[comp.text.tex] Double spacing in LaTeX?

newman@buster.cps.msu.edu (Timothy S Newman) (12/24/90)

Does anyone know how to make LaTeX double space a document?  There's
one line in the LaTeX manual about it, but it basically says that
it will look like garbage.

This seems like a pretty simple thing to me, why does LaTeX make
it so difficult?

chris@mimsy.umd.edu (Chris Torek) (12/24/90)

In article <1990Dec24.020254.9831@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu>
newman@buster.cps.msu.edu (Timothy S Newman) writes:
>[Double spacing] seems like a pretty simple thing to me, why does LaTeX
>make it so difficult?

LaTeX deliberately makes a number of common typographical mistakes
difficult---or more precisely, it does not provide pre-packaged
mistakes.

A number of people have put together `double space styles', i.e.,
pre-packaged typographical errors.  One should use these only under
duress.  Double spacing is a necessary evil in two environments:
typewritten text, where the baseline tends to be harder to follow than
in good (1200 dpi or higher) typeset output; and copy-editing, where
there must be enough space on each page for the editor (a person) to
change every word if necessary.

Note that these two demand entirely different double space styles.
(Typewritten text can usually use `1.5 spacing', and short quoted
passages should be single spaced; this is not true in traditional
copy editing.)  In addition, when using a computer, editing can be
done much more simply on line, including the final typographical
`mark up' done when the text is finished (this involves tweaking
line and page breaks to improve page layout, e.g., to avoid rivers).
(Use a revision control system to maintain exact deltas, rather than
the ridiculous practise of change bars---another of those `necessary
evils' that has become unnecessary.)
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Univ of MD Comp Sci Dept (+1 301 454 7163)
Domain:	chris@cs.umd.edu	Path:	uunet!mimsy!chris

gerard@caliban.soest.Hawaii.Edu (Gerard Fryer) (12/27/90)

In article <28771@mimsy.umd.edu>, chris@mimsy.umd.edu (Chris Torek)
points that
>LaTeX deliberately makes a number of common typographical mistakes
>difficult---or more precisely, it does not provide pre-packaged
>mistakes.
Hence LaTeX does not conveniently allow double spacing.  That's all well
and good, but the problem is that most journals still operate in the
send-hard-copy-out-to-the-reviewer mode and so insist on double spacing
for reviewers' convenience in hacking your masterwork to pieces.

There is a relatively painless way of approximating double spacing:
Right after \begin{document}, adjust the baselineskip (e.g. for 11-pt,
try \baselineskip.3in).  It's a bit of a kludge, but it works tolerably
well and is easy to get rid of before submitting the final
author-produced copy.
Gerard Fryer  (gerard@caliban.soest.hawaii.edu)
School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology
University of Hawaii at Manoa

weintrb@axon.cis.ohio-state.edu (Michael Weintraub) (12/27/90)

The heuristic I was told for getting double spacing was to double the
font point size you are using.  So 11pt would mean \baselineskip=22
and 12pt would mean \baselineskip=24.  I think there used to be a
small adjustment to this method (+ a few points), but you can modify
it to whatever looks right to you (or gives you the right page count).
The suggestion of .3in for 11pt is close to this number (it's 21.6,
but .4pt just ain't a lot of difference).

--
Michael Weintraub			CIS Dept, OSU
weintrb@cis.ohio-state.edu		2036 Neil Ave Mall
(614) 292 - 7402			Columbus, Ohio  43210-1277

nbeck@weber.ucsd.edu (Nathaniel Beck) (12/27/90)

In <1990Dec24.020254.9831@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu> newman@buster.cps.msu.edu (Timothy S Newman) writes:


>Does anyone know how to make LaTeX double space a document?  There's
>one line in the LaTeX manual about it, but it basically says that
>it will look like garbage.

>This seems like a pretty simple thing to me, why does LaTeX make
>it so difficult?

While it is easy to just change baselineskip, the style doublesp.sty
(or doublespace.sty for those not limited by dos to 8 characters)
does a nice job of allowing doublespacing and keeping a few things a
bit prettier. As other posters have noted, the preamble to this
style warns against using doublespacing.  The style is in clarkson.

Regards

-- 
Neal Beck 
Dept of Politcal Science, UCSD
beck@ucsd.edu
Dislaimer: The Regents pay me (a bit!) to distribute my opinions.
Neal Beck 
Dept of Politcal Science, UCSD
beck@ucsd.edu
Dislaimer: The Regents pay me (a bit!) to distribute my opinions.