Text Formatting ⇒ Space between figure and text

[avp3000]

Hello,

I get too much space between the caption of a figure and the following text. I searched for old posts and stumbled upon the command

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\textfloatsep

. However, I saw some examples for

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\setlength{\textfloatsep}{%%}

and noticed that for %% I have to use a value + value - value. As in

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\setlength
{\textfloatsep}{20pt plus 2pt minus 4pt}

. Can you tell what these values stay for, what are the default values under the article class and whether this is the right way to change the spacing at all.

Thank you very much in advance.

[gmedina]

That's and example of a "rubber length"; i.e., a one that has a natural length plus a degree of elasticity.

Something like 20.0pt plus 2.0pt minus 4.0pt represents a length with natural length of 20pt that can, if necessary, shrink to 18pt or expand to 24pt.

You can find the value of \textfloatsep by adding \the\textfloatsep to the body of your document. Once compiled you will see the value.

[avp3000]

Thanks gmedina, you gave me a very useful explanation