precedence over `w:before`.	Space above in line units.
`w:afterLines`	`xsd:integer`	Percentage in fiftieths of a line. Takes precedence over `w:after`.	Space below in line units.
`w:line`	`ST_SignedTwipsMeasure`	Integer in twips (for `exact`/`atLeast`) or in twips × 240 units for `auto` (e.g. `276` ≈ single line at 12 pt).	Line spacing value; interpretation depends on `w:lineRule`.
`w:lineRule`	`ST_LineSpacingRule`	`auto` (proportional, default), `exact` (fixed height), `atLeast` (minimum height)	Governs how `w:line` is interpreted.
`w:beforeAutospacing`	`ST_OnOff`	`true` / `false`	When true, overrides `w:before` with automatic spacing.
`w:afterAutospacing`	`ST_OnOff`	`true` / `false`	When true, overrides `w:after` with automatic spacing.

Attributes (run context — inside `w:rPr`)

Attribute	Type	Possible Values	Description
`w:val`	`ST_SignedHpsMeasure`	Integer in twentieth-points (e.g. `20` = 1 pt additional spacing). Negative values compress character spacing.	Character spacing adjustment applied uniformly between all characters in the run.

Examples

12 pt before, 6 pt after, 1.5× line spacing

<w:pPr>
  <w:spacing w:before="240" w:after="120" w:line="360" w:lineRule="auto"/>
</w:pPr>

new ParagraphProperties(
  new SpacingBetweenLines
  {
    Before = "240",
    After = "120",
    Line = "360",
    LineRule = LineSpacingRuleValues.Auto
  });

Notes

For w:lineRule="auto", w:line is in units of 1/240 of a line (240 = single, 360 = 1.5×, 480 = double).
For w:lineRule="exact" or atLeast", w:line is in twips (240 twips = 12 pt).