Re: latex packages
Nori Heikkinen <nori@sccs.swarthmore.edu> writes:
> on Wed, 23 Jan 2002 01:05:25PM -0800, Richard Otte insinuated:
> > Nori,
> > I saw a recent message about not displaying the page number on the first
> > page of a Latex document. What interested me is that you said you
> > start every .tex file off with some material, that includes:
> >
> > \usepackage{geometry}
> > \geometry{tmargin=1in,bmargin=1in}
> >
> > I am just beginning to use latex, but I've noticed my top and bottom
> > margins are huge.
This was done because TeX was designed to create readable and
publishable documents. It is typesetting, not word processing. The
large margins are there for typographical reasons---it is supposed to
look good and be easy on the eyes. Double spaced, 1 inch margins can
be produced with any word processor and look like it. I find them
much uglier and more difficult to read. One of the great things about
TeX and LaTeX is that the formatting garbage is mostly taken out of
your cares. The programs generally do a good job formatting docs,
although they are not perfect. So, I would encourage you to give the
standard TeX/LaTeX algorithms a chance. And also take a look at the
TeX User Group's webpage (www.tug.org) for some links to stuff on
typography.
Now, if you have publishing requirements for document characteristics,
like 1 inch margins and double-spaced, then you need to use geometry
for printable page area. Another handy one is the setspace package,
which allows you to set the spacing. But, it intelligently does not
carry the spacing through the tables, it only affects the spacing of
the text. As others have mentioned, these packages are all available
at www.ctan.org. One can browse or search. If you join the TeX
Users Group, you get these things via mail on CDROM every year.
Good luck.
Brian
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