Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!fernwood!apple!usc!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!oscsunb!spencer
From: spencer@osc.edu (Stephen N. Spencer)
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Subject: Re: margins (what am I missing?)
Message-ID: <1023@gertie.osc.edu>
Date: 11 Oct 90 12:45:06 GMT
References: <90284.002343ERSHC@CUNYVM.BITNET>
Reply-To: spencer@cgrg.ohio-state.edu (Stephen N. Spencer)
Organization: OSU Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design
Lines: 42

In article <90284.002343ERSHC@CUNYVM.BITNET> ERSHC@CUNYVM writes:
>I want to print a page (8.5in wide) with .5in margins left and right.
>When I :textwidth = 7in (in LaTeX), I get the regular 1.75in left
>margin, and print running off the page. I've looked through both
>the TeXbook and LaTeX, and can't find a way to do this. Am I missing
>something (like brains)?
>

From the LaTeX book, p. 163:

\oddsidemargin	One inch less than the distance from the left edge of the paper
	to the left margin of the text on right-hand pages.

\evensidemargin	The same as \oddsidemargin except for left-hand pages.

This ends our reading from the book of Lamport.  :-) :-)

I looked at our 'fullpage.sty' which has both \oddsidemargin and 
\evensidemargin set to 0in, and \textwidth set to 6.5in, which means that 
it would have 1 inch margins.

I made a new style, called it 'widepage', and set it up like this:

\topmargin-.25in
\textheight8.5in
\evensidemargin-.5in \oddsidemargin-.5in
\textwidth7.5in

This indeed gives a 7.5 inch wide block for text, with 0.5 inch margins on
the left and right.  Since the margin variables are -0.5 inch, the margins
will be one inch MORE than these variables, hence 0.5 inch margins.

Hope this helps...

steve


-- 
Stephen N. Spencer      | "Gentlemen!  You can't fight in here!
ACCAD, 1224 Kinnear Rd. |  This is the WAR room!" 
Columbus OH 43212-1163  |			   - Dr. Strangelove
spencer@cgrg.ohio-state.edu||71160.3141@compuserve.com||stephen_spencer@osu.edu