When writing documents in TeX/LaTeX, it is important to understand how the TeX engine “thinks”. A paragraph is the basic text unit in a document and many TeX/LaTeX commands, when used properly, affect the current paragraph only. TeX provides a set of basic commands controlling the way a paragraphs are typeset. The following article explains the most commonly used commands and illustrates them with examples.

Any piece of text in TeX/LaTeX is a paragraph and follows predefined specifications. Single line-breaks will be ignored by the engine. To end a paragraph, leave a blank line between the end of the current and the beginning of the new paragraph.

...end of the current paragraph. Beginning of a new paragraph...

The second, indented line marks the beginning of a new paragraph.

Alternatively, \par might be used to end a paragraph.

\documentclass{article} \usepackage{blindtext} \begin{document} \blindtext\par\blindtext \end{document}

Paragraph width

In plain TeX, \hsize controls the paragraph width, set to 6.5in by default. The example below shows how to change the paragraph width for a single paragraph.

\documentclass{article} \usepackage{blindtext} \begin{document} \blindtext \hsize 4in \blindtext \end{document}

The \leftskip and \rightskip commands provide a alternative, reducing the paragraph size from left and right respectively.

\documentclass{article} \usepackage{blindtext} \begin{document} \blindtext \leftskip=1.5in \blindtext \leftskip=0in \rightskip=1.5in \blindtext \end{document}



LaTeX knows at least two macros to control the paragraph width, the minipage environment and the \parbox command.

%Parbox macro \parbox{4in}{...} %Minipage environment \begin{minipage}{4in} ... \end{minipage}



Within a paragraph, the width is changed through the \hangindent and \hangafter commands. \hangindent controls the amount of indentation from left (positive value) or right (negative value). \hangafter , on the other hand, controls the number of full-width lines before changing the indent ( \hangindent ). A positive number produces full-width lines at the beginning, whereas a negative number produces them at the end.

Here is an example reducing the paragraph width by 2in from the right after the fifth line.

\documentclass[11pt]{article} \usepackage{blindtext} \begin{document} \hangindent=-2in \hangafter=5 \blindtext \blindtext \end{document}

Paragraph indentation

By default, TeX indents the first line of each paragraphs by 20pt . The \parindent command controls the indentation of paragraphs. To change the indentation document-wide, set \parindent in the document preamble to the desired value. To disable the indentation for a single paragraph, use

oindent at the beginning of the paragraph.

\documentclass{article} \usepackage{blindtext} \parindent=0pt % disables indentation \begin{document} \blindtext \blindtext \end{document}

Vertical space between paragraphs

TeX leaves no vertical space between paragraphs by default ( \parskip=0pt ). Similar to \parindent , setting \parskip in the document preamble controls the vertical space between paragraphs document-wide.

\documentclass{article} \usepackage{blindtext} \parskip=12pt % adds vertical space between paragraphs \begin{document} \blindtext \blindtext \end{document}

Vertical space between lines

While using the default font size ( 10pt ), the line distance is 12pt . A ratio of 1.2 (line height to font size) leaves enough space between lines for a good reading experience and gives a harmonious look. The line height can be changed through \baselineskip .

More on font size in LaTeX.

\documentclass{article} \usepackage{blindtext} \begin{document} \blindtext \baselineskip=20pt \blindtext \end{document}

Further readings

A gentle introduction to TeX, a relatively short, but well written introduction to TeX by Michael Doob.

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