Tabular Row Spacing

We've already covered how to deal with the row height in latex, but what if you want to make only certain rows separated. When designing a table with multiple lines per cell we will use the \hline structure to make the table seem like it has multiple rows.


In this case we need to separate the rows individually, which can be done at the end of the tabular line. Consider the following code:

\begin{tabular}{rl}
{\bf First Column} & {\bf Second Column} \\\hline \\ [-1.5ex]
First Item & First Attribute \\
& Second Attribute \\
& Third Attribute \\ [1ex] \hline \\ [-1.5ex]
Second Item & First Attribute \\
& Second Attribute \\
& Third Attribute \\
& Fourth Attribute \\ [1ex] \hline \\ [-1.5ex]
Third Item & First Attribute \\
& Second Attribute \\ [1ex] \hline \\ [-1.5ex]
Fourth Item & First Attribute \\
& Second Attribute \\
& Third Attribute \\ [1ex] \hline \\ [-1.5ex]
\end{tabular}

Putting [1ex] at the end of a line creates that much extra space after the line. The idea here is to make 1ex before the \hline, and then put a completely blank line after it. the [-1.5ex] moves the line after the \hline up, making the gap less than a full line. The result is in the following image: