[Tex/LaTex] Place header outside set margins of the page

geometryheader-footermargins

I have to implement some strict guidelines regarding a scholarship application and plan to use the geometry package to achieve this. There is, however, one point I don't understand. The relevant points are:

  • Margins must be set at a minimum of 3/4" (1.87 cm)
  • Your name and student number must appear outside the set margins of the page (not in header or footer), at the top right corner of every page.

What do they mean by "outside the set margins" and their emphasis on "not in header or footer"? Isn't the header always outside the set margins of the text body?

Best Answer

Sometimes the header and/or footer might be included in the text body, and sometimes they might not be part of the text body. The following figure (taken from the documentation of the geometry package) shows the page layout in both cases:

enter image description here

In your situation, the requirements specify that header and footer will not be part of the text body (to be 100% sure, you could ask to the Institution offering the scolarship).

Here's a preliminary document to be used as a starting point, using the article document class with the 12pt (font size) class option, the geometry package to design the required page layout, and the titlesec package to define the header/footer according to specifications: I placed the page number in the footer and centered, but you can place it whereever it is required.

I also used the mathptmx, helvetic and courier packages to give you the font combination Times/Helvetica/Courier.

Un-commenting the line with the showframe option, you'll see frames showing the page layout.

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage[paperwidth=216mm,paperheight=279mm,margin=1.87cm,marginparsep=0pt%
%,showframe% uncomment to draw a frame showing the page layout
]{geometry}
\usepackage[pagestyles]{titlesec}
\usepackage{mathptmx}
\usepackage[scaled=.90]{helvet}
\usepackage{courier}
\usepackage{lipsum}% just to generate filler text

\newpagestyle{mystyle}{\sethead{}{}{Name -- Number}\setfoot{}{\thepage}{}}
\pagestyle{mystyle}

\begin{document}

\lipsum[1-6]

\end{document}

Here's the resulting document:

enter image description here

Another option, to definitively avoid using the header would be to use the background package. Here's a little example, using the showframe option for geometry to see the space reserved for the header:

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage[paperwidth=216mm,paperheight=279mm,margin=1.87cm,%
marginparsep=0pt,includehead,showframe]{geometry}
\usepackage{background}
\usepackage{mathptmx}
\usepackage[scaled=.90]{helvet}
\usepackage{courier}
\usepackage{lipsum}% just to generate filler text

\SetBgScale{1}
\SetBgAngle{0}
\SetBgOpacity{1}
\SetBgColor{black}
\SetBgPosition{\textwidth,1}
\SetBgHshift{-63pt}
\SetBgContents{Name --- Number}

\begin{document}

\lipsum[1-6]

\end{document}

Here's the result:

enter image description here

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