Non-Designer’s Type Book, The, Second Edition

Hyphenation

If your text is flush left, right, or centered, hyphenation isn’t a big problem. The only rule is to watch out for too many hyphens in a row and word breaks that are too short. Personally, my preference is never to allow more than one hyphenation in a row, and preferably no more than one in a paragraph. Other people whose opinions I respect are comfortable with, say, no more than three in a row. Also personally, I abhor those hyphenations that leave one or two letters at either end of the line. Others don’t mind. No one, however, finds a hyphenated word as the last word in a paragraph to be acceptable.

If you are going to justify your text, you have other considerations to weigh because the computer hyphenates words in an attempt ...