: Is inconsistent leading generally viewed unfavorably? See, for example, this partial image of a document.

@Gretchen549

Yes and no. (In the case of your image, it is bad.)

If you design a page layout using a baseline grid, it is perfectly fine to use different leadings if they fit the grid. For example, if you have a 3pt grid, leadings of 6, 9, 12, 15, etc are OK to use because they are multiples of 3. This page provides a pretty good explanation of baseline grids and how to use them effectively.

Looking at your image, the vertical spacing doesn't seem to follow any rule, and that would be considered "unfavorable". In fact, it looks more like someone used different space before/after properties or just inserted a blank paragraph between some of these elements (both of which are common for documents produced with word processors). Like leading, space before/after should be consistent (such as adhering to a baseline grid). For example, if you have a 6pt baseline grid, your font is 10/12 (meaning 10pt size, 12 pt leading), 6pt space after would align to the grid but 4pt would not.

If you are using InDesign, you can force paragraph styles to align to a baseline grids under "Indents and Spacing" in the Paragraph Options window for the style. To set the size of your grid, go to Edit > Preferences > Grids. (I believe the default baseline is 12pt). Scribus and other design software usually have similar features. There are plenty of resources for using grids with InDesign.

Consistent leading and leadings that are proportionally related give a sense of structure to a page. This helps the reader see text that is different, and since different text usually means something, it can help with comphrension too. Plus it looks nice.

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