Alignment of list environments

Question

I am seeming to have troubles with two environments dealing with lists. The two are

\begin{description}           \begin{problemlist}
  .....                         ......
\end{description}              \end{problemlist}

The trouble is that the text with the body of the document will not align properly, as it will with other list environments such as

\begin{enumerate}           \begin{itemize}
  .....                         ......
\end{enumerate}              \end{itemize}

A mwe is provided below:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{enumerate}

\oddsidemargin=0pt
\topmargin=1pt
\evensidemargin=0pt
\headheight=15pt
\headsep=15pt
\textwidth=6.2truein
\marginparsep=0pt
\textheight=8.75truein

\pagestyle{empty}

\begin{document}

\begin{description}
\item[Problem 1.] The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice
blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The 
sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very  
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. 
The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very 
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. 
The sky is a very nice blue color.

\bigskip

\hspace{1.4cm} \textbf{\underline{Solution:}}

\vspace{0.15in}

\hspace{1.42cm} 
The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very  
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. 
The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very 
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. 
The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very 
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color.
\end{description}

\end{document}

You will see that the sentences after the very first sentence in each paragraph does not stay aligned with the with the first one. When changing the environment to enumerate or itemize you will see the automatic alignment.

Is there a fix for this of some kind?

Answer 1

You can use the package enumitem It is more comfortable as enumerate and has more features.

You should also use the package geometry instead of the manual manipulation of the lengths.

EDIT 1: Use geometry

EDIT 2: I expand the example with newlist and setlist. Now you can use the environment problemdescript.

**EDIT 3: See comments -- I Changed the format of the label to "Problem 1".

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{textwidth=6.2truein,textheight=8.75truein}
\geometry{showframe}
\pagestyle{empty}

\newlist{problemdescript}{enumerate}{1}
%\setlist[problemdescript]{font=\sffamily\bfseries,label={Problem~\arabic*.},leftmargin=2.5cm}
\setlist[problemdescript]{label={\textbf{Problem}~\arabic*.},leftmargin=2.5cm}
\begin{document}
\begin{problemdescript}
\item The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice
blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The 
sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very  
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. 
The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very 
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. 
The sky is a very nice blue color.

\bigskip

\hspace{1.4cm} \textbf{\underline{Solution:}}

\vspace{0.15in}

\hspace{1.42cm} 
The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very  
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. 
The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very 
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. 
The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very 
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color.
\end{problemdescript}


\begin{description}[font=\sffamily\bfseries,leftmargin=2.5cm,style=sameline]
\item[Problem 1.] The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice
blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The 
sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very  
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. 
The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very 
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. 
The sky is a very nice blue color.

\bigskip

\hspace{1.4cm} \textbf{\underline{Solution:}}

\vspace{0.15in}

\hspace{1.42cm} 
The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very  
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. 
The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very 
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. 
The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very 
nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color. The sky is a very nice blue color.
\end{description}

\end{document}

Answer 2

I recommend using the enumitem package instead of the enumerate package. It offers many ways for customizing margins and alignment. With enumitem you can create your own self-designed lists. Check out the documentation.