[OS X TeX] page setting + a general comment

[Stephen Moye]

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}
>
> \begin{document}
>
> To set dimensions for page layout in LATEX is not straightforward.  
> You need to adjust several LATEX native dimensions to place a text  
> area where you want If you want to center the text area in the paper  
> you use, for example, you have to specify native dimensions as  
> follows . . . Package geometry provides an easy way to set page  
> layout parameters. In this case, what you have to do is just . . .
>
> \end{document}

Remove \usepackage{geometry} and your example compiles:

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

  To get what you want, then, try:

\usepackage[a4paper,margin=.5in]{geometry}


>
> 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?

Ah, well, I  guess that is a matter of perspective. I have found  
learning (La)TeX challenging but ultimately rewarding. Reason? Because  
I cannot achieve the results (quality typography and portable files) I  
want in any other way -- so the time I spend wrestling with TeX is  
well spent, and, I guess, to a point, pleasant (in much the same way I  
imagine that some -- not I -- find very hard physical exercise to be  
'pleasant').


>
>
> 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/
>
>
>
>
>
>
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