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# Why we still set justified text badly on the web
- URL: https://astrix-vellum.adrianoamalfi.com/justified-text-on-the-web/
- Published: 2026-07-22T13:45:38.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-22T14:09:39.000Z
- Description: Print solved this a century ago. The browser is only now catching up, and most of us are not using what it gained.
- Author: Priya Raman
- Tags: Type

Justified text needs two things to look like a book instead of a ransom note: hyphenation, and a paragraph algorithm that optimises the whole block rather than one line at a time. The web had neither for twenty years, so we all learned to set ragged-right and call it a preference.

## What changed

Browsers now hyphenate properly, and `text-wrap: pretty` will fix your orphans without you noticing. That is most of the gap closed.

## What has not

Narrow columns. Justification needs room — below about 45 characters no algorithm can save you from rivers of white running down the page. On a phone, stay ragged.