TeX/hskip

Syntax

 \hskip <dimen1> plus <dimen2> minus <dimen3>
 \vskip <dimen1> plus <dimen2> minus <dimen3>
 \mskip <dimen1> plus <dimen2> minus <dimen3>

Description

The commands \hskip and \vskip produce horizontal and vertical glue respectively, while \mskip produces horizontal glue in math mode. These commands skip over a distance of <dimen1>, which can be stretched by <dimen2> or shrunk by <dimen3>. Either the plus <dimen2>, the minus <dimen3>, or both can be omitted (the omitted values are taken to be zero). Any of <dimen1>, <dimen2> and <dimen3> is a TeX dimension and can be negative.

Should a line break occur immediately before or after one of these commands, then the intended distance/glue will not be inserted!

Example: the following command produces a horizontal glue of 3cm which can be stretched by 5mm:

 \hskip 3cm plus 5mm

See also:

• TeX dimensions
• \mskip
• \hfill
• \hfil
• \hss
• \vss
• \hfilneg