memoir package's stock and paper size

Question

Following is Table 1.1 in the memoir package's user manual, listing stock and paper size document class options, respectively commands (v3.7f, 2016/05/16, p. 1):

1. Do I understand correctly (it is not written explicitly in the manual), that setting the document class option to x (where x is one of the entries in the Option column) is equivalent to specifying both the stock- and the page size commands on the same row? For example, \documentclass[a4paper]{memoir} is equivalent to \documentclass{memoir}\stockaiv\pageaiv.

2. Suppose a class option is not specified, and only a stock size command (resp. only a paper size command) is specified. Is the paper size (resp. stock size) set automatically to the same dimensions as the stock size (resp. the paper size)?

3. Suppose a class option is not specified, and both a stock size and a paper size are specified, not necessarily from the same row (for instance, stock size \stockavi and paper size \pageav). How are the page and stock aligned? Are they aligned along their respective left and top edges, so that the top-left corner of both the paper and the stock coincide?

4. Suppose a class option is not specified. Is it possible to embed two or more pages inside a single stock? For instance, suppose that stock size is specified with the command \stockaiiv and that the paper size is specified with the command \pageavi. Then the stock has room from two pages set side by side. Is it possible to actually embed two pages side by side in the same stock?

Answer 1

1. The \pageX macros are not explicitly used by memoir, they are just handy shortcuts for advanced users designing special setups.

   When I design covers for B5 thesis I issue first \pagebv in order to store the height and width of a B5 in other macros, and then I set my stock to contain 2 B5s, spine, and 3mm bleed (the rest of the design is then made using tikz)

2. The paper size is calculated by \checkandfixthelayout

3. they are not, you will have to manually adjust the placement using the trims. A trim of \settrims{0pt}{0pt} places it in top right (right hand page) and top left (left hand page) for twosided printing. Alternatively there are the interesting \setpagecc{\paperheight}{\paperwidth}{*} which will center the trimmed page on the stock.

   There are a few more of those handy \setpageX macros that are just an interface to \settrimmedsize.

4. Not really, that needs other tools (you'll need to change the output routine, see for example the pgfpages package)

Here is a test document to play with

\documentclass[showtrims]{memoir}
\stockaiii
\pageaiv
%\settrims{0pt}{0pt}
\setpagecc{\paperheight}{\paperwidth}{*}
% just to keep \checkandfix... happy 
\setlrmargins{3cm}{*}{*}
\checkandfixthelayout
\usepackage{kantlipsum}
\pagestyle{showlocs}
\begin{document}

\kant[1-15]

\end{document}