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Issue 2010, Number 2    [Published 2011-02-07]

Ask Nelly

Contents

Footnotes appear above a figure?


Dear Nelly,

I have a question which I fear is so simple you will laugh at me.

I am very much a beginner in using LaTeX (I've only written one paper using it), but have encountered an intractable problem. I have a floating table which appears, as I would like it to, at the bottom of a page. However, earlier in that page there is a footnote (not in the table, just earlier on the same page). Sadly LaTeX puts the table below the footnote. This looks very stupid indeed, but I can't seem to get around it. Do you know how can I make LaTeX put the table in the sensible position, that is at the 'bottom' of the page, but allowing the footnote to go below it?

Many thanks!

Peter Scott


Dear Peter,

This question is not as simple as you think: you are, not surprisingly, not the first to be offended by the aesthetics of this particular choice LaTeX makes. There is an add-on package, footmisc, that can solve this issue for you, given the right option. Just include

    \usepackage[bottom]{footmisc}

in the preamble of your document, and all should be well!

Since I am sure you are not the only LaTeX-user with this problem, I would like to publish the answer to your question in the PracTeX journal. If you object to your name being mentioned in TPJ, please let me know, so we can leave it out.

Kind regards, Yuri Robbers (on behalf of Nelly)

Margins and line spacing


Dear Nelly,

How do I change the paper margins (left, right, top, bottom) and line spacing in latex?

Jauhari Dahalan


Dear Jauhari,

The page geometry (paper size, margin width, etc.) is best changed using the geometry package. Include it in your preamble using the desired options like this:

    \usepackage[margins=1in]{geometry}

or perhaps:

    \usepackage[leftmargin=0.75in,rightmargin=0.5in,topmargin=0.8in,bottommargin=1in]{geometry}

There are many, many options that can be used with the geometry package. Please see the included documentation for more info.

changing the linespacing is best done using the setspace package. Again, include this in your preamble:

    \usepackage{setspace}

And it will make the following commands available:

    \singlespacing
    \onsehalfspacing
    \doublespacing

to change the linespacing as needed. If you want only a small piece of your text to be typeset with different linespacing, you could use the appropriate environment:

    \begin{doublespace}
       ...
    \end{doublespace}

or equivalently using singlespace or onehalfspace.

More unusual linespacing is also possible, but probably not what you require. Feel free to post a follow-up question if you do need that sort of thing.


Kind regards,

Yuri Robbers (on behalf of Nelly)


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