LaTeX Spacing

LaTeX uses escaped codes to define spacing in document.

Horizontal Spacing

text

Escaped CodeDescriptionMode  an inter-word spacetextand is gobbled in math). Similarly for \space and { }. { }Latex space  ~an unbreakable spacetext/mathsimilar to an HTML   \ a control spacetext/mathtext/math \,a .16667em spacetext\thinspace \>a .2222em spacetext \:a .2222em spacetext\medspace \;a .2777em spacetext\thickspace \thinspace  ?\medspace  ?\thickspace  \space  \enspacea .5em spacetext/math \quada 1em spacetext/math \qquada 2em spacetext/math \!a negative .16667em \negthinspace \negthinspace  ?\negmedspace  ?\negthickspace  \/  \@  \hfilla rubber length stretched between elementstext/matha type of anchor to fill from/to is needed, e.g.\hspace*{\fill} and \hfill \hrulefill  \dotfill  \kern <len>a <len> space, may be negativetext/math \mkern <math len>a <math len> space, may be negativemath \hskip <len>similar to \kern  \hspace{<len>}a <len> space, may be negative similar to \hskiptext/math \hss  \hphantom{<stuff>}a <stuff> spacetext/math \phantom{<stuff>}a horizontal and vertical space that matches <stuff> Should be \protected when used in fragile commands (like \caption and sectional headings); ?\thinmuskipa 3mu spacemath ?\medmuskipa 4.0mu plus 2.0mu minus 4.0mumath ?\medspace  ?\negmedspacea negative \medspace  ?\thickmuskipa 5.0mu plus 5.0mumath ?\thickspace  ?\negthickspacea negative \thickspace 

