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

mdeck@sybil.cs.Buffalo.EDU (Mary Deck) (06/27/90)

In article <76785@aerospace.AERO.ORG> zevpeter@aerospace.aero.org (ze'ev peter) writes:
>
>How can I easily double space a document in LaTeX?  Thanks.

I would think that the easiest way (especially if you're not a
TeXnician, or if you're lazy) is to use the doublespace style
(available by anonymous ftp from ymir.claremont.edu in the directory
[anonymous.tex.inputs.latex-contrib]).

Or did I miss something?

					.....Mary

dhosek@sif.claremont.edu (Hosek, Donald A.) (06/28/90)

In article <29447@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>, mdeck@sybil.cs.Buffalo.EDU (Mary Deck) writes...
>In article <76785@aerospace.AERO.ORG> zevpeter@aerospace.aero.org (ze'ev peter) writes:

>>How can I easily double space a document in LaTeX?  Thanks.

>I would think that the easiest way (especially if you're not a
>TeXnician, or if you're lazy) is to use the doublespace style
>(available by anonymous ftp from ymir.claremont.edu in the directory
>[anonymous.tex.inputs.latex-contrib]).

I hate it when this question comes up...

OK, one more time. This is your document. This is doublespacing.
This is your document with doublespacing. SSSSSS!

Now for the informational portion of this message.


Part I: Doublespacing: how to do it and why.
A. Doublepacing for editorial revision

If your sole reason for double spacing is to give yourself room
to write interline commentary on a draft, the best way of
handling this is to type

\renewcommand{\baselinestretch}{2}

in the preamble of your document (between \documentstyle and
\begin{document}). This will doublespace EVERYTHING.

B. The doublespace style option

If your document is largely straightforward text and everything
should be doublespaced except footnotes and tables, a good way of
handling this situation is to use the doublespace style option
(see below for details on obtaining files mentioned in this
article).

Your document would then look something like:

\documentstyle[doublespace]{article}
\newenvironment{aroundtbl}{\begin{center}\begin{singlespace}%
   {\end{singlespace}\end{center}}
\begin{document}
..

Note that the singlespace environment should _never_ be used
within \begin{document}..\end{document} since this makes
producing a version of that document which is entirely
singlespaced more difficult. (The general rule of thumb is that
you should place anything that affects the appearance of your
document in a new command or new environment and use that
instead. Changing document styles with a class of document types
(e.g., article, report, book, etc.) should require *no* changes
inside the document body.) A complete document style which
handles double spacing is the paper document style.


Part II: Some notes on double spacing

Doublespacing is one of those nasty things inflicted upon the
typesetting world by people who are too cheap to use proper
margins. Very wide lines may be made more readable by increasing
the leading between lines. Thus lines averaging 15 words that are
single spaced are harder to read than the same lines double
spaced (see _First Principles of Typography_ by Stanley Morison).
Since authors' typescripts were generally typed to minimize the
page count and thus used tight margins and narrow (usually
12-pitch) type double spacing was used to improve the readability
of the manuscripts as well as provide the editor room to leave
comments.


Part III: Obtaining files mentioned in this note.

doublespace.sty is available from ymir.claremont.edu by anonymous
FTP from [anonymous.tex.inputs.latex-contrib]doublespace.sty. 
Mailserv users should send the command
  send [tex.inputs.latex-contrib]doublespace.sty 
to mailserv@ymir.claremont.edu

The paper style (for undergraduate papers) consists of three
files all avaiable for anonymous FTP on ymir.claremont.edu from
the directory [anonymous.tex.inputs.latex-contrib]. The relevant
files are paper.sty, pap12.sty, and pap11.sty. Mailserv users
should send the commands
  send [tex.inputs.latex-contrib]paper.sty
  send [tex.inputs.latex-contrib]pap10.sty
  send [tex.inputs.latex-contrib]pap11.sty
to mailserv@ymir.claremont.edu

-dh

---
Don Hosek                         TeX, LaTeX, and Metafont Consulting and
dhosek@ymir.claremont.edu         production work. Free Estimates.
dhosek@ymir.bitnet                
uunet!jarthur!ymir                Phone: 714-625-0147

spqr@ecs.soton.ac.uk (Sebastian Rahtz) (06/28/90)

people sometimes forget that the spacing between lines may depend on
the font in use. times may need more or less spacing than garamond, or
whatever. if you think your `single-spaced' document looks cramped,
then maybe you should investigate the font, and see whether the
default baselineskip is correct?

Sebastian
--
Sebastian Rahtz                        S.Rahtz@uk.ac.soton.ecs (JANET)
Computer Science                       S.Rahtz@ecs.soton.ac.uk (Bitnet)
Southampton S09 5NH, UK                S.Rahtz@sot-ecs.uucp    (uucp)