Page Layout

TODO: Merge with PaperSetup and Paper sizes (See: To-Do List)

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For more on layout and page design see the manual chapter.

Warning!

At the moment a layoutchange (setuplayout) inside a page is not proper working in mkiv duplex mode. For more details and actual state see mailing list and Bug Layoutchange inside page while duplexmode.

Typesetting areas

The 25 typesetting areas of a ConTeXt page are divided into 5 columns and 5 rows. From left to right, one encounters leftedge, leftmargin, text, rightmargin, and rightedge. From top to bottom, the areas are called: top, header, text, footer, bottom. E.g. leftmargin is the margin area to the left of the main text area; {leftmargin,bottom} is below it, at the same height as the bottom area. In between the two lies the area {leftmargin,footer}.

The graphic below illustrates the areas and dimensions. The row and column names are written along the edges of the page. The arrows correspond to layout dimensions; the more important a dimension is (i.e. the more of the layout is pushed around when you change it), the thicker its arrow and the larger its name.

Defining the layout

Positioning the areas is by setting the following dimensions using \setuplayout. The dimensions are mentioned in order of how ‘primitive’ they are: e.g. altering the topspace pushes around all other vertical dimensions, but altering the header affects only the headerdistance and the textheight.

You always define a right page; if you use a double page layout, 'right' and 'left' values are mirrored on a left page. Doublesided typesetting is activated with \setuppagenumbering.

1. Set the backspace and width, and the topspace and height. The width is the width of the main typesetting area; the backspace is its distance from the left edge of the page. The height is the distance from the top of the header to the bottom of the footer; the topspace is the distance from the top edge of the page to the top of the header.
2. Set the header and headerdistance, and the footer and footerdistance. The header is the vertical size of the header area; the headerdistance is the distance from the header area to the text area. The footer and footerdistance work likewise.
3. Once the header(distance) and footer(distance) are subtracted from the height, what remains is the textheight: the height of the main typesetting area. Although it would be very useful, you cannot set this dimension directly.
4. If you want to typeset anything above the header, define topdistance (the distance from the top of the header to the bottom of the topmost typesetting area) and top (the height of the topmost typesetting area). For typesetting below the footer, define bottomdistance and bottom.
5. As for the horizontal dimensions apart from the width: starting at the left edge of the main text area, and moving away from the center, one first sets the leftmargindistance; then one sets the width leftmargin of the margin typesetting area; then one sets the leftedgedistance; and then there is the leftedge typesetting area. On the right: rightmargindistance, rightmargin, rightedgedistance, rightedge.

Paper size

Page size and paper size are set with \setuppapersize. Many paper sizes are already defined by name; see the list of paper sizes. To define a new paper size, use \definepapersize.

Example layout

\setuppapersize[A4][A4] % this is the default and may be omitted
\setuplayout[backspace=20mm,
    width=160mm,
    topspace=20mm,
    header=0mm,
    footer=0mm,
    height=250mm]

Multiple layouts

If you need to use different layouts in some parts of the document, you can set up a global layout, and then define additional named layouts for the deviating parts. You only need to specify the dimensions that differ: unspecified dimensions will be inherited from the global layout.

To switch to a different layout, call it up in the appropriate place in the document. To revert back to the global layout, use \setuplayout[reset].

\setuplayout[...] % global layout
\definelayout[wide][...] % layout of the first page

\setuplayout[wide]  % switch to layout called 'wide'
\setuplayout[reset] % switch back to the global layout

To specify in advance that you want to change layouts starting from page 4 (e.g.), use \definelayout[4][...]. Resetting the layout must be done explicitly; else, the new layout will be used until the end of the document.

% different layout for first two pages
\definelayout[1][wide]
\definelayout[3][reset]

Advanced features

• To allow Acrobat Reader users (among others?) to make layers visible/invisible at will, add the following command at the start of your file:

\showlayoutcomponents

• If you have a certain run of text that you want to keep together, you can test for the number of lines available on the current page with \testpage[n], where n is the number of lines required. If there are not n lines available, a page break will be inserted at the location of the \testpage command.

• If you need absolute positioning of objects (text, pictures) on the page, but ad-hoc rather than systematic, the Layers mechanism is more suitable.

• For layout from a XML/FO perspective, with some descriptive pictures, see At Paul Tremblay's XML ConTeXt site.

Table of Parameters

The first colum is the name by which the variable is set in \setuplayout. The second column is the name by which TeX stores the variable. This name is usually the same, but sometimes different; knowing it allows you to invoke it with code like The paper's height is \the\paperheight. Any remarks (usually a short description) are given in the third column.

\setuplayout[...]	dimension	Remarks
paperheight	\paperheight	height of paper page
paperwidth	\paperwidth	width of paper page
printpaperheight	\printpaperheight	differs from paperheight when using Imposition (arranging)
printpaperwidth	\printpaperwidth	differs from paperwidth when using Imposition (arranging)
topspace	\topspace	above header: from top rim of paper to to top rim of header
backspace	\backspace	from left rim of paper to left rim of main text area
height	\makeupheight	sum of heights of text area, header and footer (plus distances)
width	\makeupwidth	width of the main text area. \makeupwidth is normally same as \textwidth, but it can be different, for example in columns
top	\topheight	height of the top area
topdistance	\topdistance	between top and header
header	\headerheight	height of header area
headerdistance	\headerdistance	between header and text
textheight	\textheight	height of text area
footerdistance	\footerdistance	between text and footer
footer	\footerheight	height of footer area
bottomdistance	\bottomdistance	between footer and bottom
bottom	\bottomheight	space below footer (but isn't calculated automatically)
bottomspace	\bottomspace	space from bottom footer to bottom rim of paper
cutspace	\cutspace	from right rim of paper to right rim of main text area
leftedge	\leftedgewidth	from left rim of paper to left rim of left margin
leftedgedistance	\leftedgedistance	between leftegde and left margin
leftmargin	\leftmarginwidth	width of left margin (marginals space)
leftmargindistance	\leftmargindistance	between left margin and text
textwidth	\textwidth	width of text area. when columns are used, the value of \textwidth can differ from \makeupwidth
rightmargindistance	\rightmargindistance	between text area and right margin
rightmargin	\rightmarginwidth	width of right margin (marginals area)
rightedgedistance	\rightedgedistance	between right margin and right edge
rightedge	\rightedgewidth	from right margin to right rim of paper
horoffset	?	bleed from left of paper
voroffset	?	bleed from top of paper

Note:

• width=middle

    if cutspace == 0pt then
       cutspace = backspace
    end
    makeupwidth =  paperwidth- backspace -cutspace

• width=fit

      if cutspace == 0pt then
         cutspace = backspace
      end
      makeupwidth = paperwidth-cutspace
      scratchdimen = backspace - leftedgewidth-leftedgedistance-leftmarginwidth-leftmargindistance
      if scratchdimen< 0pt then
         scratchdimen = 0pt
      end
      makeupwidth = makeupwidth - rightmargindistance-rightmarginwidth- rightedgedistance-rightedgewidth- scratchdimen

• otherwise:

      makeupwidth=width
      if cutspace == 0pt then
         cutspace = paperwidth-makeupwidth-backspace
      else
           % A kind of inconsistent specification, but used
           % in for instance s-pre-19.tex; the cutspace is
           % used only for determining some kind of right
           % margin; don't use this in doublesided mode
      pass 
      end

(From page-lay.mkiv.)