diff options
author | Karl Berry <karl@freefriends.org> | 2005-12-29 00:31:48 +0000 |
---|---|---|
committer | Karl Berry <karl@freefriends.org> | 2005-12-29 00:31:48 +0000 |
commit | a9d59a2d83b345581f2eb0c6b7f08c091f5622f0 (patch) | |
tree | 00fba7fbf3f00c16be8699398c6e4c2a256c68ac /Master/texmf-doc/doc/english/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-changemargin.html | |
parent | 89caab08d62b22519b44acf582a5fc3d302cbd60 (diff) |
doc/english/F-ca
git-svn-id: svn://tug.org/texlive/trunk@19 c570f23f-e606-0410-a88d-b1316a301751
Diffstat (limited to 'Master/texmf-doc/doc/english/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-changemargin.html')
-rw-r--r-- | Master/texmf-doc/doc/english/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-changemargin.html | 102 |
1 files changed, 102 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Master/texmf-doc/doc/english/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-changemargin.html b/Master/texmf-doc/doc/english/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-changemargin.html new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..9c95b56aff8 --- /dev/null +++ b/Master/texmf-doc/doc/english/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-changemargin.html @@ -0,0 +1,102 @@ +<head> +<title>UK TeX FAQ -- question label changemargin</title> +</head><body> +<h3>Changing the margins in LaTeX</h3> +<p>Changing the layout of a document's text on the page involves several +subtleties not often realised by the beginner. There are interactions +between fundamental TeX constraints, constraints related to the +design of LaTeX, and good typesetting and design practice, that +mean that any change must be very carefully considered, both to ensure +that it "works" and to ensure that the result is pleasing to the +eye. +<p>Lamport's warning to beginners in his section on 'Customizing the +Style' - "don't do it" - needs to be taken seriously. One-inch +margins on A4 paper are fine for 10- or 12-pitch typewriters, but not +for 10pt (or even 11pt or 12pt) type because readers find such wide, +dense, lines difficult to read: there should ideally be no more than +75 characters per line (though the constraints change for two-column +text). +<p>The 'ultimate' tool for adjusting the dimensions and position of the +printed material on the page is the <i>geometry</i> package; a very +wide range of adjustments of the layout may be relatively +straightforwardly programmed, and package documentation is good and +comprehensive. +<p>Somewhat simpler to use is the <i>vmargin</i> package, which has a +canned set of paper sizes (a superset of that provided in LaTeX2e), +provision for custom paper, margin adjustments and provision for +two-sided printing. +<p>LaTeX controls the page layout with a number of parameters, which +allow you to change the distance from the edges of a page to the left +and top edges of your typeset text, the width and height of the text, +and the placement of other text on the page. However, they are +somewhat complex, and it is easy to get their interrelationships wrong +when redefining the page layout. The layout package defines a +<code>\</code><code>layout</code> command which draws a diagram of your existing page +layout, with the dimensions (but not their interrelationships) shown. +This FAQ recommends that you use a package to establish +consistent settings of the parameters: the interrelationships are +taken care of in the established packages, without you needing to +think about them. +<p>If you're still eager to "do it yourself", start by familiarising yourself +with LaTeX's page layout parameters. For example, see section C.5.3 of the +LaTeX manual (pp. 181-182), or corresponding sections in many of the other +good LaTeX manuals (see <a href="FAQ-books.html">LaTeX books</a>). +<p>The text height and width, <code>\</code><code>textheight</code> and <code>\</code><code>textwidth</code>, +require more care than you might expect: the height should be set to +fit an integral number of text lines, and the width should be +constrained by the number of characters per line, as mentioned above. +<p>Margins are controlled by three parameters. The pair +<code>\</code><code>oddsidemargin</code> and <code>\</code><code>evensidemargin</code> are so-called because it +is conventionally taken that odd-numbered pages appear on the +right-hand side of a two-page spread ('recto') and even-numbered pages +on the left-hand side ('verso'). Both parameters refer to the +left-hand margin; the right-hand margin is specified by implication, +from the size of <code>\</code><code>textwidth</code> and the width of the paper. The +"origin" (the zero position) on the page is one inch from the top of +the paper and one inch from the left side; positive horizontal +measurements extend right across the page, and positive vertical +measurements extend down the page. Thus, the parameters +<code>\</code><code>evensidemargin</code>, <code>\</code><code>oddsidemargin</code> and <code>\</code><code>topmargin</code>, should +be set to be 1 inch less than the true margin; for margins closer to +the left and top edges of the page than 1 inch, the margin parameters +must be set to negative values. +<p>Another surprise is that you cannot change the width or height of the +text within the document, simply by modifying the text size +parameters. The simple rule is that the parameters should only be +changed in the preamble of the document, i.e., before the +<code>\</code><code>begin{document}</code> statement. To adjust text width within a +document we define an environment: +<blockquote> +<pre> +\newenvironment{changemargin}[2]{% + \begin{list}{}{% + \setlength{\topsep}{0pt}% + \setlength{\leftmargin}{#1}% + \setlength{\rightmargin}{#2}% + \setlength{\listparindent}{\parindent}% + \setlength{\itemindent}{\parindent}% + \setlength{\parsep}{\parskip}% + }% + \item[]}{\end{list}} +</pre> +</blockquote> +This environment takes two arguments, and will indent the left and +right margins, respectively, by the parameters' values. Negative +values will cause the margins to be narrowed, so +<code>\</code><code>begin{changemargin}{-1cm}</code>{-1cm} narrows the left and right +margins by 1cm. +<p>The <i>chngpage</i> package provides ready-built commands to do the +above; it includes provision for changing the shifts applied to your +text according to whether you're on an odd or an even page of a +two-sided document. The package's documentation (in the file itself) +suggests a strategy for changing text dimensions between pages - as +mentioned above, changing the text dimensions within the body of a +page may lead to unpredictable results. +<dl> +<dt><tt><i>chngpage.sty</i></tt><dd><a href="ftp://cam.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/misc/chngpage.sty">macros/latex/contrib/misc/chngpage.sty</a> +<dt><tt><i>geometry.sty</i></tt><dd><a href="ftp://cam.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/geometry.zip">macros/latex/contrib/geometry</a> (<a href="ftp://cam.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/geometry.tar.gz">gzipped tar</a>, <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/geometry/">browse</a>) +<dt><tt><i>layout.sty</i></tt><dd>Distributed as part of <a href="ftp://cam.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/required/tools.zip">macros/latex/required/tools</a> (<a href="ftp://cam.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/required/tools.tar.gz">gzipped tar</a>, <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/required/tools/">browse</a>) +<dt><tt><i>vmargin.sty</i></tt><dd><a href="ftp://cam.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/vmargin.zip">macros/latex/contrib/vmargin</a> (<a href="ftp://cam.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/vmargin.tar.gz">gzipped tar</a>, <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/vmargin/">browse</a>) +</dl> +<p><p>This question on the Web: <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=changemargin">http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=changemargin</a> +</body> |