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#lang pollen
◊ ( define - meta title "page margins" )
◊ hanging - topic [ ( topic - from - metas metas ) ] { One inch is not enough }
◊ em { Page margins } set the default territory your text occupies on the page . Page margins determine the width of the text block , and thus have the greatest effect on ◊ xref { line length } . ( ◊ xref { Point size } also affects line length , though more finely . ) As page margins increase , line length decreases , and vice versa .
Most word processors default to page margins of one inch . On standard 8.5 ″ × 11 ″ paper , that produces a line length of 6.5 ″ . That was fine for the ◊ xref { monospaced fonts } of the typewriter era , which used a lot of horizontal space . But for proportional fonts , they ' re too small .
At 12 point , left and right page margins of 1.5 ″ – 2.0 ″ will usually give you a comfortable line length . But don ’ t take that range as an absolute — focus on getting the number of characters per line into the right range ( see ◊ xref { line length } ) . The smaller the point size , the larger the page margins will need to be , and vice versa .
◊ subhead { Fear of white space }
"But if I use bigger margins, won’ Yes . Is that a problem ?
◊ ( omission )
Professional typographers never use 8.5 ″ × 11 ″ paper with a 6.5 - inch line length . Neither should you . Set your text according to the principles of good typography . The white space will take care of itself . The pleasure of reading an effectively designed document will soon outweigh the unfamiliarity of extra white space around the edges .