Separator length on last page between columns in two-column document

Question

I am using

\documentclass[a4paper,twocolumn]{article}
\usepackage{flushend}

to balance columns on the last page of the document. However, I also want a line between the columns:

\setlength{\columnseprule}{0.4pt}

The problem is that the column separator extends to the bottom of the page, and not the bottom of the text. Like this:

text | text
text | text
     |

Can I set the length of the column separator?

(Note: the balance package can do this, but it has problems with line spacing. So I'd like a solution with flushend, if possible.)

Answer 1

The problem seems to be caused by LaTeX itself. Even without the flushend package the rule goes all the way down, if the left column is only partially filled.

I suggest to use the multicol package, which does what you want by default. It is also far more flexible then the twocolumn option.

Here an example:

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{multicol}
\usepackage{lipsum}

\setlength{\columnseprule}{0.4pt}

\begin{document}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\lipsum[1-4]
\end{multicols}
\end{document}

And next time: please make a minimal working example (starting with \documentclass and ending with \end{document}), which shows the problem. It makes it much easier for the people here to see your problem and answer your question.