Paragraphs, line breaks and spacing
Leave a blank line in the source to start a new paragraph, and end a line with \\ to break it inside a paragraph. Spaces between words come from the typesetter; ~ keeps two words together and \, adds a thin space.
Paragraphs
LaTeX joins the lines of your source into paragraphs. A single line break is the same as a space; a blank line (or \par) ends the paragraph.
A blank line starts a new paragraph
These two lines
form one paragraph.
This is a second paragraph. Its first line is indented.
\par And \verb|\par| starts a third one.
Every paragraph starts with an indent, except the first one after a heading, a list or a display block, and the first one of the document. There is no extra space between paragraphs, as in a TeX installation.
Several spaces in a row count as one, and so do spaces at the start of a line. That is why you can indent your source freely.
Line breaks
\\ or \newline breaks the line but stays in the same paragraph: the next line is not indented. Use it for addresses, poems and similar short lines; for normal text, prefer paragraphs.
Line breaks with \\ and \newline
Erika Mustermann\\
Musterstraße 44\\
12345 Musterstadt
Roses are red,\newline violets are blue.\\[1em] asks for extra space after the break. Scissor LaTeX makes the break but leaves out the extra space.
Spaces between words
| Write | Gives | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
~ | a space that never breaks | Figure~2, Dr.~Doe, 44~km |
\, | a thin space | 10\,km, 4\,400 |
\ (backslash space) | a normal space | after a command: \LaTeX\ is |
\quad | a wide space (1 em) | spacing in text and formulas |
\qquad | twice as wide |
Non-breaking, thin and wide spaces
See Figure~2 on page~44. The trail is 12\,km long
and climbs 4\,400 metres.\quad Wide gap.\qquad Wider gap.
Typeset with \LaTeX\ in a browser.
Vertical space and indents
Many documents adjust spacing by hand. Scissor LaTeX lays out paragraphs by itself and accepts these commands without applying them, so they do no harm but have no effect:
| Command | In a TeX installation | In Scissor LaTeX |
|---|---|---|
\vspace{...}, \vspace*{...} | vertical space | Ignored |
\smallskip, \medskip, \bigskip | small, medium, big vertical space | Ignored |
\hspace{...}, \hfill | horizontal space, fill the line | Ignored |
\vfill | push text to the bottom of the page | Ignored |
\noindent, \indent | no indent, an indent | Ignored: the paragraph keeps its normal indent |
\setlength{\parindent}{...}, \setlength{\parskip}{...} in the preamble | indent, space between paragraphs | Ignored |
\linespread, setspace package | line spacing | Ignored |
\newpage, \clearpage | a new page | Works |
\noindent, \vspace and \hspace change nothing here
\noindent This paragraph keeps its indent.
\vspace{2cm}
No extra space above this line. A\hspace{2cm}B and
left \hfill right stay close together.Centred and right-aligned text
The center environment centres each line, and flushright sets text against the right margin. \centering inside a figure or table centres its content.
Centred and right-aligned text
\begin{center}
Minutes of the 44th meeting
\end{center}
\begin{flushright}
Berlin, 6 November 2026
\end{flushright}
The meeting opened at ten.flushleft is accepted; its text is set as normal paragraphs, which are already left-aligned. \raggedright and \raggedleft are ignored, so the text stays justified.
Quotations
quote and quotation set a block of text indented on both sides, for longer quotations.
A quotation block
John Doe wrote in his notes:
\begin{quote}
Measure twice, typeset once.
\end{quote}
We agree.New pages
\newpage and \clearpage end the current page; \include starts one too. \pagebreak works like \newpage. With the report and book classes, every chapter starts on a new page by itself.
What differs from a TeX installation
See also Page layout, Text styles and Differences.
Questions and answers
How do I make a new line in LaTeX?
End the line with \\ (or \newline). For a new paragraph, leave a blank line instead.
Why does \vspace not add space?
Scissor LaTeX lays out vertical space itself and ignores \vspace and the skip commands. Structure the text with sections and paragraphs instead.
How do I keep two words on the same line?
Put ~ between them instead of a space, as in Figure~2.
Every example on this page is typeset by Scissor LaTeX when the site is built. Last updated 2026-11-06.