Customizing the height of the pages

Question

The question

I would like to control the height of the pages of the PDF documents I produce with LaTeX.

Starting with a LaTeX document and two parameters:

a given page size (heightPage and widthPage)
a given length called initialVerticalInset,

I would like to produce a PDF whose page lengths follow the pattern

the normal height of the pages is heightPage
BUT, the height of the first page is (heightPage - initialVerticalInset)
AND, the height of the last page equals the "height of its content", i.e. "the last page is cut" after the end of its content

If possible, I would like also :

if any of these pages are put next to another one, the baselines should be aligned
the margins could be set a minimal value (such as 0pt)

Example 1

enter image description here

Example 2

enter image description here

Minimal documents to be tested

In a previous similar question, I noticed that one difficulty could be the compatibility with :

itemize environments
mdframed environments
the case of short documents has to be dealt with too.

So, I prepared three MWE to be tested.

Short document

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[paperwidth=8cm, paperheight=10cm, hmargin=0mm, 
    top=0mm, bottom=0mm] {geometry}
\setlength{\initialVerticalInset}{4.5cm}
\begin{document}
This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it?
\end{document}

Documents with `itemize` environments

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[paperwidth=8cm, paperheight=10cm, hmargin=0mm, 
    top=0mm, bottom=0mm] {geometry}
\pagestyle{empty}
\setlength{\initialVerticalInset}{4.5cm}
\begin{document}
This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it?
This is a test:
\begin{itemize}
\item Hello
\item This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test.
\item Good Bye
\item Hello
\item This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test.
\end{itemize}
This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it?
This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it?
This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? 
\end{document}

Documents with `mdframed` environments

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[
  paperwidth=15cm,
  paperheight=15cm,
  hmargin=1cm,
  vmargin=0cm,
]{geometry}
\usepackage[framemethod=tikz, needspace=1.5cm]{mdframed}
\newmdenv[%
innerleftmargin = 2mm,
innerrightmargin = 2mm,
innertopmargin = 2mm,
innerbottommargin = 2mm,
leftmargin = 0mm,
rightmargin = 0mm,
splitbottomskip = 2mm,
splittopskip = 4mm,
middlelinewidth = 0mm,
linecolor = red,
backgroundcolor = red,
roundcorner = 0pt,
skipbelow = 0mm,
skipabove = 0mm,
]{mybox}
\pagestyle{empty}
\setlength{\initialVerticalInset}{5cm}
\begin{document}
\begin{mybox}
\lipsum[1]
\end{mybox}
\lipsum[1-7]
\end{document}

given the cut last page requirement are you not adding page head and foot, or just not adding foot on last page or ... — David Carlisle, Nov 27 '14 at 12:46
No, I don't need to add page foot. Actually. In what I want to do, there is no page head or foot (I don't do anything special about them). — Colas, Nov 27 '14 at 23:00
Do you really not think that either of the solutions to your previous question is worthy of your acceptance? It really is not fair to ask a difficult question to which you receive sophisticated solutions, with significant follow-up in some cases, and then say 'well, I won't accept your answer unless you also solve this, this, and this further problem'. This is especially true when you are asking questions which cannot possibly be answered in ways which will be robust under all possible scenarios. — cfr, Nov 28 '14 at 01:43
@cfr I will accept answers. I have not done it yet because, even since theses answers are great (and impressive), they don't answer perfectly my question. But I see your point also. (note also that I have given bounties) — Colas, Nov 28 '14 at 09:07
@Colas Maybe I missed something but I thought they answered your original question i.e. before you edited it with additional requirements. Apologies if I'm mistaken about that. — cfr, Nov 29 '14 at 00:33
This is good task for plain TeX: there are no mdframed nor itemize environments and all processing of baselines are under your own control. And the medium height is changed simply by \pdfpageheight=... — wipet, Dec 09 '14 at 19:19
@wipet You mean rather like this answer? (Except for the misplaced addition which has been edited in?) — cfr, Dec 11 '14 at 00:59
@cfr, actually, @wipet 's answer is great but the first page if of arbitrary length (with his command \firstpage{...}), which is not what I am looking for :( — Colas, Dec 11 '14 at 08:35

score 5 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:35

I think this does the job. Thnaks to the idea \pdfpageheight=\pagetotal from wipet's answer How to have a precise control on the size of each page?

\documentclass{article}

\newlength{\initialVerticalInset}
\setlength{\initialVerticalInset}{4.5cm}

\usepackage[paperwidth=10cm, 
            paperheight=-\dimexpr\initialVerticalInset- 10cm\relax,
            margin=0mm]{geometry}

\makeatletter

\newcommand{\setnewvsize}[1]{%
\global\paperheight\dimexpr#1+\initialVerticalInset\relax%
\global\pdfpageheight\paperheight%
\global\textheight\paperheight%
\global\@colht\textheight \global\@colroom\textheight \global\vsize\textheight%
\global\initialVerticalInset=0pt}


\let\mt@outputpage\@outputpage
\def\@outputpage{\mt@outputpage\setnewvsize\paperheight}

\makeatother

\AtEndDocument{\initialVerticalInset=0pt\vskip-\lastskip\nobreak\par\vskip1pt\par\setnewvsize\pagetotal}

\usepackage{lipsum}

\begin{document}


This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it?

This is a test:
\begin{itemize}
\item Hello

\item This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test.

\item Good Bye

\item Hello

\item This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test.
\end{itemize}

This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it?

This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it?

This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? This is a test. This is a longer sentence with some more words, isn't it? 

\end{document}

Itemize

mdframed

Example 2 pages only

Example only one page

Hi touhami, so far your macro works great, but there is a little problem. As you can see for example in the last picture you have put, the last line of text is cut very sharply. It is cut on the base line, and the comma is not wholly visible. The same problem would happen with letters such as g, p, etc. So you see a way to solve this? Thanks! — Colas, Sep 17 '15 at 19:19
I tried to modify the margins of geometry, but it breaks everything... Just change margin=0mm to margin=1mm and will see (In the Example with only one page). Thanks! — Colas, Sep 17 '15 at 19:49
I don't need to change the margins in the middle of the document. I tried to change the margins because of the first problem, but what I really need is margin=0mm. I pointed out the margin≠0mm problem just in case of. Thanks — Colas, Sep 17 '15 at 20:14
@Colas answer edited. I use \AtEndDocument{\initialVerticalInset=0pt\vskip-\lastskip\nobreak\par\vskip1pt\par\setnewvsize\pagetotal} this help for the first problem — touhami, Sep 17 '15 at 20:41
Your edit solves the problem for the very last page, but it does not solve it for the other pages. See for example the first document "Itemize" (with \setlength{\initialVerticalInset}{5cm}). Thanks — Colas, Sep 17 '15 at 20:47
Yes, you are right. So, in order to solve this issue, I would to add, let's say xmm as a bottom margin. Can your macro be compatible with this case? Thanks! — Colas, Sep 17 '15 at 22:01
I have tried to work out the "bug", see my answer to the question. Feel free to improve it (for instance, I don't know what global means, etc.). Anyway, I will give you a bounty for your great answer! Thanks! — Colas, Sep 18 '15 at 00:05

Colas · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-23T23:50:02.637

2

Problem with this answer

Floating objects

I have tried to see if this answer works with figure environments. If they appear to be at the last page, then it does not work as wanted (the last page has the \normalHeigt and not the "clipping height")

PS: Since I don't know anything about TeX and I am not a super user of LaTeX, maybe there are mistakes or bad syntax. If you think the following code can be improved, please comment!

Answer

This answer is elaborated on touhami's answer.

