「下記」vs 「以下」usage


In mails and documents I see the phrases「下記に表します」、「以下に表します」or
「下記の件。。。」、「以下の件。。。」.

I know they're both saying "the following (see below, etc)", but are there
cases when you should use one over the other or are they pretty much always
interchangeable?




Let me start by saying that 下記｛かき｝can only be used with the meaning of
"below", "hereafter", whereas 以下｛いか｝has many other meanings, most notably
"less than", "not more than", "not exceeding (some amount)".

When talking about text that will follow the current sentence, both can be
used. There is however a subtle difference, that shouldn't matter much outside
of formal contexts:

  * When using 以下, the following text should be on the same line / in the same paragraph, i.e. follow immediately without changes in appearance.
  * Using 下記 means that the follow-up text will occupy a whole text unit, i.e. a full paragraph, or maybe a bullet-point list. It can also refer to some bibliography item or attached document.

