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What TeX/LaTeX parameter specifies the distance between:

  • the bottom of one line and
  • the top of another line

I don't think baseline skip is what I want (since it measures the distance between the baseline of of two lines).

I want to make sure that there is at least a 2pt margin between the bottom of one line and the top of another line.

lockstep
  • 250,273
  • you probably realize this, but this can result in very uneven spacing between lines, taking into account that some lines may have no ascenders or (more often) no descenders, or (in an extreme case) may consist only of dots or a horizontal rule. – barbara beeton Sep 26 '12 at 12:27

1 Answers1

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Set \lineskip to 2pt so that is the space used and set \lineskiplimit to \maxdimen and \baselineskip negative so that \lineskip spacing is always used rather than \baselineskip spacing.

Plain and LaTeX define

\def\offinterlineskip{\baselineskip-1000\p@
  \lineskip\z@ \lineskiplimit\maxdimen}

You want essentially the same thing but with \lineskip=2pt rather that \lineskip\z@ (which is \lineskip=0pt)

David Carlisle
  • 757,742
  • 1
    Shouldn’t \lineskiplimit be 2pt, too, so that the distance is never less than 2pt? – mhp Sep 26 '12 at 11:41
  • @mhp er yes I think I'll rewrite that (or if you feel like picking up a point or two post an answer and I'll delete this:-) – David Carlisle Sep 26 '12 at 12:11