# Inserting a small vertical space in a table

Is there a way that I can insert a small space in a table? When I use a superscript, the number touches the \hline.

\documentclass[9pt,letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage{helvet}
\renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault}

\begin{document}
\begin{picture}(0,0)

\put(20,-136){\mbox{
\footnotesize
\begin{tabular}{ p{8em}  r  r  l }
\hline
& Total     & Average   & Unit   \\
\hline
Area1           & 419773    &   9.15        &  \emph{m$^2$}      \\
Area2           & 0     &   0       &  \emph{m$^3$}      \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
}}

\end{picture}

\end{document}


I tried inserting \vspace but this does not move everything, just one cell.

\vspace{0.001 in} Area1 & \vspace{0.001 in} 419773  &   \vspace{0.001 in} 9.15      & \vspace{0.001 in} \emph{m$^2$} \\


My preference would be to adjust this without an external package, as I am using an old version of LaTeX on a server that I cannot replace.

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 possible duplicate of Column padding in tables – Werner Apr 1 '12 at 16:29

use

\rule{0pt}{4ex}


in the first column of that line.

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 This does work (thank you). It creates a small offset unless the cell contents are touching the code (no whitespace). – celenius Apr 1 '12 at 16:41

you can load array package then

\setlength\extrarowheight{3pt}


the array package is a required part of the core latex distribution, so will be available on all installations.

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For a general reference on how to improve the spacing in tabular and array lines, see the article "Correct spacing for tables and arrays" by Claudio Beccari on p. 10 of TeX and TUG News 1993 (Vol. 2, No. 3).

His method, which involves judiciously inserting "struts", applies to lines in tabular (as well as tabular*, supertabular, xtabular, longtable) and array environments which contain

• superscript material, on a line that's preceded by an \hline,
• subscript material, on a line that's followed by an \hline, and
• any other lines with material (including \hlines) above or below them that might result in a cramped look of the output.

He suggested defining a "top strut" and a "bottom strut" as follows:

\newcommand\T{\rule{0pt}{2.6ex}}       % Top strut
\newcommand\B{\rule[-1.2ex]{0pt}{0pt}} % Bottom strut


Using your MWE as a starting point -- by the way, 9pt is not a recognized option in the article document class, so I'm omitting it -- one could put these macros to use as follows:

\documentclass[letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage{helvet}
\renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault}

\newcommand\T{\rule{0pt}{2.6ex}}       % Top strut
\newcommand\B{\rule[-1.2ex]{0pt}{0pt}} % Bottom strut

\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{ p{8em}  r  r  l }
\hline
& Total     & Average   & Unit \T\B  \\
\hline
Area 1    & 419773    &   9.15    &  m\textsuperscript{2} \T \\
Volume 1  & 0         &      0    &  m\textsuperscript{3} \B \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{document}


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The simplest solution was given by David Carlisle in How to add vertical space struts after hline?

\hline
\noalign{\vskip 2mm}


For those who can use the bigstrut package, then just inserting \bigstrut[t] will fix the problem.

\documentclass[letterpaper]{article}
\usepackage{helvet}
\usepackage{bigstrut}
\renewcommand{\familydefault}{\sfdefault}

\begin{document}
\begin{picture}(0,0)

\put(20,-136){\mbox{
\footnotesize
\begin{tabular}{ p{8em}  r  r  l }
\hline
& Total     & Average   & Unit   \\
\hline
Area1           & 419773    &   9.15        &  \emph{m$^2$} \bigstrut[t]     \\
Area2           & 0     &   0       &  \emph{m$^3$}      \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
}}

\end{picture}

\end{document}

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fwiw, http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=struttab summarises all the above, and mentions a couple of other packages. (apologies for intruding with an obvious pointer.)

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