{paragraphs} are distinct text divisions that begin on a new, usually indented line. In TeX, a paragraph is ended by the \par command or at least one blank line. If your question is about the \paragraph or \subparagraph sectioning commands, use {sectioning} plus {sections-paragraphs} instead.
108
votes
5answers
3k views
How to define the badness of a river?
I've written an algorithm to try and detect rivers in paragraphs and it actually detects quite a lot when I run it. Some of them are clearly false positives, but there are others that are indeed ...
53
votes
5answers
3k views
Avoiding “rivers” in successive lines of type
This question led to a new feature in a package:
impnattypo
The following quote is from James Felici, The Complete Manual of Typography (2003), p. 161:
Rivers occur when word spaces stack ...
52
votes
4answers
3k views
Is there an easy way to have my whole document with a space between paragraphs rather than indentation?
I would like to have my whole document showing a blank line (or space) between paragraphs and no indentation. I know how to do it line by line, but is there a way to change that with just one or a few ...
33
votes
2answers
1k views
When to use \par and when \\
What is the difference between \par and \\ and when should I use \par instead of \\?
31
votes
7answers
2k views
Automatically assign a number to every paragraph
I would like to add a marginal number (don't know the right term; in german „Randnummer“) to every paragraph of text I write. I don't see any other solution, than to write every single number manually ...
29
votes
3answers
10k views
No indent in the first paragraph in a section?
I am just curious that the following format looks good to you or not? The preamble I used is just
\documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amsthm}
\usepackage{amssymb}
...
27
votes
3answers
449 views
Set up a system to alternate between genders per paragraph
In RPG writing it has become traditional to swap he and she on a per paragraph basis. Something like "He can use the smite evil ability one a day at first level. (Blah blah blah, paragraph break) when ...
26
votes
2answers
4k views
How to avoid page-breaks inside paragraphs?
I would like to know if there is any global command that would prevent any page-breaks inside paragraphs. I'd rather have the whole paragraph on the next page instead of having it cut in the middle. I ...
25
votes
3answers
840 views
Does TeX always insert the macro \par?
When the input processor encounters two characters with category code 5 in a row (in other words, a blank line), it inserts the \par macro.
When \vbox{Abc.} ends, TeX ends the current paragraph, but ...
24
votes
2answers
493 views
Ensure minimal length of last line
This question led to a new feature in a package:
impnattypo
One rule in French typography is that the last line of a paragraph should not be shorter than the double of the indentation of the ...
23
votes
4answers
294 views
unexpected interaction between \raggedright and \parshape
While answering Random start of line, I came upon a strange interaction between \raggedright and \parshape.
If a ragged-right paragraph ends in a short line, this line will be "the most ragged".
...
22
votes
3answers
538 views
What is the best way to draw two lines in LaTeX?
Bill Bryson's book, The lost continent: travels in small-town America has an unusual first paragraph opening style. It has the equivalent of a long equal sign, followed by the first three words ...
19
votes
3answers
3k views
How to highlight an entire paragraph?
I'd like to highlight paragraphs such that the highlight color appears as one whole rectangle underlying the entire paragraph. I have looked around but nothing gives me the desired effect so far.
For ...
18
votes
4answers
14k views
Have new line between paragraphs, no indentation [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is there an easy way to have my whole document with a space between paragraphs rather than indentation?
I am sure that this must be a dup, but I can't find the right ...
18
votes
2answers
2k views
Reduce bibliography to one line
Quick question, hopefully with a quick answer. I'm writing a paper where I'm limited by length (2 pages) and I need references, but it doesn't have to look nice. I'd like LaTeX to compress my ...
17
votes
3answers
2k views
When can I safely add an empty line?
I really like spacing my LaTeX to stay organized, but I'm always scared that adding a space will affect the output when all I really wanted to do was separate the "code" a bit.
So most of the time I ...
17
votes
2answers
2k views
Sentence alignment for dual-line bilingual paragraph translation in LaTeX
I would like to make a translation of entire paragraphs at a time for a large document, with the start of the new sentences aligning. The following is almost what I want done, though it doesn't yet ...
16
votes
3answers
833 views
Changing the style of the first *typeset* line of a paragraph
I've been playing around with dropcaps in LaTeX (with the yfonts and lettrine packages), and one typographical effect you often see after dropcaps is having the entire first line of the paragraph ...
15
votes
6answers
5k views
Indenting a whole paragraph
How do I indent a whole paragraph at the same distance from my left margin, with the simplest command or environment?
15
votes
2answers
579 views
Is it good style to use \newline instead of just leaving a blank line in order to get a new paragraph?
The two alternatives in my question of course lead to very different results. If you use \newline, then your paragraph will not begin indented. Also the spacing between the paragraphs differs.
I am ...
15
votes
3answers
262 views
When is it better to use \par than \endgraf?
Just yesterday I had to patch a package file (changing the description to indicate that the file had changed) to replace some \par to \endgraf because the code had bad interactions with non-\long ...
15
votes
2answers
1k views
Difference between setting parindent and hangindent
Is there a difference between setting
\parindent to 1em
and to setting
\parindent to 0em, \hangindent to 1em, and \hangafter to -1
that shows in practical use? The nodes created by TeX are ...
15
votes
1answer
392 views
What exactly does \@doendpe do?
Quoting from the LaTeX2e sources:
[\@endparenv, \@doendpe]
To suppress the paragraph indentation in text immediately following a
paragraph-making environment, \everypar is changed to remove ...
15
votes
4answers
1k views
How to prevent paragraph breaks after theorem environments?
By default, the list environments (such as itemize) have the nice property that if you add a blank line after it, it starts a new paragraph, and if you don't, the paragraph continues. So
The ...
15
votes
1answer
327 views
Different vertical spacing (parskip) between concurrent section titles and paragraphs
I'm trying to remove the spacing between section headings, but maintain the paragraph to section heading spacing.
Even though I set titlespacing before and after to *0, there is still spacing - quite ...
15
votes
1answer
360 views
Why is \parskip zero inside a minipage?
This question was originally entitled "inconsistent paragraph spacing with \parskip inside minipage" as the MWE below shows. But I found the answer at How to preserve the same parskip in minipage, ...
14
votes
2answers
214 views
How does \\ suppress spurious spaces while \par\noindent doesn't
I'm trying to build a description-list-with-header-line by using a macro. In the non-MWE, the macro adds additional value like index entries and margin notes, but here I have the simplest case ...
14
votes
3answers
626 views
How to wrap text around a figure? (revised)
This question has been asked before (and in fact I stole the diagram below from that question) but the answers are not sufficient for my needs (at least near as I can tell).
What I want is the ...
14
votes
1answer
144 views
Why does a color meant for the first typeset line *only* (with package magaz) affect the *entire* document?
I am trying to make a nice layout that gives a different style to the first line in a section using the package magaz. All examples I have seen feature some variation of small caps
{\scshape text}
or ...
14
votes
1answer
878 views
How to join paragraphs with a pilcrow \P?
Background
There are many typographically distinct ways to separate paragraphs from one another, the most common being starting each paragraph on a new line with either an indent or additional ...
13
votes
5answers
519 views
How can I indent the paragraphs which follow a heading?
I am trying to write a text where the first line of each paragraph has an indent(tab). But for some reason, in a chapter or a section or subsection, except the first paragraph, the rest of the ...
13
votes
2answers
681 views
Very specific paragraph shape
I'd like to write something in the shape of this "coat of arms".
I'd like to have the text filling the coat but with a hole roughly in the shape of the sword. I know there is the \shapepar command ...
13
votes
2answers
333 views
Breaking a theorem between pages
I currently have this custom myexample theorem environment that is working absolutely great.
\newtheoremstyle{myexamplestyle}{}{}{}{}{\bfseries}{.}{ }{}
...
13
votes
2answers
1k views
Cancel/undo a \setlength{\parindent}{3ex}
Assume I want to have a section within an article with different indentation/parskipping. Is there a way to undo that command at the end of the section so the next section behaves again as if I never ...
