Formatting block quotations isn’t hard. Reduce the point size and line spacing slightly. Indent the text block between half an inch and a full inch on the left side, and optionally the same on the right. Or on the web, about 2–5 ems. As with first-line indents, make the side indents large enough to be noticed, but not so large that the line length is too short. Don’t put quotation marks at the ends. They’re redundant.

Block quotations are sometimes unavoidable. It may be that accuracy demands extensive quoting. But as a means of textual emphasis, block quotations sometimes become, like all caps, a form of self-defeating typography. Writers often dump text into a block quotation because they want to signal This source is really important, so I’ve quoted a lot of it!

Default Style Quote, 2002

Instead, the actual signal a reader often gets is Here’s something long and dull from another source whose meaning and relevance you’ll have to figure out for yourself because I can’t be bothered to summarize it! The reader’s next thought is usually “Great—I can skip this.”

So if you want readers to pay attention to quoted material, edit it carefully and integrate it into the text. Don’t just shovel it into a block quotation.

Grande Style Quote, 1994

A block quotation (also known as a long quotation or extract) is a quotation in a written document that is set off from the main text as a paragraph, or block of text, and typically distinguished visually using indentation and a different typeface or smaller size font. This is in contrast to setting it off with quotation marks in a run-in quote. Block quotations are used for long quotations. The Chicago Manual of Style recommends using a block quotation when extracted text is 100 words or more, or approximately six to eight lines in a typical manuscript.

Apart from quotation marks not being used to enclose block quotations, there are no hard-and-fast rules for the exact formatting of block quotations. To a large extent the specific format may be dictated by the method of publication (e.g. handwritten text, typewritten pages, or electronic publishing) as well as the typeface being used.

For writers and editors, The Chicago Manual of Style (8th edition, 2007) recommends using a block quotation when cited text is five lines or longer. Other sources set the threshold at four or five lines. The block quotation may also be used to distinguish shorter citations from original text, though strictly speaking this does not follow APA or MLA style guidelines. Use of the block quotation for shorter passages is a stylistic choice that may or may not be acceptable depending on the situation.

Pull quotes

Some guidelines suggest an indentation of five, ten, or fifteen spaces. However, five spaces in a proportional font may be much narrower than in a typewriter font of the same point size. In addition, setting an indent based on an exact number of spaces may not be technically possible in a given word processing or electronic publishing application. In these situations, a measurement of distance rather than a number of spaces may be prescribed instead (for example, a 1⁄2 to 1 in or 1 to 2 cm indent). Some writers indent block quotations from the right margin as well. Block quotations are generally set off from the text that precedes and follows them by also adding extra space above and below the quotation and setting the text in smaller type. Barring specific requirements, the format of the block quotation will ultimately be determined by aesthetics, making the quotation pleasing to the eye, easy to read, and appropriate for the particular writing task.

In graphic design, a pull quote (also known as a lift-out pull quote) is a key phrase, quotation, or excerpt that has been pulled from an article and used as a page layout graphic element, serving to entice readers into the article or to highlight a key topic. It is typically placed in a larger or distinctive typeface and on the same page. Pull quotes are often used in magazine and newspaper articles, annual reports, and brochures, as well as on the web. They can add visual interest to text-heavy pages with few images or illustrations.

Pull quotes need not be a verbatim copy of the text being quoted; depending on a publication’s house style, pull quotes may be abbreviated for space or paraphrased for clarity, with or without indication.

A disadvantage of pull quotes as a design element is that they can disrupt the reading process of readers invested in reading the text sequentially by drawing attention to ghost fragments out of context. At the other extreme, when pull quotes are used to break up what would otherwise be a formless wall of text, they can serve as visual landmarks to help the reader maintain a sense of sequence and place.