12.10 @need mils: Prevent Page Breaks

A line containing only @need n starts a new page in a printed manual if fewer than n mils (thousandths of an inch) remain on the current page. Do not use braces around the argument n. The @need command has no effect on other output formats since they are not paginated.

This paragraph is preceded by a @need command that tells TeX to start a new page if fewer than 800 mils (eight-tenths inch) remain on the page. It looks like this:

@need 800
This paragraph is preceded by …

The @need command is useful for preventing orphans: single lines at the bottoms of printed pages.