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Text Alignment Tool Examples
The Text Alignment Tool adjusts text to left, right, center, or justified alignment within a specified column width. Below are practical examples for formatting terminal output, code comments, tables, and documents.
Left Alignment (Normalize Mixed Indentation)
// Input (mixed leading spaces)
Hello World
This is a paragraph.
Some indented text.
// Output (left-aligned, leading whitespace stripped)
Hello World
This is a paragraph.
Some indented text.
Left alignment is the default for most text and is easiest to read for long passages. Use it to normalize text copied from sources with inconsistent indentation.
Right Alignment (Column Width: 40)
// Input
Hello
World
This is a longer line
// Output (right-aligned, width=40)
Hello
World
This is a longer line
Right alignment is standard for numbers in tables, where digit positions must align vertically.
Center Alignment (Column Width: 40)
// Input
Welcome
to
My Application
// Output (centered, width=40)
Welcome
to
My Application
Center alignment works well for titles, headings, and decorative text in terminal output or README files.
Justified Alignment (Column Width: 40)
// Input
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog near the river bank.
// Output (justified, width=40)
The quick brown fox jumps over the
lazy dog near the river bank.
Justified text distributes extra spaces between words so both left and right edges align. The last line of each paragraph is left-aligned by convention.
Right-Aligned Number Table
// Input (numbers need right-alignment for readability)
Item Qty Price
Widget A 12 9.99
Widget B 3 149.00
Widget C 100 0.50
Total 1,659.88
// Output (right-aligned numbers, width=30)
Item Qty Price
Widget A 12 9.99
Widget B 3 149.00
Widget C 100 0.50
Total 1,659.88
Centered ASCII Art Banner
// Input (width=60)
*****
* *
*****
*
*
// Output (centered, width=60)
*****
* *
*****
*
*
Code Comment Block (Centered, Width=60)
// Input
==============================================
DATABASE CONFIGURATION
Author: Dev Team
Last Updated: 2024-01-15
==============================================
// Output (centered in 60-char block)
// ==============================================
// DATABASE CONFIGURATION
// Author: Dev Team
// Last Updated: 2024-01-15
// ==============================================
Terminal Menu (Centered, Width=50)
// Input
Main Menu
1. New Game
2. Load Game
3. Settings
4. Quit
// Output (centered, width=50)
Main Menu
1. New Game
2. Load Game
3. Settings
4. Quit
Multi-Column Table with Mixed Alignment
// Left-align text columns, right-align number columns
// Column widths: Name=20, Status=10, Count=8, Total=10
Name Status Count Total
---- ------ ----- -----
Alpha Service Active 5 $12.50
Beta Service Inactive 0 $0.00
Gamma Service Active 42 $105.00
Delta Service Pending 1 $2.50
Justified Paragraph for Documentation
// Input paragraph (width=60)
This tool converts temperature values between Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin, and Rankine scales instantly and accurately.
// Output (justified, width=60)
This tool converts temperature values between
Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin, and Rankine scales
instantly and accurately.
Python Implementation of Text Alignment
def align_text(text, width, mode='left'):
lines = text.splitlines()
result = []
for line in lines:
stripped = line.strip()
if mode == 'left':
result.append(stripped.ljust(width))
elif mode == 'right':
result.append(stripped.rjust(width))
elif mode == 'center':
result.append(stripped.center(width))
elif mode == 'justify':
words = stripped.split()
if len(words) <= 1:
result.append(stripped.ljust(width))
continue
spaces = width - sum(len(w) for w in words)
gaps = len(words) - 1
base, extra = divmod(spaces, gaps)
line_out = ''
for i, word in enumerate(words[:-1]):
line_out += word + ' ' * (base + (1 if i < extra else 0))
line_out += words[-1]
result.append(line_out)
return '\n'.join(result)
# Examples
print(align_text("Hello\nWorld", 20, 'right'))
print(align_text("Hello\nWorld", 20, 'center'))
Common Alignment Use Cases
- Left: body text, code, log output, most prose
- Right: numbers in tables, currency values, dates in columns
- Center: titles, headings, terminal splash screens, banners
- Justify: formal documents, books, newsletters, README sections
- Mixed: tables with text columns left-aligned and number columns right-aligned
Paste your text into the Text Alignment Tool, choose your alignment mode and column width, and get perfectly formatted output ready to use.