# How to reduce the space around a table spanning two columns [duplicate]

I could not find a proper way to reduce nicely the space between the table and the text:

Using \vspace{} doesn't help (it reduces the space between the text), as shown in the code below:

\documentclass[11pt,a4paper,twocolumn]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
%\usepackage[margin=0cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amsfonts}
\usepackage{amssymb, amsthm}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{lipsum}
%\usepackage{longtable}
\usepackage{booktabs}
\usepackage{xcolor,colortbl}
\definecolor{Gray}{gray}{0.85}
\newcolumntype{a}{>{\columncolor{Gray}}r}
\begin{document}

\lipsum

\begin{table*}[t!]
\scriptsize
\centering
\caption{Results.}
\label{tab:pairwise}
\setlength{\tabcolsep}{1.5mm}
\begin{tabular}{rarrarrarrar}
\toprule
time (s) &   value &   bound & time (s)     &   value &   bound  &     time (s) &     value &   bound &     time (s) &     value &   bound   \\ \midrule
$0.02$ & $\mathbf{454.35}$ & $-\infty$ & $0.78$ & $465.02$ & $-\infty$ & $-$ &   $-$ & $-$ &   $14.75$ & $1617196.00$ &       $-\infty$  \\
$0.03$ & $454.75$ & $294.89$ & $0.15$ & $465.02$ & $136.28$ & $-$ &   $-$ & $-$ &   $7.14$ & $1614255.00$ & $301059.33$   \\ \cmidrule{1-1}
$23.45$ & $480.27$ & $-\infty$ & $64.00$ & $495.80$ & $-\infty$ & $0.00$ & $1.05\times 10^{11}$ & $-\infty$ &  $2544.12$ & $1664504.33$ &       $-\infty$ \\\cmidrule{1-1}
$15.87$ & $483.41$ & $443.71$ & $35.78$ & $605.14$ & $450.95$ & $3.16$ & $1.05\times 10^{11}$ & $16.35$ &  $-^*$ &         $-^*$       &         $-^*$\\
$55.32$ & $497.16$ & $411.94$ & $844.97$ & $468.97$ & $453.55$ & $0.47$ &  $0.65\times 10^{11}$ & $15.16$ &  $-^*$ &         $-^*$ &         $-^*$\\
$1867.20$ & $468.88$ & $448.03$ & $2272.39$ & $479.54$ & $454.35$ & $6.04$ &   $\mathbf{21.22}$ & $21.22$ &  $-^*$ &         $-^*$ &         $-^*$\\
$36.18$ & $455.25$ & $448.23$ & $111.74$ & $465.26$ & $455.43$ & $2.33$ &  $0.10\times 10^{11}$ & $14.47$ &  $2039.47$ & $1664707.67$ & $1583742.13$\\
$1.37$ & $490.48$ & $448.09$ & $16.23$ & $500.09$ & $453.96$ & $0.05$ &   $64.19$ & $15.22$ &  $421.20$ & $\mathbf{1587961.67}$ & $1584746.58$\\ \cmidrule{1-1}
$1.92$ & $1399.51$ & $-\infty$ & $11.62$ & $1178.91$ & $-\infty$ & $0.08$ &   $127.01$ & $-\infty$ &  $3602.01$ & $11408446.00$ &       $-\infty$\\ \cmidrule{1-1}
$0.11$ & $485.88$ & $-\infty$ & $0.29$ & $481.95$ & $-\infty$ & $0.00$ &   $84.86$ & $-\infty$ &  $10.82$ & $7022189.00$ &       $-\infty$\\
$1.10$ & $488.23$ & $-\infty$ & $5.94$ & $489.82$ & $-\infty$ & $20.10$ &   $66.71$ & $-\infty$ &  $1989.12$ & $6162418.00$ &       $-\infty$\\
$0.81$ & $489.80$ & $-\infty$ & $5.19$ & $489.82$ & $-\infty$ & $13.21$ &   $58.52$ & $-\infty$ &  $1509.49$ & $5209092.33$ &       $-\infty$\\
$9.84$ & $\mathbf{454.35}$ & $-\infty$ & $40.64$ & $\mathbf{464.76}$ & $-\infty$ & $0.31$ &   $75.12$ & $-\infty$ &  $2377.66$ & $1624106.00$ &       $-\infty$\\\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table*} \vspace*{-1.9cm}

