PR 1507

lib/Epub/Epub/blocks/BlockStyle.h

@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ struct BlockStyle {
   int16_t textIndent = 0;
   bool textIndentDefined = false;  // true if text-indent was explicitly set in CSS
   bool textAlignDefined = false;   // true if text-align was explicitly set in CSS
+  // Set when this block was created by a <br> element. Used by startNewTextBlock to inject
+  // a full line-height gap when the <br> block stays empty (section-break use case).
+  // NOT propagated through getCombinedBlockStyle so it can't leak into sibling blocks.
+  bool fromBrElement = false;
 
   // Combined horizontal insets (margin + padding)
   [[nodiscard]] int16_t leftInset() const { return marginLeft + paddingLeft; }
@@ -58,6 +62,9 @@ struct BlockStyle {
       combinedBlockStyle.alignment = alignment;
       combinedBlockStyle.textAlignDefined = textAlignDefined;
     }
+    // fromBrElement is never propagated — it is consumed by startNewTextBlock
+    // when the empty <br> block is merged with the following paragraph.
+    combinedBlockStyle.fromBrElement = false;
     return combinedBlockStyle;
   }
 

lib/Epub/Epub/parsers/ChapterHtmlSlimParser.cpp

@@ -133,7 +133,17 @@ void ChapterHtmlSlimParser::startNewTextBlock(const BlockStyle& blockStyle) {
       // Merge with existing block style to accumulate CSS styling from parent block elements.
       // This handles cases like <div style="margin-bottom:2em"><h1>text</h1></div> where the
       // div's margin should be preserved, even though it has no direct text content.
-      currentTextBlock->setBlockStyle(currentTextBlock->getBlockStyle().getCombinedBlockStyle(blockStyle));
+
+      BlockStyle incoming = blockStyle;
+      if (currentTextBlock->getBlockStyle().fromBrElement) {
+        // The empty block was created by a <br> section separator. Inject a full line of
+        // blank space before the following paragraph so the scene/section break is visible.
+        // This only fires when the <br> block stayed empty (i.e. no inline text was added).
+        const int16_t lineHeight = static_cast<int16_t>(renderer.getLineHeight(fontId) * lineCompression + 0.5f);
+        incoming.marginTop = static_cast<int16_t>(incoming.marginTop + lineHeight);
+      }
+
+      currentTextBlock->setBlockStyle(currentTextBlock->getBlockStyle().getCombinedBlockStyle(incoming));
 
       if (!pendingAnchorId.empty()) {
         anchorData.push_back({std::move(pendingAnchorId), static_cast<uint16_t>(completedPageCount)});
@@ -587,7 +597,13 @@ void XMLCALL ChapterHtmlSlimParser::startElement(void* userData, const XML_Char*
         // flush word preceding <br/> to currentTextBlock before calling startNewTextBlock
         self->flushPartWordBuffer();
       }
-      self->startNewTextBlock(self->currentTextBlock->getBlockStyle());
+      // Tag the new block so startNewTextBlock can inject a full line-height gap if
+      // the block remains empty (i.e. <br> is a section separator between paragraphs).
+      // If the block gets text added before the next block opens it becomes non-empty,
+      // goes through makePages() normally, and the flag has no effect (inline <br> case).
+      BlockStyle brStyle = self->currentTextBlock->getBlockStyle();
+      brStyle.fromBrElement = true;
+      self->startNewTextBlock(brStyle);
     } else {
       self->currentCssStyle = cssStyle;
       self->startNewTextBlock(userAlignmentBlockStyle);