\/ (LaTeX2e unofficial reference manual (November 2018))

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### 19.9 `\/`

Synopsis:

    before-character\/after-character

Insert an italic correction, a small space defined by the font designer for each character, to avoid the character colliding with whatever follows. When you use `\/`, LaTeX takes the correction from the font metric file, scales it by any scaling that has been applied to the font, and then inserts that much horizontal space.

Here, were it not for the `\/`, the before-character italic f would hit the after-character roman H

    \newcommand{\companylogo}{{\it f}\/H}

because the italic letter leans far to the right.

If after-character is a period or comma then don’t insert an italic correction since those punctuation symbols have a very small height. However, with semicolons or colons as well as with normal letters, the italic correction can help.

When you use commands such as `\textit` or `\itshape` to change fonts, LaTeX will automatically insert any needed italic correction (see Font styles).

Roman characters can also have an italic correction. An example is in the name `pdf\/\TeX`.

There is no concept of italic correction in math mode; spacing is done in a different way.

Unofficial LaTeX2e reference manual