\lipsum

\end{document}


• Personally, I'd worry much more about the fact that the table is too wide to fit inside the textblock. – Mico Nov 15 '17 at 19:43
• \vspace* should work. Better use How to change the spacing between figures/tables and text? – Bobyandbob Nov 15 '17 at 19:43
• @Bobyandbob Have you tried compiling my example? – Khue Nov 15 '17 at 19:44
• the vspace ( if you must use it) should be inside the table* not after it. – David Carlisle Nov 15 '17 at 19:48
• @DavidCarlisle You're right, indeed. Thanks. – Khue Nov 15 '17 at 19:53

This does the trick:

\setlength{\dbltextfloatsep}{0.2cm}


Before posting the question I had tried:

\setlength{\textfloatsep}{0.2cm}


but it did not work. I realized that for two-column document \dbltextfloatsep should be used. Thanks to @Bobyandbob for pointing me to this answer.

And \vspace{} also works, if placed inside the table* environment, as pointed out by @DavidCarlisle (thanks!).

The parameter \dbltextfloatsep is a "rubber" (i.e., stretchable and shrinkable) length, and its default value is 20pt plus 2pt minus 4pt. If that's too much for your taste, try

\setlength\dbltextfloatsep{0.75\baselineskip}


In addition, since your table -- except for the header row, consists entirely of math material, you should give serious thought to using an array environment instead of a tabular environment. That'll let you eliminate more than 300 [!!] $ symbols from the table, making the code much easier to parse. Do also replace all \cmidrule{1-1} directives with \addlinespace. \documentclass[11pt,a4paper,twocolumn]{article} \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} \usepackage{amsmath,amsfonts,amssymb,amsthm} \usepackage{graphicx} \usepackage{lipsum} \usepackage{booktabs} \usepackage[table]{xcolor} \definecolor{Gray}{gray}{0.85} \newcolumntype{a}{>{\columncolor{Gray}}r} \usepackage{caption} \captionsetup{skip=0.25\baselineskip} \setlength\dbltextfloatsep{0.75\baselineskip} \begin{document} \lipsum[1] \begin{table*}[t!] \captionsetup{font=footnotesize} \scriptsize \centering \caption{Results.} \label{tab:pairwise} \setlength{\arraycolsep}{3.7pt}$\begin{array}{@{} *{4}{rar} @{}}
\toprule
\text{time (s)} & \text{value} & \text{bound} & \text{time (s)} & \text{value} & \text{bound} &
\text{time (s)} & \text{value} & \text{bound} & \text{time (s)} & \text{value} & \text{bound} \\
%\midrule
0.02 & \mathbf{454.35} & -\infty &    0.78 &  465.02 & -\infty &   - &     - & - & 14.75 &  1617196.00 &       -\infty  \\
0.03 &          454.75 &  294.89 &    0.15 &  465.02 &  136.28 &   - &     - & - &  7.14 &  1614255.00 & 301059.33   \\
23.45 &  480.27 & -\infty &   64.00 &  495.80 & -\infty &    0.00 & 1.05{\times} 10^{11} & -\infty &  2544.12 &    1664504.33 &       -\infty \\
15.87 &  483.41 &  443.71 &   35.78 &  605.14 &  450.95 &    3.16 & 1.05{\times} 10^{11} &   16.35 &  -^* &         -^*       &         -^*\\
55.32 &  497.16 &  411.94 &  844.97 &  468.97 &  453.55 &    0.47 &  0.65{\times} 10^{11} &   15.16 &  -^* &         -^* &         -^*\\
1867.20 &  468.88 &  448.03 & 2272.39 &  479.54 &  454.35 &    6.04 &     \mathbf{21.22} &   21.22 &  -^* &         -^* &         -^*\\
36.18 &  455.25 &  448.23 &  111.74 &  465.26 &  455.43 &    2.33 &  0.10{\times} 10^{11} &   14.47 &  2039.47 &    1664707.67 &    1583742.13\\
1.37 &  490.48 &  448.09 &   16.23 &  500.09 &  453.96 &    0.05 &     64.19 &   15.22 &   421.20 &    \mathbf{1587961.67} &    1584746.58\\
1.92 & 1399.51 & -\infty &   11.62 & 1178.91 & -\infty &    0.08 &    127.01 & -\infty &  3602.01 &   11408446.00 &  -\infty\\