# set row separation (vertical spacing) of enumerated list in multicol environment

I'd like to be able to control the spacing between rows of an enumerated list within a multicol environment, ideally only requiring a single argument at the beginning of the multicol environment.

For the time being, I've managed to achieve the desired output by manually setting the hard break space on every second item, but this is obviously not ideal (see MWE).

I read the guide for use and implementation of multicol, but could not find anything that jumped out as a possible solution (I'm still a complete beginner, so I apologize if I missed something obvious).

Thank you kindly for your time and help.

\documentclass[9pt,leqno]{extarticle}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{enumerate}
\usepackage{multicol}

\begin{document}
\begin{multicols}{3}
\begin{enumerate}[label = \textbf{(\alph*)}]
%
\item  ${\displaystyle \lim_{\theta\rightarrow \tfrac{\pi}{2}}\tan\theta}$\\[6pt]
%
\item  ${\displaystyle \lim_{x\rightarrow 3}\abs{x-3}}$
%
\item  ${\displaystyle \lim_{x\rightarrow 2}\ln(x^2-4)}$\\[6pt]
%
\item  $\displaystyle \lim_{x\rightarrow 2} g(x)$, for $g(x)$ given in Fig \ref{graph1}
%
\item $\displaystyle \lim_{x\rightarrow 1^-} \frac{~4x-4~}{\abs{x^2-1}}$\\[6pt]
%
\item $\displaystyle \lim_{x\rightarrow 2}\frac{x-2}{\abs{x-2}}$
\end{enumerate}
\end{multicols}
\end{document}


The alignment of multiline items is not good, and the numbering should be ‘horizontal’. The tasks package can do all that. Compare:

\documentclass[9pt,leqno]{extarticle}
\usepackage[showframe]{geometry}
\usepackage{mathtools}

\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage{multicol}

\DeclarePairedDelimiter\abs\vert\rvert
\settasks{counter-format=(tsk[a]),label-format = \bfseries, label-offset = 1em, column-sep = 1.5em, after-item-skip=0.3333\baselineskip}

\begin{document}
\begin{tasks}(3)%[]%] % < HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART :D
%
\task ${\displaystyle \lim_{θ → \tfrac{π}{2}}\tanθ}$
%
\task ${\displaystyle \lim_{x → 3}\abs{x-3}}$
%
\task ${\displaystyle \lim_{x → 2}\ln(x^2-4)}$
%
\task $\displaystyle \lim_{x → 2} g(x)$, for $g(x)$ given in Fig \ref{graph1}
%
\task $\displaystyle \lim_{x → 1^-} \frac{~4x-4~}{\abs{x^2-1}}$
%
\task $\displaystyle \lim_{x → 2}\frac{x-2}{\abs{x-2}}$
\vskip 1cm

\begin{multicols}{3}
\begin{enumerate}[label = \textbf{(\alph*)}, itemsep=0.8\baselineskip] % < HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART :D
%
\item ${\displaystyle \lim_{θ → \tfrac{π}{2}}\tanθ}$
%
\item ${\displaystyle \lim_{x → 3}\abs{x-3}}$
%
\item ${\displaystyle \lim_{x → 2}\ln(x^2-4)}$
%
\item $\displaystyle \lim_{x → 2} g(x)$, for $g(x)$ given in Fig \ref{graph1}
%
\item $\displaystyle \lim_{x → 1^-} \frac{~4x-4~}{\abs{x^2-1}}$
%
\item $\displaystyle \lim_{x → 2}\frac{x-2}{\abs{x-2}}$
\end{enumerate}
\end{multicols}

\end{document}


• Thanks Bernard! Can't say as I see much difference in the alignment between the two, but I much prefer the horizontal' numbering! First time I've seen this package, thank you for bringing it to my attention. Know any particularly good documentation for it? (I haven't searched yet, just thought I'd ask; I'll post a link here if I find anything worthwhile). All the best, Rax – Rax Adaam Sep 20 '14 at 14:23
• Here is a link to the package, which includes documentation: ctan.org/pkg/tasks – Rax Adaam Sep 20 '14 at 14:50
• @Rax Adaam: tasks was formerly a component of the exsheets package. As to the difference between the two ways,compare the vertical alignment of item (d). Let me add that another solution would be available with the shortlst package (that is on CTAN, but neither in MiKTeX not TeX Live, for some reason of license. You can take a look at my answers here or there. – Bernard Sep 20 '14 at 19:07
• thank you v. much for the comprehensive answer: apologies for being so slow to recognize it. Appreciate the pointer towards tasks - have always disliked the fact that it didn't do horizontal distribution & appreciate the improved alignment. – Rax Adaam Nov 30 '16 at 16:38

Although I searched the site & online prior to writing this, and even wrote a tentative version of the question to see if the suggested related questions addressed the issue, only once I had written the entire question did a related, in my opinion poorly titled, question pop up, so I'm posting this in hopes that the clearer title and tags will show up better for someone else trying to resolve the same problem. Hope it is helpful to someone!

If you use the enumitem package, then you can set the itemsep in terms of \baselineskip as an argument at the start of the enumerate environment:

\documentclass[9pt,leqno]{extarticle}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{enumitem}
\usepackage{multicol}

\begin{document}
\begin{multicols}{3}
\begin{enumerate}[label = \textbf{(\alph*)}, itemsep=0.8\baselineskip] % < HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART :D
%
\item  ${\displaystyle \lim_{\theta\rightarrow \tfrac{\pi}{2}}\tan\theta}$
%
\item  ${\displaystyle \lim_{x\rightarrow 3}\abs{x-3}}$
%
\item  ${\displaystyle \lim_{x\rightarrow 2}\ln(x^2-4)}$
%
\item  $\displaystyle \lim_{x\rightarrow 2} g(x)$, for $g(x)$ given in Fig \ref{graph1}
%
\item $\displaystyle \lim_{x\rightarrow 1^-} \frac{~4x-4~}{\abs{x^2-1}}$
%
\item $\displaystyle \lim_{x\rightarrow 2}\frac{x-2}{\abs{x-2}}$
\end{enumerate}
\end{multicols}
\end{document}
`