Basically, I would like to know how to achieve margin/width extension, similar to what Word/OpenOffice does when users insert comments. I am using the todonotes package and am collaborating on a document, but because it is twin column the margins are too narrow and the notes become distorted, reducing their utility.
3 Answers
If you want to simply increase the width of the todonotes, use \setlength{\marginparwidth}{4cm} in your preamble.
Maybe it could also be helpful to reduce the text size for the notes via a parameter on loading: \usepackage[textsize=tiny]{todonotes}
If you want to increase the page layout, i.e. the borders left and right to the text, you could load the geometry package and give appropriate options. For instance: \usepackage[left=1cm,right=1cm,top=3cm,bottom=3cm,nohead,nofoot]{geometry}.
The geometry package is very powerful, so it's a good idea to have a look at the manual.
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1Sorry for not responding - this doesn't do what I need however. Commented Jan 19, 2013 at 9:08
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1
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Note that if you use
geometryyou will have to\setlength{\marginparwidth}after you call\usepackage{geometry}for it to take effect. Commented Apr 10 at 6:05
I found that this works well if you want to make the paper wider while keeping the page layout unaffected (taken from this answer):
\paperwidth=\dimexpr \paperwidth + 6cm\relax
\oddsidemargin=\dimexpr\oddsidemargin + 3cm\relax
\evensidemargin=\dimexpr\evensidemargin + 3cm\relax
\marginparwidth=\dimexpr \marginparwidth + 3cm\relax
answered Dec 5, 2017 at 21:00
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4This is the correct answer. Without these additions, we only see half of the notes, which are extending outside of the page. Commented Jan 14, 2019 at 3:48
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1Thanks for a great answer! Worth noting that the first relax argument should be double the length of the 2nd-4th relax arguments. E.g. if you'd only like 2cm margins, first line use 4cm\relax, and 2cm\relax for the later lines. Commented Feb 27, 2020 at 17:10
The paper length can also be increased using a similar command. This may be needed if a todonote is so large that it cuts off at the bottom end of the page.
\paperheight=\dimexpr \paperheight + 3cm\relax
\setlength{\marginparwidth}{4cm}. If you want to increase the page layout, i.e. the borders left and right to the text you could use thegeometrypackage.geometrypackage (\usepackage[margin=1.5in]{geometry}) for making the "content" smaller to allow space for the wider todo notes.