13
votes
4answers
474 views
How can I break an align environment for a paragraph?
I would like to have two displayed equations, broken by a short paragraph, but with aligned equal signs (as if using the align environment). Is there some way to "break" the align environment ...
13
votes
2answers
3k views
Create new paragraph style in LyX
Background
In OpenOffice and Microsoft Word it takes seconds to create a new paragraph style. Here is how I currently use LyX with the KOMA Script document class to mark text as a quotation:
Type ...
13
votes
2answers
543 views
paragraphed footnote style with bigfoot
I need paragraphed footnotes precisely as manyfoot offers them, but also some of bigfoot's other features (mainly "natural" order of the notes).
As bigfoot is described as "a drop-in replacement of ...
12
votes
3answers
1k views
Good strategy for line breaks with paragraphs of LaTeX source
What approach is recommended regarding line breaks when writing paragraphs of LaTeX?
Should a new line be started at the end of each sentence?
Is it better to manually start new lines or to let the ...
12
votes
2answers
3k views
Any way to center text within a \parbox?
Probably I'm missing something, but I'm really struggling to find an answer to this simple question:
How to center text within a \parbox?
Side note: I don't want to switch to any other environment ...
12
votes
2answers
143 views
LaTeX adds an additional blank paragraph after the end of my custom environment
A friend, who is a LaTeX user but isn't very confident with customising it, told me that he would like to be able to put framed paragraphs and framed equations into his documents. So I took it upon ...
12
votes
1answer
234 views
mdframed is causing wrong alignment at the bottom of pages
If you would be so kind to compile this LaTeX document:
\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{book}
\usepackage[paper=a4paper,twoside=true,lmargin=4cm,
rmargin=4cm,bindingoffset=0cm]{geometry}
...
12
votes
2answers
212 views
Producing centered asterisk to indicate new section
In a text (or a passage of a text) that is not subdivided by headings -- say, an essay --, a common tool to indicate the start of a new section is a simple asterisk (or other symbol), usually ...
12
votes
1answer
578 views
How to change \hsize in the middle of a paragraph at pagebreak, especially for two-column?
The original question is: How to get two columns with different width in LaTeX?
I know this older question: How can I create a two-column layout with different widths (and texts) for the two columns? ...
11
votes
2answers
252 views
Format a verbatim paragraph
How can I format a verbatim paragraph? I.e. break, fill and join input lines to produce globally balanced output with the lengths of each line approaching the target \textwidth as closely as possible. ...
11
votes
2answers
156 views
Define a command to affect everything until the end of the paragraph?
Is it possible to define a command so that it affects everything until the end of the current paragraph?
As a minimal example, I am trying to define a command using syntax similar to the following:
...
11
votes
3answers
7k views
Add space between paragraphs in Beamer
Customizing spacing between paragraphs in Beamer plagues me constantly. To split two paragraphs by one empty line I usually put \medskip tag between paragraphs, but this is very ugly solution.
Now I ...
11
votes
3answers
412 views
How to display only certain lines of a paragraph?
From reading Knuth's TeX Book (Chapter 14 How TeX Breaks Paragraphs into Lines), I understand that entire paragraphs are read in and then "massaged" by the "line-breaking algorithm" in an optimal way ...
11
votes
1answer
1k views
Typeset a dialogue?
I need to typeset a dialogue in LaTeX, it's for a translation assignment. The original dialogue does something like this:
- I found it, I told him.
My finger was in the book, where George Best's ...
11
votes
2answers
1k views
How can I prevent page break between lines of a paragraph or bibliography entry?
My university's thesis guidelines require that each bibliographic entry appear in whole on a single page, rather than being split across two. How can I prevent (La)TeX breaking a paragraph across a ...
11
votes
1answer
887 views
Reduce natbib bibliography to one line
I would like my references to look like
Foo et al. 2008, Nature, 100, 200 •
Bar & Baz et al. 2010, Science, 300,
400 • Einstein, 1905, New Scientist,
5, 6
where "•" is perhaps some ...
