# Rich Text Field Formatting Considerations

Rich text fields often create extra spacing in generated documents.

{% hint style="info" %}
This behavior is most common when the rich text value is saved in Lightning Experience.
{% endhint %}

### Problem

Salesforce rich text values usually contain HTML such as `<p>` and `<br>`.

That can cause a few common issues:

* Extra blank lines between paragraphs
* Missing bold or italic styles when Unicode fonts are fully enabled
* Font substitution in PDF output, such as Times New Roman

### Solution 1: Clean up a merge field

Use this pattern when you output a single rich text field directly in the template.

{% code title="merge-field-example.html" %}

```html
<div style="font-family: sans-serif;">{{{!Object.fieldname replaceall="#LT#/p#GT##LT#
p#GT##LT#br#GT#,#LT#br#GT#,#LT#/p#GT##LT#p#GT#,#LT#br#GT#,#LT#p#GT#, ,#LT#/p#GT#, "}}}</div>
```

{% endcode %}

This replaces paragraph tags with single break tags and removes extra spacing.

#### Example

**Field value stored in Salesforce**

```html
<p>First line</p><p><br></p><p>Second line</p>
```

**Rendered output**

```
First line
Second line
```

{% hint style="warning" %}
Set **Unicode enforcement level** to `DATA`.
{% endhint %}

### Solution 2: Remove all paragraph tags in a related list

Use this option when a related list column should render as plain text with line breaks only.

{% code title="related-list-column-remove-all.xml" %}

```xml
<column replaceall="</p><p><br>,<br>,</p><p>,<br>,<p>, ,</p>, ">Description__c</column>
```

{% endcode %}

#### Example

{% code title="related-list-example-remove-all.xml" %}

```xml
<lineitemsSOQL>
  <soql>
    SELECT Description__c
    FROM Custom_Object__c
    WHERE Parent__c = '{{!Parent__c.Id}}'
  </soql>
  <column replaceall="</p><p><br>,<br>,</p><p>,<br>,<p>, ,</p>, ">Description__c</column>
</lineitemsSOQL>
```

{% endcode %}

**Field value stored in Salesforce**

```html
<p>Item one</p><p><br></p><p>Item two</p>
```

**Rendered output**

```
Item one
Item two
```

### Solution 3: Keep the first and last paragraph tags in a related list

Use this option when you want to preserve the outer paragraph wrapper and still remove the extra blank line in the middle.

{% code title="related-list-column-keep-outer.xml" %}

```xml
<column replaceall="</p><p><br>,<br>,</p><p>,<br>">Description__c</column>
```

{% endcode %}

#### Example

{% code title="related-list-example-keep-outer.xml" %}

```xml
<lineitemsSOQL>
  <soql>
    SELECT Description__c
    FROM Custom_Object__c
    WHERE Parent__c = '{{!Parent__c.Id}}'
  </soql>
  <column replaceall="</p><p><br>,<br>,</p><p>,<br>">Description__c</column>
</lineitemsSOQL>
```

{% endcode %}

**Field value stored in Salesforce**

```html
<p>Item one</p><p><br></p><p>Item two</p>
```

**Rendered output**

```html
<p>Item one<br>Item two</p>
```

### Tag reference

Use encoded tokens inside merge fields.

Use literal HTML tags inside related list column attributes.

| Token        | Represents |
| ------------ | ---------- |
| `#LT#p#GT#`  | `<p>`      |
| `#LT#/p#GT#` | `</p>`     |
| `#LT#br#GT#` | `<br>`     |
| `#QUOT#`     | `"`        |
| `#AMP#`      | `&`        |


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