# How can get rid of margins and minimize white space to fully use a page in LaTeX?

I want to create a formulary in LaTeX. I can use it at the exam and it has do be at maximum a page recto-verso. I don't want margins (little margins for the print, no more). I want to minimize the withe space (between text and formulas, ...). I want to use the page in landscape and subdivide it in 4-5 columns. It is possible to create a similar thing?

I'm a LaTeX user since three years, but i never modified layout of the page, so I don't know any package or any command.

It has to look like this (sorry for the bad quality):

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You can use geometry for margins/landscape, multicol for columns setup. –  Qrrbrbirlbel Oct 17 '12 at 21:12
have you seen these questions, in particular, how-to-scale-entire-document-including-maths-symbols? I'd be tempted to call this a duplicate... let us know –  cmhughes Oct 17 '12 at 21:18
–  Torbjørn T. Oct 17 '12 at 21:18
You can get some ideas looking at the .tex file of latexcheat. –  Gonzalo Medina Oct 17 '12 at 21:19
@cmhughes I want something little different. I changed the image so you can see. I don't want something typographically good. I want to maximize the use of space: no space between formulas and text, no space between text and columns, very thin font, ... Basically I want to reproduce the image in LaTeX. –  R. M. Oct 17 '12 at 21:31

Here's another option, using the geometry package to change the page layout, the multicol package to get a four-column document and a redefinition of \normalsize to decrease the font size and the values for \abovedisplyskip, \belowdisplayskip, and their "short" variants:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[margin=3pt,landscape]{geometry}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{multicol}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage[nopar]{lipsum}%just to generate text for the example

% redefinition of \normalsize to use \footnotesize and decrease the values for
% \abovedisplyskip, \belowdisplayskip, and the "short" variants
\makeatletter
\renewcommand\normalsize{%
\@setfontsize\footnotesize\@viiipt{9.5}%
\abovedisplayskip 1\p@ \@plus\p@ \@minus\p@
\belowdisplayskip 1\p@ \@plus\p@ \@minus\p@
\abovedisplayshortskip \z@ \@plus\p@
\belowdisplayshortskip \z@ \@plus\p@ \@minus\p@
\let\@listi\@listI}
\makeatother

\pagestyle{empty}

% multicol parameters
\setlength\premulticols{1pt}
\setlength\postmulticols{1pt}
\setlength\multicolsep{1pt}
\setlength\columnsep{2pt}
\raggedright

\newcommand\TestText{% just to generate text for the example
\lipsum[4]
\begin{gather*}
E = mc^2.
\end{gather*}
\lipsum[4]
\begin{align*}
a &= b \\
&= c \\
&= d.
\end{align*}
}

\begin{document}

\begin{multicols}{4}
\TestText\TestText\TestText\TestText\TestText%
\TestText\TestText\TestText\TestText\TestText
\end{multicols}

\end{document}


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Thank you! That's what I was looking for. –  R. M. Oct 18 '12 at 16:15

I wanted to do something similar once, but then was told that only handwritten text was allowed, so I never got past a crude template. It squeezes 36 lipsum paragraphs on 2 pages, where you usually would have 14, so tell me if it suits your needs:

## Code

\documentclass[10pt,fleqn]{scrartcl}
\usepackage[margin=5mm,landscape]{geometry}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{multicol}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[condensed,math]{kurier}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{microtype}
\usepackage[compact]{titlesec}
\titlespacing{\section}{0pt}{*0}{*0}
\titlespacing{\subsection}{0pt}{*0}{*0}
\titlespacing{\subsubsection}{0pt}{*0}{*0}

\setlength{\columnsep}{2mm}
\setlength{\columnseprule}{0.4pt}
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}
\setlength{\mathindent}{0pt}
\renewcommand{\baselinestretch}{0.70}\normalsize

\setlength{\parskip}{0pt}
\setlength{\parsep}{0pt}
\setlength{\topsep}{0pt}
\setlength{\partopsep}{0pt}

\begin{document}
\raggedcolumns

\begin{multicols*}{5}
\section{Mechanics}
\lipsum[1-5]
$\int_0^1f(x)\ dx$
\lipsum[6-10]
\section{Thermodynamics}
\lipsum[11-15]
$\int_0^1f(x)\ dx$
\lipsum[16-20]
\section{Quantummagic}
\lipsum[21-25]
$\int_0^1f(x)\ dx$
\lipsum[26-30]
\section{Relativity}
\lipsum[31-34]
\end{multicols*}

\end{document}


## Output

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Thank you. Both answers are very good but I accepted the other because a I better understand the code. –  R. M. Oct 18 '12 at 16:14