Page Layout - Layout & Graphics Course

A well-designed page is invisible. The reader doesn’t notice margins, headers, or spacing; they just find the text easy to read. This chapter covers the tools that make that happen.

The `geometry` Package

geometry is the standard way to set page dimensions:

% Simple: uniform margins
\usepackage[margin=1in]{geometry}

% Different margins
\usepackage[
    top=1in,
    bottom=1in,
    left=1.25in,
    right=1in
]{geometry}

% A5 with tight margins (for print)
\usepackage[
    a5paper,
    top=20mm,
    bottom=20mm,
    inner=15mm,
    outer=15mm
]{geometry}

% Specify text area dimensions
\usepackage[
    textwidth=5.5in,
    textheight=8.5in,
    centering
]{geometry}

Twoside Layouts

For two-sided printing (the default for book), use inner/outer instead of left/right:

\usepackage[
    twoside,
    inner=1.25in,   % Binding side (larger)
    outer=1in        % Outer edge
]{geometry}

The inner margin is where the binding goes. Make it slightly larger so text isn’t swallowed by the spine.

Tip: This book uses two layouts. The US Letter version: [margin=1in]. The A5 print version: [top=20mm, bottom=20mm, left=15mm, right=15mm]. Both share the same content through a common preamble file.

Headers and Footers with `fancyhdr`

\usepackage{fancyhdr}
\pagestyle{fancy}
\fancyhf{}                              % Clear all
\fancyhead[LE]{\small\textit{Book Title}}  % Left on even pages
\fancyhead[RO]{\small\textit{\leftmark}}   % Right on odd pages
\fancyfoot[C]{\thepage}                    % Centered page number
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0.4pt}       % Header line
\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0pt}         % No footer line

The position codes:

L = Left, C = Center, R = Right
E = Even pages, O = Odd pages
LE = Left on even pages, RO = Right on odd pages

Automatic marks:

\leftmark — current chapter name
\rightmark — current section name

Plain Pages

Chapter opening pages use the plain style by default. To customize them:

\fancypagestyle{plain}{
    \fancyhf{}
    \fancyfoot[C]{\thepage}
    \renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0pt}
}

Title Formatting with `titlesec`

\usepackage{titlesec}

% Chapter: "Chapter N" above, title below
\titleformat{\chapter}[display]
    {\huge\bfseries\color{ramanujanblue}}
    {\chaptertitlename\ \thechapter}
    {20pt}
    {\Huge}

% Section: number and title inline
\titleformat{\section}
    {\Large\bfseries\color{ramanujanblue}}
    {\thesection}
    {1em}
    {}

% Spacing: {left}{before}{after}
\titlespacing{\chapter}{0pt}{50pt}{40pt}
\titlespacing{\section}{0pt}{3.5ex plus 1ex minus 0.2ex}
                              {2.3ex plus 0.2ex}

\tableofcontents
\listoffigures     % Optional
\listoftables      % Optional

Customizing TOC Depth

% Show down to subsections in TOC
\setcounter{tocdepth}{2}

% Number down to subsubsections
\setcounter{secnumdepth}{3}

For more advanced TOC styling, the tocloft package provides full control over fonts, spacing, and leader dots.

Multi-Column Layouts

Class Option

\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}

This sets the entire document in two columns.

Local Multi-Column

For multi-column sections within a single-column document, use multicol:

\usepackage{multicol}

\begin{multicols}{3}
  Content flows across three columns here.
  Column breaks happen automatically.
\end{multicols}

Title Pages

The Default Title

\title{My Document}
\author{Name \and Co-Author}
\date{\today}
\maketitle

Custom Title Pages

For full control, use the titlepage environment:

\begin{titlepage}
    \centering
    \vspace*{2cm}
    {\Huge\bfseries\color{ramanujanblue} Book Title}
    \vspace{1cm}
    {\Large Subtitle}
    \vspace{2cm}
    {\large\textbf{Author Name}}
    \vfill
    {\small Institution \\ \today}
\end{titlepage}

\vspace* works at the top of a page (unlike \vspace, which is ignored). \vfill pushes content to the bottom.

Footnotes and Margin Notes

This has a footnote\footnote{The footnote text appears
at the bottom of the page.}.

\marginpar{This appears in the margin.}

Spacing Commands

Command: \vspace{...} | Effect: Vertical space (flexible)
Command: \vspace*{...} | Effect: Vertical space (even at page top)
Command: \hspace{...} | Effect: Horizontal space
Command: \vfill | Effect: Fills remaining vertical space
Command: \hfill | Effect: Fills remaining horizontal space
Command: \newpage | Effect: Start new page
Command: \clearpage | Effect: Start new page, flush all floats
Command: \cleardoublepage | Effect: Start new right-hand page (book class)
Command: \phantom{...} | Effect: Invisible space matching text dimensions
This Book as a Case Study

This book demonstrates the layout techniques from this chapter:

Class: book with [11pt,letterpaper,twoside,openright]
Margins: [margin=1in] via geometry
Fonts: STIX Two Text/Math via fontspec/unicode-math
Headers: Book title (even left) and chapter name (odd right) via fancyhdr
Colors: ramanujanblue for headings and links, accentgold for tips
Title formatting: Custom chapter/section styles via titlesec
Boxes: Seven custom tcolorbox environments for code, output, tips, warnings, exercises, keyboard shortcuts, and comparisons
Two variants: The same content compiles to both US Letter (11pt, 1in margins) and A5 (10pt, 15–20mm margins) through separate main files sharing a common preamble

Exercises:

Create a document with custom margins (1.5in left for binding, 1in right, 0.75in top/bottom). Add headers with your document title on even pages and section name on odd pages.

Design a title page for a fictional thesis using the titlepage environment. Include: university name, degree, title, author, advisor, date, and a university logo placeholder.

Create two versions of the same document: one optimized for screen reading (wide margins, large text) and one for print (narrow margins, smaller text). Use separate main files with a shared preamble.

Set up a multi-column index or glossary using the multicol package with three columns.

The geometry Package