# Order of float placement parameters

Did you know that the order of the float placement specifiers h, t, b and p, like in

has absolutely no effect? Thus [hb] is exactly the same as [bh]: both allow the float only to be placed “here” or at the bottom but not the top of a page nor on a float page.

The order of possible positions is hard-coded in the algorithm: 1. here, 2. top of this page, 3. bottom of this page, 4. float page, 5. top of next page and finally 6. bottom of next page.

# Point vs. Big Point

In TeX 1pt (TeX point) is defined as 1/72.27 inch. Many other applications like Word and Adobe InDesign etc. however use a slightly bigger point – defined as 1/72 inch – the DTP or PostScript Point. In TeX this unit is named Big Point: 1bp.

You may download a complete list of available units from my website: Length units in TeX (1.25 MB; direct download)

# Paragraphs – the right way

in LaTeX the only two regular ways to end a paragraph are an empty line or the \par macro. Thus

and

is basically the same.

Please do not use \\, \newline or anything else to “end” a paragraph; it is considered to be bad style and actually wrong: From LaTeX’s point of view this only ends the line but belongs to the same paragraph. Therefore the indention or skip between paragraphs can’t work properly.

# Automatic correction of widths in the table of contents

The default widths of numbers in the ToC are static. This can lead to problems with large sectioning numbers as well as large page numbers. It’s even more relevant for Roman numbering, where the width of numbers is even wider. In such cases, numbers and textual entries of the ToC may overlap.

You can fix this easily by: