Planning & Layout

page margins

Text layout >

Page proportions are important for the overall look of the work and the diagrams below show the formula for margin measurements. These proportions apply whether you are writing a book or a one off piece for framing.

    
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Lettering and decoration are contained inside the margins. Alternatively, you might like to keep the lettering contained within the boxed (grey) area and the decoration to fill the margin to the edge of the paper. This formula will work whatever the size and orientation of the paper.

One unit can be millimetres, centimetres, inches or divisions of an inch. What you use is your choice. I usually work in centimetres, hence the single page layout will have a top margin of 2cm, side margins of 2.5cm each and a bottom margin of 4cm.

Note how the side margins for a double page layout are slightly different. This is to counteract the ‘weight’ of the work. If you use the margin formula for a single page layout in a double page spread the pages could appear to want to fall away from each other, as if weighted on the outside edges. The inner margins, the division between the pages, would appear too wide as if separating the pages rather than uniting them.

If you are going to frame your work (and why not, after all the hard work you've put into it) you will also need to leave room for for the frame.