[OS X TeX] page setting + a general comment

[Charilaos Skiadas]

On Mar 1, 2008, at 10:09 PM, ludwik kowalski wrote:

> I am sorry to bother the list again. But I need help.
>
> 1) I am straggling with page setting. After reading the  
> introduction of the manual for the package Geometry (that someone  
> suggested) I produced the input file that is shown below.
>
> But I was not able to compile it. The error message was that the  
> \begin{document} is missing. But it is not missing. What am I doing  
> wrong? The only thing I want is to have 0.5 inch margins on the A4  
> page. Is there a way to accomplish this without bringing another  
> package (or packages)?
>
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
>
> \documentclass[a4paper]{article}
>
> \usepackage{geometry}
>
> \usepackage[text={7in,10in},centering]{geometry}
>
[snip]
>  = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Remove the first \usepackage{geometry}, and you'll be set to go.

You can only have a \usepackage{geometry} call once. You must either  
put its arguments as you've done in the second call (i.e. in [...] ),  
or you must use the \geometry command. I.e. this would also have been  
valid:

\documentclass[a4paper]{article}
\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{text={7in,10in},centering}
\begin{document}
....

> 2) P.S. I am discovering that learning LaTex is not a pleasant  
> experience. Learning Geometry, or Calculus, for example, is very  
> different in that respect. Why is it so?

How exactly are you trying to learn LaTeX? Have you seen this:
http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf

> Ludwik Kowalski, a retired physicist
> 5 Horizon Road, apt.2702, Fort Lee, NJ, 07024, USA
> Also an amateur journalist at http://csam.montclair.edu/~kowalski/cf/
>

Haris Skiadas
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Hanover College