More about the \raggedright command

 

The \raggedright command in LaTeX was in a previous blog post and it should be explained further. The initial situation was after inserting the command, a former LaTeX formatted document looks very unusual. It seems that everything what is known as the typical formatted layout is the result of justified text.

Perhaps it makes sense to explain it in detail. In the default formatting style, latex formats the text always in the justified way. That means one column text and two column as well has on the right side a perfect line from top to bottom. This edge is create by intelligent word wrap plus hyphenation plus microtypographic adjustment. The reason why justified text is seen as a must have is because of historical reason. In the long history of western typography the situation was that a two column text was formatted with a justified way.

Even mechanical typesetting like the Linotype were able in doing so. That means, 99% of typography is about creating a justified text. LaTeX can do this as well but it is working with algorithm which improves the quality drastically.

The working hypothesis that good typography is equal in using justified text. So the term good is referencing to this single style technique which is used since hundred of years? A rough description comes to the conclusion that justified text looks professional while missing justification looks unprofessional. What all the academic papers, books and newspapers have in common is that they are using justified text. It is the unwritten rule in typography. The open question is if this rule makes sense anymore. Sure, latex is a great software for creating justified text but what is the underlying purpose? Will a text loose the readers or will it less readable if justified layout is not there?

The interesting situation is that in the Internet world, justificated text is seldom available. All the browser including Firefox and working with a more simpler word wrapping technique. And nobody has complained that the text is difficult to read. So it seems that only in the pdf format the justified text has become the defacto standard?

Admitted the situation is a bit obscure. So let us listen to the expert why justified text is widespread use. The idea is that a twocolumn text which is justified on the right edge looks better. Better in terms that it is more professional and it has something in common with an artist work Exactly this kind of layout is seeked by the latex community. They want to create a layout which looks classic and shows a high professionalism.