\documentclass{article}

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% Parameters
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

\newlength{\initialHeight}
\setlength{\initialHeight}{5.5cm}

\newlength{\normalHeight}
\setlength{\normalHeight}{10cm}

\newlength{\normalWidth}
\setlength{\normalWidth}{10cm}

\newlength{\horizontalMargin}
\setlength{\horizontalMargin}{0mm}

\newlength{\topMargin}
\setlength{\topMargin}{0mm}

\newlength{\bottomMargin}
\setlength{\bottomMargin}{0mm}
% This is a crucial line
% see http://tex.stackexchange.com/a/268943/8323
\setlength{\maxdepth}{0pt}


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% Size
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

\usepackage[paperwidth=\normalWidth, 
            paperheight=\initialHeight,
            left=\horizontalMargin,
            right=\horizontalMargin,
            top=\topMargin,
            bottom=\bottomMargin]{geometry}


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% Core
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

\makeatletter


% Set the vertical size of the page
%
\newcommand{\setnewvsize}[1]{%
\global\paperheight\dimexpr#1\relax%
\global\pdfpageheight\paperheight%
\global\textheight\dimexpr\paperheight - \bottomMargin - \topMargin\relax%
\global\@colht\textheight%
\global\@colroom\textheight%
\global\vsize\textheight%
}

% Change the vsize after the first page
% (after the first output)
%
\newcommand\firstPassageInOutput{1}
\let\mt@outputpage\@outputpage
\def\@outputpage{\mt@outputpage\ifnum\firstPassageInOutput=1\setnewvsize\normalHeight\renewcommand\firstPassageInOutput{0}\fi}


% Change the vsize after the last page
%
\AtEndDocument{%
% The following line is needed is the case when the last page is only one line
\vskip-\lastskip\nobreak\par\vskip0pt\par
% Core
\global\paperheight\dimexpr\pagetotal + \bottomMargin + \topMargin \relax%
\global\pdfpageheight\paperheight%
\global\textheight\dimexpr\pagetotal
}
\makeatother




\usepackage{lipsum}

\begin{document}
lipsum{}
\end{document}

Outputs of the MWE to be tested

edited Sep 23 '15 at 23:50

answered Sep 18 '15 at 00:04

Colas

6,772
4
46
96

This is the natural idea. Some remark 1) \dimexpr end optionally by \relax not obligatory but good practice 2) \global declares the following definition or assignment to be global. – touhami Sep 18 '15 at 06:35
@touhami I made some improvements following your remarks. I have also added also some \global\@colht\textheight, etc. although I don't know what is it for. – Colas Sep 18 '15 at 13:53
final tuning % (don't really know what I'm doing here) this is not necessart. \begin{document} will do this for you. – touhami Sep 18 '15 at 15:16
I think you don't really need \normalWidth and \initialHeight. – touhami Sep 18 '15 at 19:30
I like variables! – Colas Sep 23 '15 at 13:08
good work, almost complete. – touhami Sep 23 '15 at 17:50
Please don't award the bounty immediately to me, you have one week, if better answers come just choose the best. – touhami Sep 23 '15 at 17:55
Why "almost"? Do you see any drawback to this solution? – Colas Sep 23 '15 at 17:59
I think yes, for now floats in last page. – touhami Sep 23 '15 at 22:02
You were right, float creates a problem... Do you have an idea on how to deal with it? PS: if you have a solution that implies a double-run compilation, it is fine! – Colas Sep 23 '15 at 23:48
A similar problem with footnotes. I think a good solution need redefine the output routine. Now, for figures (tables) one can use caption package {\par\centering \includegraphics{myfigure} \refstepcounter{figure}\captionof{figure}[\figurename: \thefigure]{bla bla}\label{fig:bla}} good luck. – touhami Sep 28 '15 at 19:33
@touhami Thanks, I will have a look at that. I don't use footnotes. – Colas Sep 28 '15 at 21:03
Sorry, there is no need to \refstepcounter{figure}. – touhami Sep 28 '15 at 22:08

Customizing the height of the pages

The question

Example 1

Example 2

Minimal documents to be tested

Short document

Documents with `itemize` environments

Documents with `mdframed` environments

2 Answers2

Problem with this answer

Floating objects

Answer

Outputs of the MWE to be tested

Linked

Customizing the height of the pages

The question

Example 1

Example 2

Minimal documents to be tested

Short document

Documents with itemize environments

Documents with mdframed environments

2 Answers2

Problem with this answer

Floating objects

Answer

Outputs of the MWE to be tested

Linked

Documents with `itemize` environments

Documents with `mdframed` environments