There are three ways of typographic alignment within a column:

Justifiied, ragged and centered

These three ways describe how the lines are aligned and the correlation of line lengths in typesetting.

A detailed look at these three basic variations:

Justification


Justification, also referred to as full justification, is commonly used for continuous text in books, and for standard text in magazines. 

Ragged setting


Ragged setting is sometimes also called asymmetrical setting or anaxial setting. The lines of a text are vertically aligned along the left or right margin, whi... 

Centered setting


Centered setting is a symmetrical, evenly spread setting. Centered text should not be used in a body of text, it is suited for short texts.