Can \documentclass{minimal} create documents with nonstandard page sizes?

Question

I need to create a document for a square piece of paper. I've been trying to use \documentclass{minimal}, but it doesn't work.

This is my code:

\documentclass{minimal}

\special{papersize=14in,14in}
\setlength{\paperwidth}{14in}
\setlength{\paperheight}{14in}
\setlength{\textwidth}{12in}
\setlength{\textheight}{12in}

\topskip0pt
\setlength{\headheight}{0pt}
\setlength{\headsep}{0pt}
\setlength{\topmargin}{0pt}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{0pt}

\begin{document}
\ldots
\end{document}

But the PDF file I get is by no means square. What is wrong with my code?

Answer 1

Use geometry package to set paper size.

\documentclass{minimal}
\usepackage[paperwidth=14in,paperheight=14in,margin=2in,showframe]{geometry}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\begin{document}
\lipsum[1-13]
\end{document}

For more details, executetexdoc geometry from the command prompt and go through the documentation of geometry package.

Like Martin said in the comment, it is better to use some other class since they support extended features.