How to set up two-sided geometry for physical cropping of just two edges?

Question

I'm trying to print a two-sided document on physical paper that is too large, which I will then cut to its final dimensions. I wish to cut each sheet of paper just twice, so I am trying to place all the excess space on the outer and lower edges of the sheet. I have tried the geometry package alone and also the crop package (together with geometry, as recommended). In both cases, I can get the crop marks in the right place relative to the text, but I can't get the text in the right place on the physical page.

Here is a minimal example that illustrates the problem:

\documentclass[twoside]{book}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage[paper=letterpaper,layoutsize={3in,5in},body={2.5in,4.5in},
            left=0.2in,top=0.2in,twoside,showcrop]{geometry}
\pagestyle{plain}
\begin{document}
\lipsum[1-4]
\end{document}

I have placed the PDF for this example at https://www.cs.tufts.edu/~nr/mwe-geo.pdf. On page 1, the text hugs the left-hand edge of the sheet, as desired. But on page 2, the text also hugs the left-hand edge, where what I wish is for it to hug the right-hand edge. In other words, when I cut the waste off of page 1, I want also to be cutting the waste off of page 2, which is printed on the flip side of the same sheet.

How can I get the even-numbered pages offset so that the waste falls in the right place for physical cutting?

Answer 1

The geometry package is not the only way to draw crop marks. (Don't forget to run this twice.)

\documentclass[twoside]{book}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage[paper=letterpaper,body={2.5in,4.5in},
            left=0.2in,top=0.2in]{geometry}
\pagestyle{plain}
\usepackage{everypage}
\usepackage{tikz}

\AddEverypageHook{\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture, overlay]
  \ifodd\value{page}\draw
    (current page.north west) ++(3in,-5in) ++(0.25in,0) -- ++(0.5in,0)
    (current page.north west) ++(3in,-5in) ++(0,-0.25in) -- ++(0,-0.5in);
  \else\draw
    (current page.north east) ++(-3in,-5in) ++(-0.25in,0) -- ++(-0.5in,0)
    (current page.north east) ++(-3in,-5in) ++(0,-0.25in) -- ++(0,-0.5in);
  \fi
\end{tikzpicture}}

\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture, overlay]
  \ifodd\value{page}\draw
    (current page.north west) ++(3in,-5in) ++(0.25in,0) -- ++(0.5in,0)
    (current page.north west) ++(3in,-5in) ++(0,-0.25in) -- ++(0,-0.5in);
  \else\draw
    (current page.north east) ++(-3in,-5in) ++(-0.25in,0) -- ++(-0.5in,0)
    (current page.north east) ++(-3in,-5in) ++(0,-0.25in) -- ++(0,-0.5in);
  \fi
\end{tikzpicture}
\lipsum[1-4]
\end{document}

Answer 2

Here is a hack that works when using the geometry package together with crop---but not with geometry alone. I adjust \evensidemargin.

\documentclass[twoside]{book}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage[papersize={3in,5in},body={2.5in,4.5in},
            left=0.2in,top=0.2in,twoside]{geometry}
\usepackage[cam,letter,odd]{crop}
\usepackage{layouts}
\usepackage{calc}
\pagestyle{plain}
\begin{document}
\setlength{\evensidemargin}{\evensidemargin+\stockwidth-\paperwidth}
\lipsum[1-4]
\end{document}