[Tex/LaTex] MiKTeX “default papersize” setting

miktexpaper-size

Now MiKTeX has the following setting:

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I have it set to A4 (A4size) all the time. But I don't really understand what this setting is supposed to do. When I compile

\documentclass{book}
%\usepackage{fullpage}
\begin{document}
Hello World!
\end{document}

I get an A4 document, however uncommenting the fullpage package changes it to lettersize. The package documentation says that it needs the appropriate documentclass option, but I thought that is passed to the class by the MiKTeX default setting.

So what exactly does that setting do? Also, why are there two options for Letter, A4 and A6?

Best Answer

Generally when using LaTeX classes (article, book, report) you can explicitly specify the kind of paper size to use, a4paper or letterpaper, for example:

\documentclass[a4paper,11pt]{report}

However, when you convert a DVI file to PostScript there is again a choice of paper sizes. The conversion program (dvips) doesn't know the paper size specified in the original LaTeX file, but will assume its own default paper size unless told otherwise by a command such as:

    dvips -t a4 mydocdoc.dvi -o mydoc.ps

MikTeX settings will cater for the latter and set the paper size correctly to simplify the commands. It saves the setting in C:\MiKTeX\dvips\config\config.ps

Since you are using the MikTeX menus and pdfLaTeX to compile the document, this setting of the program does nothing i.e., you are not producing a postcript file, but a pdf directly. What is important in this case is that the class you are using sets \pdfpageheight and \pdfpagewidth.

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