# How big is the text area in a standard LaTeX document?

If you run a typeset a LaTeX document without any packages or options, what are the width and height of the main text area? That is, excluding the running title and page numbers. I know I could try to measure it, but ideally I'd like to have an official source.

• Slightly off-topic (so a comment, not an answer): Another good one is running latex testpage (or pdflatex or xelatex or lualatex) and follow the prompts. It will show you the layout of the textblock with respect to the physical page, and will show you if your system is 'misconfigured' by default (i.e., are you set up for a4paper or letterpaper?) – jon Nov 17 '16 at 4:43

Depends on the documentclass, but try one of the options below.

You may be aware of this, but one thing to note: Lengths are given in points, where 1pt = 1/72.27in. This is different from the PostScript point, where 1pt = 1/72in, which is commonly used elsewhere (see e.g. geometry package - paperwidth and paperheight aren't accurate).

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{layout}
\begin{document}
\layout
\end{document}


\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Width of text block: \the\textwidth

Height of textblock: \the\textheight
\end{document}

• Thank you! For those looking for values, it's 345pt by 550pt, 4.77in by 7.61in, or 121mm by 193mm. – ezequiel-garzon Nov 17 '16 at 20:56