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<head>
<title>UK TeX FAQ -- question label gutter</title>
</head><body>
<h3>Why is the inside margin so narrow?</h3>
<p>If you give the standard classes the <code>twoside</code> option, the
class sets the margins narrow on the left of odd-numbered pages, and
on the right of even-numbered pages. This is often thought to look
odd, but it is quite right.
<p>The idea is that the typographic urge for symmetry should also apply
to margins: if you lay an even numbered page to the left of an
odd-numbered one, you will see that you’ve three equal chunks of
un-printed paper: the left margin of the even page, the right margin
of the odd page, and the two abutting margins together.
<p>This is all very fine in the abstract, but in practical book(let)
production it only works “sometimes”.
<p>If your booklet is produced on double-width paper and stapled, the
effect will be good; if your book(let) is produced using a so-called
“perfect” binding, the effect will again be good.
<p>However, almost any “quality” book-binder will need some of your
paper to grab hold of, and a book bound in such a way won’t exhibit
the treasured symmetry unless you’ve done something about the margin
settings.
<p>The packages recommended in
“<a href="FAQ-marginpkgs.html">setting up margins</a>” mostly have provision for
a “binding offset” or a “binding correction” — search for
“binding” in the manuals (<i>vmargin</i> doesn’t help, here).
<p>If you’re doing the job by hand (see
<a href="FAQ-marginmanual.html">manual margin setup</a>), the trick is to
calculate your page and margin dimensions as normal, and then:
<ul>
<li> subtract the binding offset from <code>\</code><code>evensidemargin</code>, and
<li> add the binding offset to <code>\</code><code>oddsidemargin</code>.
</ul>
which can be achieved by:
<blockquote>
<pre>
\addtolength{\evensidemargin}{-offset}
\addtolength{\oddsidemargin}{offset}
</pre>
</blockquote><p>
(substituting something sensible like “<code>5mm</code>” for
“<code>offset</code>”, above).
<p>The above may not be the best you can do: you may well choose to
change the <code>\</code><code>textwidth</code> in the presence of the binding offset; but
the changes do work for constant <code>\</code><code>textwidth</code>.
<p><p><p><p>This question on the Web: <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=gutter">http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=gutter</a>
</body>
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