[Tex/LaTex] Is changing \lineskiplimit to some negative value a good idea, and what the value might be

grid-typesettingline-spacing

I'm writing a (large) document using Linux Libertine for text and Asana for math. I have a 11pt font with \baselineskip=14pt. However, not so seldom it happens that the default settings of \lineskip=1pt and \lineskiplimit=0pt cause lines (with some math and sub/superscripts, of course) to be further apart than usual (and I don't like it, especially since I want to have grid typesetting (which I achieve in my set of macros by carefully redefining \sections etc.)). My question is: assuming that I carefully proofread the whole thing (which I do), is it possible that I break something else somewhere else by setting \lineskiplimit to some negative value? (I mean some non-trivial interactions between various parts of LaTeX.) And if you consider this a good idea, what value would yo recommend?

I know this question is a bit vague, so if you have an idea to make it more TeX.SE-conforming;), feel free to edit it/suggest something in the comments.

Best Answer

It is normal in programs that try to enforce a grid to use:

\lineskiplimit=-\maxdimen

This makes TeX think that no lines are too close. Therefore the line spacing defined by \baselineskip will be preserved under all circumstances.

Personally I don't favour changing default settings, rather if you have inline math that cause this sort of issue is an indication that you should rather use display math or recast the inline math in a different form.

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[Tex/LaTex] wrong with the line spacing of the lists of figures and tables

After much trying to replicate the behavior in a "minimal example", I actually found out what is happening. First let me say that I tried both ways: trying to recreate the behavior from scratch by adding bricks, and trying to provide a minimal example by removing bricks from my original document.

Finally, and sort of thanks to this other question, I found out that my "behavior" is not actually a bug, but a feature! In fact, what you can't really guess from my picture up there, is that all my figures were in the same chapter (document class is "book"), while all tables are in different chapters. Hence the line spacing for the tables, but not the figures, which symbolizes the chapter changes.

Anyway, sorry for bothering you and for not getting back to you earlier. Now I am going to try and see how I can add a line space between all figures and tables, independently from the fact that they are in the same chapter or not.

[Tex/LaTex] the difference between \fontsize{…}{some length} and \linespread{some length}

The argument to \linespread is a real number (not a length), while both arguments to \fontsize are lengths.

\fontsize{<size>}{<baselineskip>} sets the font <size> and <baselineskip>, while \linespread{<factor>} is used as a multiple for the \baselineskip. In fact, the latter is virtually equivalent to

\renewcommand{\baselinestretch}{<factor>}

It's your choice which to use. However, both require a font selection on order to be activated. Read more on this peculiarity in the UK TeX FAQ entry Why doesn’t \linespread work?

In the LaTeX kernel, \fontsize and \linespread is defined as

\DeclareRobustCommand\linespread[1]
   {\set@fontsize{#1}\f@size\f@baselineskip}
\DeclareRobustCommand\fontsize[2]
   {\set@fontsize\baselinestretch{#1}{#2}}

Note that both utilize \set@fontsize{<factor>}{<size>}{<baselineskip>}. The reason for separating the two allows you to use a fix the one while manipulating the other. Once \set@fontsize is called, it creates \size@update that sets \baselineskip as a \baselinestretch multiple of itself and stores this result in \normalbaselineskip for other uses (amongst other things). A call to \selectfont "uses" these settings. For the wild at heart, here's the nitty gritty (with some comments):

\def\set@fontsize#1#2#3{%
    \@defaultunits\@tempdimb#2pt\relax\@nnil
    \edef\f@size{\strip@pt\@tempdimb}% <-- extracts font size
    \@defaultunits\@tempskipa#3pt\relax\@nnil
    \edef\f@baselineskip{\the\@tempskipa}% <-- extracts baseline skip
    \edef\f@linespread{#1}% <-- extracts baseline stretch
    \let\baselinestretch\f@linespread% <-- stores baseline stretch
      \def\size@update{%
        \baselineskip\f@baselineskip\relax% <-- stores baseline skip in \baselineskip
        \baselineskip\f@linespread\baselineskip% <-- multiplies \baselineskip by \baselinestretch
        \normalbaselineskip\baselineskip% <-- stores \normalbaselineskip
        \setbox\strutbox\hbox{%
          \vrule\@height.7\baselineskip
                \@depth.3\baselineskip
                \@width\z@}%
        \let\size@update\relax}%
  }

All these intricacies are meant to be simplified through setspace for consistency.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] wrong with the line spacing of the lists of figures and tables

[Tex/LaTex] the difference between \fontsize{…}{some length} and \linespread{some length}

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