Drop cap using yfonts and yinipar on a double-spaced text

Question

In reference to drop cap letters, and the thread

How can I create documents in LaTeX using a calligraphic first letter for chapters?

can anybody tell how to get rid of the space problem that occurs when one uses

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{yfonts,color}
\doublespacing
\begin{document}
   \yinipar{\color{red}P}hysical properties [...]
\end{document}

What I get looks like this:

How to make it look like this?

I tried lettrine and various fonts, but was not satisfied with the effect they provided.

Any solutions?

@egreg : The problem occurs because my document is double spaced, and \yinipar cannot handle any spacing other than \singlespacing. — kvaibhav, Jun 25 '15 at 13:26

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 25 '15 at 13:38

You can get the desired result with lettrine:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{yfonts,color,lettrine}
\usepackage{setspace}

\doublespacing

\renewcommand{\LettrineFont}{\initfamily\color{red}}
\setcounter{DefaultLines}{3}
\AtBeginDocument{\setlength{\DefaultFindent}{0.5em}}
\setlength{\DefaultNindent}{0pt}
\renewcommand{\DefaultLraise}{0.15}

\begin{document}

\lettrine{P}{hysical} properties and
text text text text text text text text text text text text
text text text text text text text text text text text text
text text text text text text text text text text text text
text text text text text text text text text text text text
text text text text text text text text text

\end{document}

enter image description here

With \onehalfspacing change the value of \DefaultLraise:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{yfonts,color,lettrine}
\usepackage{setspace}

\onehalfspacing

\renewcommand{\LettrineFont}{\initfamily\color{red}}
\setcounter{DefaultLines}{3}
\AtBeginDocument{\setlength{\DefaultFindent}{0.5em}}
\setlength{\DefaultNindent}{0pt}
\renewcommand{\DefaultLraise}{-0.1}

\begin{document}

\lettrine{P}{hysical} properties and
text text text text text text text text text text text text
text text text text text text text text text text text text
text text text text text text text text text text text text
text text text text text text text text text text text text
text text text text text text text text text

\end{document}

enter image description here

It works like a charm. Tha nks a ton. I am leaving this comment of gratitude, since I cannot vote the answer up due to lack of sufficient reputation here. — kvaibhav, Jun 26 '15 at 07:18
@kvaibhav Note that you can accept an answer by clicking on the greyed-out tick at the top left of the answer which helped you most. You can do this regardless of reputation ;). (You will even get a couple of points yourself if you do this as accepting answers is an important way to identify useful solutions to other users with similar questions.) — cfr, Jun 30 '15 at 22:50

Ambika Vanchinathan · Answer 2 · 2015-06-25T12:50:17.983

1

Is this what you want?

    \documentclass{article}
\usepackage{yfonts,color,lipsum}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{document}
   \yinipar{\color{red}L}
\lipsum[1]
\end{document}

enter image description here

edited Jun 25 '15 at 12:50

answered Jun 25 '15 at 12:10

Ambika Vanchinathan

2,975

So is the difference that you need to include the line breaks you want? That is, what is different in your code? Admittedly, the OP's example can't possibly reproduce the problem so we can only guess, but I noticed that your code seems to follow the line breaks you want. – cfr Jun 25 '15 at 12:21
@cfr Just in case, to make it clear edited my answer. – Ambika Vanchinathan Jun 25 '15 at 12:46
The solution you've suggested produces what I have shown above. I need to the initial letter to occur at proper place. – kvaibhav Jun 25 '15 at 13:01
@AmbikaVanchinathan I guess I figured out the exact root of the problem. The problem occurs because my document is double spaced, and \yinipar cannot handle any spacing other than \singlespacing . – kvaibhav Jun 25 '15 at 13:04

Drop cap using yfonts and yinipar on a double-spaced text

2 Answers2