add tag
Trevor
In MetaPost, I am trying to place several labels so that their baselines all are aligned. Consider the following command:
```
label.bot(btex $a_t$ etex, (0,0));
label.bot(btex $b{+}d$ etex, (14,0));
label.bot(btex $c{\times}e$ etex,(32,0));
```
![orig_line.png](/image?hash=3e1a408bc4f2ec1dcf695a56f6128ea905c563b5e65c88b2c49657cf33f6defb)
Unfortunately, this command places each label's baseline at a different vertical position. I would like all of their baselines to be at the same vertical position.

**How can I align the labels by their baselines?**
Top Answer
Trevor
One solution is to use `\strut` or `\mathstrut`:
```
label.bot(btex $\mathstrut a_t$ etex, (0,0));
label.bot(btex $\mathstrut b{+}d$ etex, (14,0));
label.bot(btex $\mathstrut c{\times}e$ etex,(32,0));
```
![new_line.png](/image?hash=36eb399d3988f03d64a063f2c469c72371c1518da6fa6d67a2c8611a5cac4a34)

*Source:* This technique is mentioned in Sections 11.2.2 & 17.7 of [Drawing With MetaPost](https://github.com/thruston/Drawing-with-Metapost/blob/master/Drawing-with-Metapost.pdf) by Toby Thurston.

This room is for discussion about this question.

Once logged in you can direct comments to any contributor here.

Enter question or answer id or url (and optionally further answer ids/urls from the same question) from

Separate each id/url with a space. No need to list your own answers; they will be imported automatically.