[Tex/LaTex] Distance between chapter title and text

chapterskoma-scriptparskipsectioningspacing

In my scrreprt I've changed distance between paragraphs with \setlength{\parskip}{9pt}. But \parskip changes also distance between chapter title and the paragraph.

How can I change distance between chapter title and the paragraph?

Best Answer

The titlesec package provides

\titlespacing{<command>}{<left>}{<before-sep>}{<after-sep>}[<right>]

that allows for the spacing around any sectional <command> (like \part, \chapter, \section, etc.). The former two sectional commands require the additional \titleformat to be used (see the package documentation). Consequently, altering <after-sep> should suit your needs.

The following minimal example, altered for <after-sep> equal to \parskip, 5\baselineskip and 150pt illustrates the changes (from left to right):

\documentclass{scrreprt}
\usepackage{titlesec}% http://ctan.org/pkg/titlesec
\usepackage{lipsum}% http://ctan.org/pkg/lipsum

\titleformat{\chapter}{\Huge\bfseries}{\chaptername\ \thechapter}{0pt}{\vskip 20pt\raggedright}%
% Alter <after-sep> in the macro below to vary the separation after the \chapter title.
\titlespacing{\chapter}{0pt}{50pt}{<after-sep>}% \titlespacing{<command>}{<left>}{<before-sep>}{<after-sep>}[<right>]
\begin{document}

\chapter{First chapter}
\lipsum[1-5]
\end{document}

Different spacings from chapter title using titlesec

The lipsum package merely provides some dummy text, Lorem Ipsum style.

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Vertical space between chapter title and top in book document class

The titlesec package provides

\titlespacing[*]{<command>}{<left>}{<before-sep>}{<after-sep>}[<right-sep>]

where (according to the package documentation) provides horizontal (via <left> and <right-sep>) and vertical (via <before-sep> and <after-sep>) spacing around the sectional command <command>. The starred version * kills the indentation of the paragraph following the title. So, for example,

\usepackage{titlesec}% http://ctan.org/pkg/titlesec
...
\titleformat{\chapter}{\Huge\bfseries}{\chaptername\ \thechapter}{0pt}{\vskip 20pt\raggedright}%
\titlespacing{\chapter}{0pt}{50pt}{<after-sep>}%

provides a 50pt space before and a <after-sep>=40pt|50pt space after the chapter title. The parameters were chosen similar to Stefan's answer. Here's a graphic displaying the difference - 40pt on the left and 100pt on the right:

Different titlespacing

As per the package documentation, \part and \chapter spacing can only be specified in conjunction with the \titleformat command.

[Tex/LaTex] Space length between the chapter number and the chapter title

book (like report) sets the ToC entry for a chapter using \l@chapter. This is what it looks like:

\newcommand*\l@chapter[2]{%
  \ifnum \c@tocdepth >\m@ne
    \addpenalty{-\@highpenalty}%
    \vskip 1.0em \@plus\p@
    \setlength\@tempdima{1.5em}%
    \begingroup
      \parindent \z@ \rightskip \@pnumwidth
      \parfillskip -\@pnumwidth
      \leavevmode \bfseries
      \advance\leftskip\@tempdima
      \hskip -\leftskip
      #1\nobreak\hfil \nobreak\hb@xt@\@pnumwidth{\hss #2}\par
      \penalty\@highpenalty
    \endgroup
  \fi}

The specific thing to note here is the value of \@tempdima, set to 1.5em. The first argument of \l@chapter (or #1) uses \numberline, which is defined in the kernel latex.ltx as:

\def\numberline#1{\hb@xt@\@tempdima{#1\hfil}}

creating a box of width \@tempdima and left-aligning its contents. Note that this 1.5em is based on the prevailing font at the time of setting (\normalsize\bfseries by default).

The (numbered) chapter head in book (and report) is set via the macro \@makechapterhead. Here's a take on that:

\def\@makechapterhead#1{%
  \vspace*{50\p@}%
  {\parindent \z@ \raggedright \normalfont
    \ifnum \c@secnumdepth >\m@ne
      \if@mainmatter
        \huge\bfseries \@chapapp\space \thechapter
        \par\nobreak
        \vskip 20\p@
      \fi
    \fi
    \interlinepenalty\@M
    \Huge \bfseries #1\par\nobreak
    \vskip 40\p@
  }}

The space between the word Chapter (or \@chapapp in the definition above) and the number (\thechapter in the definition above) is a regular \space or \.

In both instances, if you want to change these defaults, you have at least 3 options:

Use a package that allows you to modify this content (like titlesec or tocloft or the like);
Copy the entire definition and change it to your liking (making \newcommand -> \renewcommand);

Use etoolbox to patch the command. For example,

\usepackage{etoolbox}% http://ctan.org/pkg/etoolbox
\makeatletter
\patchcmd{\l@chapter}% <cmd>
  {1.5em}% <search>
  {5.5em}% <replace>
  {}{}% <success><failure>
\makeatother

would use a 5.5em wide box for setting the chapter number in the ToC, increasing the gap between the number and title. Also

\usepackage{etoolbox}% http://ctan.org/pkg/etoolbox
\makeatletter
\patchcmd{\@makechapterhead}% <cmd>
  {\space}% <search>
  {\hspace*{100pt}\ignorespaces}% <replace>
  {}{}% <success><failure>
\makeatother

would insert a 100pt gap between the word Chapter (or whatever \@chapapp is) and the number. \ignorespaces would just remove any trailing spaces left inside the original definition of \@makechapterhead.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Vertical space between chapter title and top in book document class

[Tex/LaTex] Space length between the chapter number and the chapter title

Related Question