[Tex/LaTex] “Double use” of a4paper (geometry/KOMA)

geometrykoma-scriptpackage-optionspaper-sizepreamble

In my preamble, should I give the a4paper option just once or twice, i. e. once for the KOMA-script document class (scrartcl) and once for geometry? Is this redundant or does scrartcl need the option for the calculation of the type area (or something else)?

\documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[a4paper]{geometry}

Lately, I have just used

\documentclass[12pt]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[a4paper]{geometry}

and I haven’t had any adverse effects. Still, it seems a little strange to me not to pass any “size options” to the document class. But is this the “right way” to go?

By the way, I am using XeLaTeX to typeset.

Best Answer

If you are using geometry you are overwriting the settings from typearea so the class doesn't need the option (btw a4paper or more precisely the option paper=a4 is the default anyway).

I personally don't use global options if possible to avoid unwanted side effects on packages. With local options it is easier to control which package gets which option.

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