Beamer center vertical alignment of two columns

Question

Given the following MWE:

\documentclass{beamer}

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
\frametitle{Some title}
\setlength{\leftmargini}{0.5em}
\begin{columns}[c, onlytextwidth]%EVEN SPECIFYING THE c OPTION
    \begin{column}{.5\textwidth}%
        \setlength{\partopsep}{0pt}%AND EVEN REMOVING EXTRA itemize SPACE
        \begin{itemize}
        \itemsep 1.5em
            \item First item bla bla bla bla some more text
            \item second item bla bla bla bla some more text bla bla
            \item third item bla bla bla bla some more text bla bla bla bla bla bla
        \end{itemize}
    \end{column}%
    \begin{column}{.45\textwidth}
        \includegraphics[width=\textwidth, height=5.5cm]{example-image}
    \end{column}%
\end{columns}

\end{frame}

\end{document}

Is it me or the two columns do not align properly? It seems there are more space left on the top of the image (noted in red) than on the bottom (in black)... Note as well that I added the following line, as indicated here...

\setlength{\partopsep}{0pt}%

Any idea?

My question would then be: Why doesn't "\begin{columns}[c]" work like it is supposed to? — DaniCee, Feb 02 '17 at 01:38
Related?: http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/148365/how-do-i-ask-beamer-to-exactly-fill-up-a-slide — Steven B. Segletes, Feb 04 '17 at 13:35
It is itemize's fault. Replace itemize by a normal paragraph and you will see the difference. — Symbol 1, Feb 04 '17 at 17:57

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 04 '17 at 19:27

It seems itemize inserts some spacing above the environment, just as center does. A fix for the example you've provided is to put the figure in a center environment.

\documentclass{beamer}
\begin{document}
\begin{frame}
\frametitle{Some title}
\setlength{\leftmargini}{0.5em}
\begin{columns}[c, onlytextwidth]%EVEN SPECIFYING THE c OPTION
    \begin{column}{.5\textwidth}%
        \setlength{\partopsep}{0pt}%AND EVEN REMOVING EXTRA itemize SPACE
        \begin{itemize}
        \itemsep 1.5em
            \item First item bla bla bla bla some more text
            \item second item bla bla bla bla some more text bla bla
            \item third item bla bla bla bla some more text bla bla bla bla bla bla
        \end{itemize}
    \end{column}%
    \begin{column}{.45\textwidth}
    \begin{center}
        \includegraphics[width=\textwidth, height=5.5cm]{example-image}
    \end{center}
    \end{column}%
\end{columns}
\end{frame}
\end{document}

I was already embedding the images in "figure" environments to try, so I will give the bounty to your answer cause conceptually makes more sense to me. Thanks! — DaniCee, Feb 05 '17 at 03:51

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 04 '17 at 18:33

Here is the workflow:

Insert \hrule at the places you want to investigate.

Extra spaces gone! Great! Now replace \hrule by \hrule height0pt.

Problem solved.

Explanation

\hrule is one of the simplest objects in TeX and it does not produce extra spaces. By inserting \hrule, it is easier to see the spaces. (For example, setting \partopsep to zero seems to make no change. But with \hrules you will see the difference.)

Sometimes \hrule absorbs unwanted spaces. In this case, just keep those \hrules and turn your attention to something more important.

Beamer center vertical alignment of two columns

2 Answers2

Explanation

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