vertical spacing of entire section changes when using sciptsize environment for table

Question

I have the following script:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{longtable}
\linespread{1.5}
\begin{document}

%
\section{paragraph 1}
This is a paragraph lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al alala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al alala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al alala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a\\

\section{paragraph 2}
This is a paragraph lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al alala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al alala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al alala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a.\\
%
\begin{scriptsize}
\LTcapwidth=\textwidth
\renewcommand*{\arraystretch}{1.5}
\begin{longtable}{l c c c c c}
\hline \hline
%
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
\hline
\end{longtable}
\end{scriptsize}
\end{document}

which should generate a table that extends over two pages. The problem with this is that the vertical spacing for the section that the table is included is changed. If I remove begin and end script size, however, all is fine. How can I keep the table in scriptsize and also keep have the vertical spacing of the paragraph to be the same.

enter image description here

karlkoeller · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-14T13:13:54.200

In normal text, issuing \\ has the same effect as \newline which means you are breaking the line, but you are not ending a paragraph.

To end a paragraph, you can either use a blank line or \par.

In your example, since you put a % in the line before \begin{scriptsize}, there is no paragraph break and this affects the baseline behavior.

In the following modified MWE, I've changed \\ to \par

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{longtable}
\linespread{1.5}
\begin{document}

%
\section{paragraph 1}
This is a paragraph lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al alala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al alala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al alala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a\par

\section{paragraph 2}
This is a paragraph lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a lala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al alala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al alala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al alala allala lalla alala alla alla alal ala la al al a.\par
%
\begin{scriptsize}
\LTcapwidth=\textwidth
\renewcommand*{\arraystretch}{1.5}
\begin{longtable}{l c c c c c}
\hline \hline
%
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
Name & Surname & val1 & val2 & val3 & val4 \\
\hline
\end{longtable}
\end{scriptsize}
\end{document}

and the result is as expected:

enter image description here

If you want to keep the same spacing as in your example, issue \\\par:

enter image description here

there are many questions with answers that say "don't use \\ at the end of a paragraph; here's just one: Implicit newline at the end of each paragraph? — barbara beeton, Jan 14 '14 at 14:47

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 14 '14 at 12:51

4

You need to remove the % before the \begin{scriptsize} so the previous paragraph ends before you change the baseline.

answered Jan 14 '14 at 12:51

David Carlisle

757,742

vertical spacing of entire section changes when using sciptsize environment for table

2 Answers2

Linked