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

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### 19.2 `\hspace`

Synopsis, one of:

    \hspace{length}
    \hspace*{length}

Insert the horizontal space length. The length can be positive, negative, or zero; adding negative space is like backspacing. It is a rubber length, that is, it may contain a `plus` or `minus` component, or both (see Lengths). Because the space is stretchable and shrinkable, it is sometimes called glue.

This makes a line with ‘`Name:`’ an inch from the right margin.

    \noindent\makebox[\linewidth][r]{Name:\hspace{1in}}

The `*`-version inserts horizontal space that non-discardable. More precisely, when TeX breaks a paragraph into lines any white space—glues and kerns—that come at a line break are discarded. The `*`-version avoids that (technically, it adds a non-discardable invisible item in front of the space).

In this example

    \parbox{0.8\linewidth}{%
      Fill in each blank: Four \hspace*{1in} and seven years ago our
      fathers brought forth on this continent, a new \hspace*{1in},
      conceived in \hspace*{1in}, and dedicated to the proposition
      that all men are created \hspace*{1in}.}

the 1 inch blank following ‘`conceived in`’ falls at the start of a line. If you erase the `*` then LaTeX discards the blank.

Here, the `\hspace` separates the three graphics.

    \begin{center}
      \includegraphics{lion.png}%   comment keeps out extra space
      \hspace{1cm minus 0.25cm}\includegraphics{tiger.png}%
      \hspace{1cm minus 0.25cm}\includegraphics{bear.png}
    \end{center}

Because the argument to each `\hspace` has `minus 0.25cm`, each can shrink a little if the three figures are too wide. But each space won’t shrink more than 0.25cm (see Lengths).

Unofficial LaTeX2e reference manual