Time for action – adding nicer horizontal lines with the booktabs package

We shall use the new commands introduced by booktabs:

1. In the previous example, load the package booktabs:

   \usepackage{booktabs}

2. Use \toprule, \midrule, and \bottomrule instead of \hline. Specify a thickness as an optional argument:

   \begin{tabular}{ccc}
     \toprule[1.5pt]
     \head{Command} & \head{Declaration} & \head{Output}\\
     \midrule
     \verb|\textrm| & \verb|\rmfamily| & \rmfamily Example text\\
     \verb|\textsf| & \verb|\sffamily| & \sffamily Example text\\
     \verb|\texttt| & \verb|\ttfamily| & \ttfamily Example text\\
     \bottomrule[1.5pt]
   \end{tabular}

3. Typeset to see the difference:

   

What just happened?

British typesetters call a line a rule. The booktabs developer chose this terminology for the new commands. We used three of them. These are their definitions:

• \toprule[thickness] may be used to draw a horizontal line at the top of the table. If desired, a thickness may be specified, like 1pt...