leftalignment

Left alignment, commonly called flush left, is a text layout in which the left edges of all lines in a paragraph are aligned along a vertical margin, while the right edges are not constrained, creating a ragged right edge. It is the default alignment for most left-to-right scripts and for many digital and printed texts.

In typography, left alignment supports a stable starting point for each line and can improve readability by reducing the cognitive effort needed to locate the beginning of the next line. The trade-off is a ragged right edge and potential irregular word spacing, which some readers find distracting, especially in narrow columns or long blocks of text. Left alignment is often contrasted with justified text, where both margins are aligned, creating a smooth right edge but potentially introducing rivers of whitespace.

In digital contexts, left alignment is implemented in CSS as text-align: left. For left-to-right languages it positions text along the left margin; for right-to-left languages, other alignments may be more conventional depending on the writing mode. Left alignment adapts well to responsive designs because line breaks vary with screen width.

Usage and guidelines: for body text, many typographic systems recommend moderate line lengths (roughly 45-75 characters per line) and comfortable line spacing, values that work well with left alignment. Left alignment is widely used in books, articles, websites, and user interfaces, while headings or design-only blocks may employ center or right alignment for emphasis.