How do I prevent LaTeX from padding spaces between paragraphs so that next section begins at top of next page?

Question

I have a two-column paper where space restrictions are very tight.

I just looked at my last version of the manuscript and saw that the upper half contains a figure (as expected), but in the lower half there is a lot of vertical space between paragraphs (enough to squeeze 10 more lines), and that LaTeX probably added it so that in the beginning of the next page a new numbered section will begin at the top of the page.

I know there's a way to adjust this so LaTeX doesn't try so hard, but I'm not sure how. any help? Thanks!

Marelda

Answer 1

The parameter that controls inter-paragraph spacing is called \parskip(See Paragraph Spacing ). You set it (with "rubber" values) using something like:

 \setlength{\parskip}{1cm plus4mm minus3mm}

The defualt value of \parskip is class dependent. The "plus" and "minus" parts tell TeX how much it can adjust the value to improve the layout (that is they make the spacing elastic, thus the "rubber" designation). Reducing (or eliminating) the "plus" part of the rubber might help.

Watch out though, you can cause other layout artifacts if you constrain TeX too much.

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Other things to think about:

• The widow and club penalties probably apply section headings, and may be affecting TeX's layout choices (see https://stackoverflow.com/questions/512967/how-can-one-keep-a-section-from-being-at-the-end-of-a-page-in-latex for a discussion).
• You may also want to consider messing with \baselineskip which controls the allowed spacing between lines of text and can also have rubber values.
• This is a common problem, and there are probably some fairly sophisticated treatments already prepared on CTAN.

Trifling

Hey, after all these years, I hope you still answer here. I was wondering if there is a command, without changing the inter-paragraph spacing, that can tell latex it's ok to leave blank space in the bottom of the page and so, it will not spread paragraphs horizontally to cover all blanks? – Trajan

\raggedbottom in the preamble, I think. The opposite is \flushbottom or somesuch. – Trifling

BTW, there us a whole site for TeX - LaTeX now. – Trifling

Yes, I know, using it a lot. I just came up with this result in a search and seemed easier to comment here. – Trajan

Where do you place the \setlength? in the preamble or in something else? – Douglass

I answered my own question: It is in the preamble. overleaf.com/learn/latex/Paragraph_formatting#Paragraph_spacing – Douglass

Answer 2

\vfill before the new section worked perfectly for me.

Schaumberger

Wouldn't that rather cause more white space overall? – Heteromerous

It appears to work, it prevents LaTeX from trying to end the previous page at the bottom. The way to set this globally is to use \raggedbottom in the preamble as mentioned in a comment to another answer. – Cello

Answer 3

\clearpage fixed the issue for me.

Ayr