Re: margins

["Joel C. Salomon" <joelcsalomon@gmail.com>]

On Mon, Mar 24, 2008 at 6:27 PM, Peter I. Hansen <peterih@gmail.com> wrote:
>  I'm typesetting a document to be printed in book format. For this
>  purpose I need the left margin of an odd numbered page to be larger
>  than the right margin, and the right margin of an even numbered page
>  to be larger than the left margin.

In other words, you want large inner margins and small outer margins.

>  However, the standard behaviour seems to be the opposite.

For very good reason.  When a two-page spread is laid flat, it usually
looks best if the outer margins are both approximately equal in width
to the combined inner margins.  The default layout takes that into
account.

While the binding of a book does "eat" some of the inner margin, it's
probably less than you think (IIRC, from ¼ʺ to ½ʺ, depending on the
binding method), and often the print shop can correct for that.  (If
you need to be exact, measure against a book bound where your book
will be and in the same method.)

--Joel
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