10

Every now and then I get this error and I don't know how to solve it. From what I understand reading other posts, it's because LaTeX doesn't know how to hyphenate some sentences and finds no good way to break the line.

In my case I have the following line:

\section{Estimating the odds ratio in a case-control study}

And the following error:

Overfull \hbox (7.52351pt too wide) in paragraph at lines 64--64

I've tried using \- to no avail. Interestingly enough if used as an item instead of a section title there's no error.

Thanks

Edit:

The log error:

Overfull \hbox (7.52351pt too wide) in paragraph at lines 64--64
[]\T1/cmr/bx/n/14.4 Estimating the odds ra-tio in a case-control study 
 []
3
  • 1
    Please show us a short compilable code resulting in your issue and please add the complete error message you got in your log file to your question ...
    – Mensch
    Dec 3, 2018 at 17:16
  • 2
    Depending on the document class you employ, executing \usepackage{sectsty}\allsectionsfont{\raggedright} in the preamble might fix your issue with overfull hboxes in sectioning headers.
    – Mico
    Dec 3, 2018 at 17:24
  • I just use \documentclass{article}. If I use a quick minimal example everything works fine... I don't understand
    – zest16
    Dec 3, 2018 at 17:33

2 Answers 2

9

You have

\documentclass{article}

\setlength\textwidth{309.49615pt}

\begin{document}
\section{Estimating the odds ratio in a case-control study}
zz
\end{document}

which produces

Overfull \hbox (7.52351pt too wide) in paragraph at lines 6--6

You could adjust the class settings for the headings but for section headings you may want to assert manual control:

enter image description here

\documentclass{article}

\setlength\textwidth{309.49615pt}

\begin{document}
\section[Estimating the odds ratio in a case-control study]
{Estimating the odds ratio\\ in a case-control study}
zz
\end{document}
0

What is worse? Self-commented MWE with self-answer (i.e., your own answer).

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\setlength\textwidth{309.49615pt}
\begin{document}

\section{Estimating the odds ratio in a \\case-control study} 
To hell the limits! why bother by margins? \lipsum[1][1-2] 

\section{Estimating the odds ratio in a case-con\-trol study} 
Ouch! Ugly hyphens! \lipsum[2][1-3] 

\section{Estimating the odds ratio in a case-\protect\linebreak[4]control study}
Ouch! Ugly spaces! \lipsum[4][1-4] 

\section{Estimating the odds ratio in a case-control study}

Ugly \verb|\hbox|!! ... Did you noticed it? \lipsum[1][1-3] 

\section{Estimating OR in a case-control study} 
Ugly rewrite! And it is so exhausting... \lipsum[5][1-3] 

\end{document}

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .