From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: John Hendy Subject: Re: setting left margin in PDF output of ORG file Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 18:13:35 -0500 Message-ID: References: <8761lz58c2.fsf@strey.biz> <87y4ypk12s.fsf@strey.biz> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Return-path: Received: from eggs.gnu.org ([2001:4830:134:3::10]:44164) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Weujx-0004NJ-Fz for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Mon, 28 Apr 2014 19:13:38 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Weujw-00057U-HB for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Mon, 28 Apr 2014 19:13:37 -0400 Received: from mail-oa0-x22d.google.com ([2607:f8b0:4003:c02::22d]:58902) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Weujw-00057P-BG for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Mon, 28 Apr 2014 19:13:36 -0400 Received: by mail-oa0-f45.google.com with SMTP id eb12so8038853oac.4 for ; Mon, 28 Apr 2014 16:13:35 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <87y4ypk12s.fsf@strey.biz> List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Sender: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: Michael Strey Cc: emacs-orgmode , "J. David Boyd" On Mon, Apr 28, 2014 at 8:58 AM, Michael Strey wrote: > > On 2014-04-25, John Hendy wrote: >> I have to ask: is whatever was once considered the golden ratio for >> text-to-whitespace in printed material, or even used by Gutenberg >> himself for proper typesetting considered relevant/best practice >> today? > > Yes, at least partly. "Verachtet mir die alten Meister nicht!" (Do not > condemn the old masters!) -- Richard Wagner Fair enough, but let's not forget that "the old masters" of the medical profession around that time were practicing bloodletting. > >> Default Org -> LaTeX article looks *ugly as all hell* to me. > > Check the Komascript classes. > >> Other than theoretical principle, is there evidence that readers >> prefer the look of the default LaTeX article sizing? > > Beyond all aesthetic meanings, there are some practical aspects that are > valid for all presentations of text to readers. The most important rule > is that the number of characters per line shall not exceed 70. Together > with the chosen font, its size, and tracking, this rule defines the > width of the type area. Together with the interlinear space, this rule > is relevant for the readability. The longer the line, the larger (but > not to large!) the interlinear space. > This is more what I was looking for, especially if there have been some studies on something like reading speed, comprehension, or perhaps some quantifiable measure of eye fatigue. After you wrote this, I definitely recognize that almost every journal, magazine, and newspaper article is in column format. I don't work in academia or write journal articles, but I do work at a very large technology company (manufacturing, consumer goods, advanced materials, etc., not software) and I've never seen a column formatted internal technical report. So my comment was more about inquiring why these conventions aren't followed if they're so vastly superior. I'd have figured I'd run into at least *some* teacher/professor at some point in my life who requested/suggested/taught about the benefits of fixed character-per-line typesetting? > Thus for printed papers where the most economical use of paper is > important, a multi-column layout is the way to go to get the smallest > margins. Also makes sense, and I hadn't thought about that -- default LaTeX just spits out an island of text some several inches in from all edges of the page, which never made sense to me (unless maybe I was writing a book, as that's the sort of look in connotes). John > > > -- > Michael Strey > www.strey.biz >