Command/setupinterlinespace

\setupinterlinespace

Summary

The command \setupinterlinespace is used to set the (general) baseline skip.

Settings

\setupinterlinespace[...,...][...=...,...]
[...,...]	name
line	dimension
height	number
depth	number
minheight	number
mindepth	number
distance	dimension
top	number height
bottom	number
stretch	number
shrink	number

Settings argument

\setupinterlinespace[...,...]
[...,...]	on off reset auto small medium big number dimension

Settings name

\setupinterlinespace[...]
[...]	name

Description

\setupinterlinespace sets up the distance between lines. can be used in three variants:

• Without any keywords:

  \setupinterlinespace

  The command sets the baselineskip to the default value of 2.8ex. Use this after changing the font size.

• With a keyword:

  \setupinterlinespace[KEYWORD]

  The following keywords are available:
  • reset
  • small
  • medium
  • big
  • on
  • off

• Setting all the parameters involved in line positioning:
  • line: base interline spacing (baselineskip) (e.g. 3ex or 12pt)
  • height: size of strut as multiple of line (e.g. 0.72)
  • depth: size of strut as multiple of line (e.g. 0.28)
  • top: topskip (as multiple of line height)
  • bottom: maxdepth (as multiple of line height)
  • stretch: (glue) line stretching

Note that the lineheight as shown in \showlayout is calculated from the baselineskip. However, a baselineskip of 0 will result in a hardcoded value being used, so refrain from that. If you want the lineheight to never exceed the font size, use a very small value such as 1pt for line.

When setting up the interlinespace, the unit matters:

% interline space adapts itself to body font size
\setupinterlinespace[line=2.8ex]

% set interlinespace to 12pt for every font size --- don’t do this!
\setupinterlinespace[line=12pt]

% set interlinespace for a particular body font size
% Useful if you think in terms of "nine-point type on eleven-point leading"
\definebodyfontenvironment[9pt][interlinespace=11pt]

Examples

Call \setupinterlinespace after a font change

\setupwhitespace[big]
Original baselineskip=\the\baselineskip

{   \definedfont[Serif at 12pt]
    The interlinespace does not change automatically when the font changes\crlf
    baselineskip=\the\baselineskip
}

{   \definedfont[Serif at 12pt]
    \setupinterlinespace
    Invoking setupinterlinespace sets baselineskip to 2.8ex of current font\crlf
    baselineskip=\the\baselineskip
}

Example within \startnarrower...\stopnarrower

\setupinterlinespace[5] % this has no effect before \starttext

\starttext
\input tufte % this is default, not 5
\setupinterlinespace[big]
\input tufte % this is big

\startnarrower[left]
\setupinterlinespace[small]
\input tufte % this is small
\stopnarrower

\input tufte % this is big again
\stoptext

Notes

• By Hraban on 2024-04-01T19:46:18+0200:

It seems that \setupinterlinespace[line=XX\baselineskip] interacts badly with \setuplayout while \setupinterlinespace[big] works fine.

See also

• \defineinterlinespace
• spac-ver.mkiv
• \setuplocalinterlinespace to set interline spacing locally
• \definebodyfontenvironment with keyword interlinespace to set interline spacing globally
• \setupwhitespace to set up inter-paragraph spacing

Help from ConTeXt-Mailinglist/Forum

All issues with:

• \setupinterlinespace on the mailing list (all results)
• \setupinterlinespace on the mailing list (subject only)
• \setupinterlinespace on stack exchange
• \setupinterlinespace in ConTeXt's source