[Tex/LaTex] How to create a blank line between lines without using \\

line-breaking

In my tex document I have an ungodly amount of \\ from when I first started writing tex files. (~5000 in total)

Right now I am trying to delete all of them. I want to just have a blank line between two lines when I create a blink line in the unpublished tex file. Right now I have to hit \\ in order to create a blank line between them.

For example:

Right now:

In tex

ABC

DEF

In pdf

ABC
DEF

When I really want:

In tex

ABC

DEF

In pdf

ABC

DEF

Is there something to put in the preamble to make this happen?

Thanks

Best Answer

You could try:

\documentclass{article}
% set space between paragraphs
\setlength{\parskip}{0.5cm}
% set indents for paragraphs
\setlength{\parindent}{0.0mm}
\begin{document}
    ABC

    DEF \vspace{2cm} % use vspace (vertical space) when a different spacing is needed.

    GHI
\end{document}

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Is it still worthwhile to let TeX try line-breaking without hyphenation

It does not have any serious impact on performance on modern machines and I can vouch on old machines as well. Depending on your settings more than 50% of text would normally pass through the first pass. Here is a figure of two tests (the red numbers denote badness):

enter image description here

The tests were carried out using code posted by Wilson on Git. Personally I would recommend let the \pretolerance stay at 100 it will probably be faster (as you do not force the other passes in the majority of cases).

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{xcolor}
%%% Code from GIT posted by Wilson

\frenchspacing
\fussy

\makeatletter
\newbox\trialbox
\newbox\linebox
\newcount\maxbad
\newcount\linebad
\newcount\bestbad
\newcount\worstbad
\newcount\overfulls
\newcount\currenthbadness

\def\trypar#1\par{%
  \showtrybox{\linewidth}{#1\par}%
}

\newcommand\showtrybox[2]{%
  \currenthbadness=\hbadness
  \maxbad=0\relax
  \setbox\trialbox=\vbox{%
    \hsize#1\relax#2%
    \hbadness=10000000\relax
    \eatlines
  }%
  \hbadness=10000000\relax
  \setbox\trialbox=\vbox{%
    \hsize#1\relax#2%
    \printlines
  }%
  \noindent\usebox\trialbox\par
  \hbadness=\currenthbadness
}

\newcommand\trybox[2]{%
  \currenthbadness=\hbadness
  \maxbad=0\relax
  \setbox\trialbox=\vbox{%
    \hsize#1\relax#2\par
    \hbadness=10000000\relax
    \eatlines
  }%
  \hbadness=\currenthbadness
}

\def\eatlines{%
  \begingroup
  \setbox\linebox=\lastbox
  \setbox0=\hbox to \hsize{\unhcopy\linebox\hss}%
  \linebad=\the\badness\relax
  \ifnum\linebad>\maxbad\relax \global\maxbad=\linebad\relax \fi
  \ifvoid\linebox\else
    \unskip\unpenalty\eatlines
  \fi
  \endgroup
}

\def\printlines{%
  \begingroup
  \setbox\linebox=\lastbox
  \setbox0=\hbox to \hsize{\unhcopy\linebox}%
  \linebad=\the\badness\relax
  \ifvoid\linebox\else
    \unskip\unpenalty\printlines
    \ifhmode\newline\fi\noindent\box\linebox\showbadness
  \fi
  \endgroup
}

\def\showbadness{%
  \makebox[0pt][l]{%
    \ifnum\currenthbadness<\linebad\relax
      \ifnum\linebad=1000000\relax\expandafter\@gobble\fi
      {\quad\color{red}\rule{\overfullrule}{\overfullrule}~{\footnotesize\sffamily(\the\linebad)}}%
    \fi
  }%
}

\makeatother

\begin{document}

\hbadness=-1 
\begin{minipage}[t]{4.5cm}
\trypar\hyphenpenalty=500\looseness=1
In olden times when wishing
still helped one, there lived a
king whose daughters were all
beautiful, but the youngest was so
beautiful that the sun itself,
which has seen so much, was
astonished whenever it shone in
her face. Close by the king's
castle lay a great dark forest,
and under an old lime-tree in the
forest was a well, and when
the day was very warm, the
king's child went out into the 
forest and sat down by the side
of the cool fountain, and when she was bored she
took a golden ball, and threw it up on a high and caught it, and this
ball was her favorite plaything. \par
\end{minipage}
\hspace{2cm}
\begin{minipage}[t]{4.5cm}
\trypar\hyphenpenalty=10000\looseness=1
In olden times when wishing
still helped one, there lived a
king whose daughters were all
beautiful, but the youngest was so
beautiful that the sun itself,
which has seen so much, was
astonished whenever it shone in
her face. Close by the king's
castle lay a great dark forest,
and under an old lime-tree in the
forest was a well, and when
the day was very warm, the
king's child went out into the 
forest and sat down by the side
of the cool fountain, and when she was bored she
took a golden ball, and threw it up on a high and caught it, and this
ball was her favorite plaything. \par
\end{minipage}
\end{document}

[Tex/LaTex] Why gap + indent after \\ and [return]

if you want a paragraph skip instead of the indentation then set:

\setlength\parindent{0pt}
\setlength\parskip{\medskipamount}

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Is it still worthwhile to let TeX try line-breaking without hyphenation

[Tex/LaTex] Why gap + indent after \\ and [return]

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