How to add an empty line between paragraphs?

Question

I have two sections which I'd like to separate by an empty line. Every time I press Enter, LyX removes that empty line between paragraphs. How do I prevent this?

I had been having the same problem over and over again and also discovered from this post that \bigbreak worked and then I included a \noindent to create nicely formatted paragraphs, rather than using \begin{sloppypar} and \end{sloppypar} which was pointless. — Cryptocool100, Nov 26 '21 at 22:39

score 175 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36

175

This is LyX's way of staying true to LaTeX where successive blank lines are merged - a good thing when you're talking about consistent document layout/design. If you wish to insert a forced vertical skip, insert an ERT containing either \smallskip, \medskip, \bigskip or a fixed \vspace{<len>} where you specify <len>. For a fixed/hard, single blank line, use \vspace{\baselineskip} (roughly the same as \bigskip).

enter image description here

The other lengths that were mentioned are "softer" and allow for some stretch/shrink.

For consistency, you can also increase the skip between paragraphs (known as \parskip) under Document > Settings... > Text Layout > Separate paragraphs with > Vertical space:

enter image description here

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36

Community

1

answered Sep 26 '13 at 05:46

Werner

603,163

When shoul I use \newline instead? – skan Apr 21 '17 at 10:23
That \vspace{} seems really useful. :-ThumbUp – AHB Jun 12 '17 at 15:36
How about using \newline as @skan asked? – zyy May 27 '20 at 02:38

score 41 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36

41

You can use bigbreak:

alfa bravo
\bigbreak
charlie delta

Background (from @egreg answer in a more general question)

\bigbreak isn't listed in the LaTeX manual. It removes a preceding vertical space if it's less than what it would insert; it also terminates a paragraph and tells TeX that it marks a good point where a page break may happen.

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:36

Community

1

answered Mar 20 '16 at 05:02

Zombo

1

1

note \bigbreak encourages a pagebreak. Just good to know when it's undesired. \bigskip would be similar but without the potential pagebreak effect. – tkruse Aug 25 '20 at 13:31

score 21 · Answer 3 · answered May 05 '16 at 10:27

21

If you want a finer control over your layout you can use \vskip.

Some text
\vskip 0.2in
Some text

You can change the value and units should you desire.

Anothing thing you can do is create a custom command:

\newcommand{\newpara}
    {
    \vskip 1cm
    }

So now you can just type \newpara in much the same way as \newline:

Some text
\newpara
Some text

Not sure how this functions in LyX but since it uses the LaTeX language it should work

answered May 05 '16 at 10:27

Rykari

319

Welcome to TeX.SX! You can have a look at our starter guide to familiarize yourself further with our format. – Martin Schröder May 05 '16 at 10:56
I like this flexibility,...which made me try \hskip 0.2in and that worked just as well, FYI. Thanks! – d84_n1nj4 Dec 18 '19 at 01:05

Saiful Islam · Answer 4 · 2017-05-22T00:01:07.570

14

No need to use extra code other than double backslash. After ending a paragraph, give \\ and put an empty line there. Combinedly it will work for putting an extra blank line.

Like:

I am a LaTeX user.\\

I am a LaTeX user.

Check this. It will give an extra empty line between the two lines.

And if you want to use any other size of spacing, you can use \\[]. For example: \\[2in]

This will put an extra 2-inch space between the two lines.

edited May 22 '17 at 00:01

answered Jan 12 '16 at 20:13

Saiful Islam

321

15

Welcome to TeX.SX! I'm afraid this isn't a good way of doing things. You should never end a paragraph with \\, see e.g. Best choice between using \ or leaving space after each paragraph to end the paragraph and When to use \par and when \ – Torbjørn T. Jan 12 '16 at 20:52
1

Hi, thanks for your answer
But as I faced, putting only a blank space doesn't help in putting an extra blank line between the paragraph. Even using \par does not either. So what should be used for putting a blank line between two paragraph, without front indent?
– Saiful Islam Jan 15 '16 at 23:09
5

For LyX, see the above answer. For LaTeX, add \usepackage{parskip} to the preamble. – Torbjørn T. Jan 15 '16 at 23:56
Thanks a lot. That's the thing I was wondering. After adding the package, the command is working now. – Saiful Islam Jan 16 '16 at 02:54
2

@TorbjørnT. I am new to LaTeX but I think one of its main problem is the lack of a true command for paragraphs spacind.\parskip does awfull things to section spacing, and table of contents !! – John Marjan Apr 29 '16 at 16:37
2

@JohnMarjan Ehm, OK. I've never had that problem, as I hardly ever have the need to change the parskip. And I'm just a user, so complaining to me is sort of pointless to be honest. (Also, I didn't say anything about modifying \parskip (with \setlength), I said add \usepackage{parskip}.That doesn't modify the ToC at least. Note that some document classes (KOMA classes and memoir at least, I think) have their own interfaces for this sort of thing.) – Torbjørn T. Apr 29 '16 at 17:06
I am just a user to. I don't see the harm in raising the problem, up to you or another. I just meant that when you redefine the parskip it changes your TOC – John Marjan Apr 30 '16 at 13:29

How to add an empty line between paragraphs?

4 Answers4

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