This is a quick hack to make editing manuscripts prepared in $\LaTeX$ much easier: Add line spacing and line numbering.
I write a lot of things in $\LaTeX$. And yet, I like to revise and review manuscripts offline with a pen, paper, and some coffee. Adding line numbers and huge gaps between lines makes revising a manuscript much more pleasant. Have a look at these two examples. Which one would you rather edit?
To add line numbers, use the package lineno.
\usepackage{lineno} %% for number lines in edit mode
\linenumbers
To add a huge amount of space between lines, adjust \linespread like this.
\begin{document}
\linespread{3}\selectfont
Here are some minimal working examples of this setup.
The latter uses docstrip, my favourite $\LaTeX$ hack.
It adds two guards line-number and triple-space which toggle these features.
If you enable the guard paper-edit then it will toggle both features on.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{lipsum} % for Lorem Ipsum copy
\usepackage{lineno} %% for number lines in edit mode
\linenumbers
\begin{document}
\linespread{3}\selectfont
\lipsum[3]
\end{document}
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{lipsum} % for Lorem Ipsum copy
\usepackage{lineno} %% for number lines in edit mode
%<number-lines|paper-edit>\linenumbers
\begin{document}
%<triple-space|paper-edit>\linespread{3}\selectfont
\lipsum[3]
\end{document}
I cannot believe how long I suffered scribbling in the margins of documents. It was only when I read A Handbook for Scholars by Mary-Claire van Leunen, that the light dawned. The whole book is full of witty moments but here is the one from The Medium of Composition which inspired this post.
Published: Jun 14, 2024
Last Modified: Jul 11, 2024
Thanks for reading! If you have any comments or questions about the content, please let me know. Anyone can contact me by email.