Code

\documentclass[8pt, border=8pt,varwidth]{standalone}
\usepackage{scrextend}
\changefontsizes[10pt]{8pt}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\newcommand\qh{\\\hline\noalign{\vskip 0.2em}}
\newcommand\qs{\qh\textbackslash}
\newenvironment{tabtest} {\setlength{\topsep}{0mm}\setlength{\partopsep}{0mm}\begin{tabbing}\hspace*{9mm}\kill}{\end{tabbing} } 
\newcommand\qz{\newcommand\qx}
\makeatletter
%  Properties a la Lisp.
\def\ece#1#2{\expandafter#1\csname#2\endcsname}%
% \setproperty{ATOM}{PROPNAME}{VALUE} defines the property PROPNAME on the
% ``atom'' ATOM to have VALUE.
\def\setproperty#1#2#3{\ece\protected@edef{#1@p#2}{#3}}%
\def\setpropertyglobal#1#2#3{\ece\protected@xdef{#1@p#2}{#3}}%
% \getproperty{ATOM}{PROPNAME} expands to the value of the property
% PROPNAME on ATOM, or to nothing (i.e., \empty), if the property isn't
% present.
\def\getproperty#1#2{%
  \expandafter\ifx\csname#1@p#2\endcsname\relax
  % then \empty
  \else \csname#1@p#2\endcsname
  \fi
}%
\makeatother
\newcommand*{\qps}{\setproperty{test}{aproperty}}
\newcommand*{\qpg}{\getproperty{test}{aproperty}}
\newcommand\qo{\par\qps}
\newlength{\myl}
\newcommand\qp{\qpg\settowidth{\myl}{\qpg}\hfill\the\myl}
\begin{document}
\begin{tabular}{p{0.25\textwidth}p{.23\textwidth}p{.23\textwidth}}
\LaTeX\ command & text mode & math mode 
\qh HH\par H H\par H\{ \}H\par H\~{}H\par H\textbackslash\ H\par H\textbackslash,H\par H\textbackslash>H\par H\textbackslash:H\par H\textbackslash;H\par H\textbackslash thinspace H\par H\textbackslash space H\par H\textbackslash enspace H\par H\textbackslash quad H\par H\textbackslash qquad H
&\qo{HH}\qp\qo{H H}\qp\qo{H{ }H}\qp\qo{H~H}\qp\qo{H\ H}\qp\qo{H\, H}\qp\qo{~}\qp\qo{~}\qp\qo{~}\qp\qo{H\thinspace H}\qp\qo{H\space H}\qp\qo{H\enspace H}\qp\qo{H\quad H}\qp\qo{H\qquad H}\qp
&\qo{$HH$}\qp\qo{$H H$}\qp\qo{$H{ }H$}\qp\qo{$H~H$}\qp\qo{$H\ H$}\qp\qo{$H\,H$}\qp\qo{$H\>H$}\qp\qo{$H\:H$}\qp\qo{$H\;H$}\qp\qo{$H\thinspace H$}\qp\qo{$H\space H$}\qp\qo{$H\enspace H$}\qp\qo{$H\quad H$}\qp\qo{$H\qquad H$}\qp
\qh HH\par H\textbackslash!H\par H\textbackslash negthinspace H&\qo{HH}\qp\qo{~}\qp\qo{H\negthinspace H}\qp&\qo{$HH$}\qp\qo{$H\!H$}\qp\qo{$H\negthinspace H$}\qp
\qh \{\textbackslash itshape H\}H\par\{\textbackslash itshape H\}\textbackslash/H &\qo{{\itshape H}H}\qp\qo{{\itshape H}\/H}\qp&\qo{$H\textrm{H}$}\qp\qo{$H\/\textrm{H}$}\qp
\qh hH, H\par hH. H\par Hh. H\par hH\textbackslash@. H\par hH.\textbackslash\ H &\qo{hH, H}\qp\qo{hH. H}\qp\qo{Hh. H}\qp\qo{hH\@. H}\qp\qo{hH.\ H}\qp
\qh HH\par H\textbackslash hfill H\par H\textbackslash hrulefill H\par H\textbackslash dotfill H&HH\par H\hfill H\par H\hrulefill H\par H\dotfill H&$HH$\par$H\hfill H$\par$H\hrulefill H$\par$H\dotfill H$
\qh H\textbackslash kern2emH\par H\textbackslash kern-2emH\par H\textbackslash mkern36muH\par H\textbackslash mkern-36muH\par H\textbackslash hskip2emH H\textbackslash hskip-2emH\par H\textbackslash hspace{2em}H\par H\textbackslash hspace{-2em}H\par H\textbackslash hbox to2em{\textbackslash hss Z}H\par H\textbackslash hbox to2em{Z\textbackslash hss}H\par H\textbackslash hphantom\{HH\}H\par H\textbackslash phantom\{HH\}H
&\qo{H\kern2emH}\qp\qo{H\kern-2emH}\qp\qo{~}\qp\qo{~}\qp\qo{H\hskip2emH}\qp\qo{H\hskip-2emH}\qp\qo{H\hspace{2em}H}\qp\qo{H\hspace{-2em}H}\qp\qo{H\hbox to2em{\hss Z}H}\qp\qo{H\hbox to2em{Z\hss}H}\qp\qo{H\hphantom{HH}H}\qp\qo{H\phantom{HH}H}\qp
&\qo{$H\kern2emH$}\qp\qo{$H\kern-2emH$}\qp\qo{$H\mkern36muH$}\qp\qo{$H\mkern-36muH$}\qp\qo{$H\hskip2emH$}\qp\qo{$H\hskip-2emH$}\qp\qo{$H\hspace{2em}H$}\qp\qo{$H\hspace{-2em}H$}\qp\qo{$H\hbox to2em{\hss Z}H$}\qp\qo{$H\hbox to2em{Z\hss}H$}\qp\qo{$H\hphantom{HH}H$}\qp\qo{$H\phantom{HH}H$}\qp
\\\hline\end{tabular}\end{document}

Output

Source and Reference

• https://texfaq.org/FAQ-clsvpkg
• https://ctan.org/topic/class
• https://www.latex-project.org/help/documentation/usrguide.pdf
• http://man.hubwiz.com/docset/LaTeX.docset/Contents/Resources/Documents/tug.org/texinfohtml/latex2e.html
• https://tex.loria.fr/general/mil.pdf
• https://latex.wikia.org/wiki/White_space
• https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/37094/what-is-the-recommended-way-to-assign-a-value-to-a-variable-and-retrieve-it-for
• https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/74353/what-commands-are-there-for-horizontal-spacing
• https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/45948/what-is-the-difference-between-hspace-fill-and-hfill