Added section on custom page sizes

002/codex-002.tex

@@ -74,6 +74,9 @@
 % Put a horizontal rule in an align environment
 \usepackage{booktabs}
 
+% Use line numbers with code samples
+\usepackage{fancyvrb}
+
 \author{Kenneth John Odle}
 \title{
  {\Huge the codex} \\
@@ -316,5 +319,72 @@ Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone t
 \end{flushright}
 \end{quote}
 
+\chapter{Coda}
+
+\section{What I Learned About \LaTeX{} While Creating This Issue}
+
+As a big part of the reason I created this was to learn more about LaTeX, I'm keeping up with this running list.
+
+\begin{enumerate}
+ \item Need a little horizontal space? Use \verb|\hphantom{<stuff>}| where \texttt{<stuff>} is any standard unit. (I use this down below to separate the two images with borders when they are on the same line.)
+ \item Need a box around an \verb|\includegraphics[scale=•]{•}| item? Just wrap it in \verb|\frame{}|. (Ditto.)
+\end{enumerate}
+
+\subsection{Custom Page Sizes}
+
+Okay, this is important enough that it deserves its own section.
+
+Part of what makes \LaTeX{} great is that it's really good at typesetting mathematical formulas, such as 
+
+\includegraphics[scale=1]{pythagorean_theorem}
+
+Here's the thing, though: I didn't create that formula in this document. It's just an image. I created it in a separate LaTeX document, using a custom page size. This can be handy if you want to use it in something that doesn't typeset math formulas, such as a presentation.\footnote{PowerPoint much? As much as I try to avoid PP, it seems to have gained something akin to Favored Nation Status in the business world. Such is life, alas.}
+
+The source code looks like this:
+
+\begin{Verbatim}[numbers=left,numbersep=-2pt]
+	\documentclass{article}
+	\usepackage[
+		left=0.1cm,
+		right=0.1cm,
+		top=0.1cm,
+		bottom=0.1cm]
+	{geometry}
+	\begin{document}
+	\pdfpagewidth=2.3cm \pdfpageheight=0.7cm
+	\noindent $ x^n + y^n = z^n $
+	\end{document}
+\end{Verbatim}
+
+That's it; that's the entire document. Let's take a closer look at what is happening here.
+
+Lines 3-6 use the \texttt{geometry} package to give us some pretty tight margins. This is a good thing, as this is going to be clip art. We could set them to zero if we needed to (and which might not be a bad idea, actually).
+
+Line 9 is where the magic happens. It allows us to set the actual page size of this example. I admit, I had to play around with the variable here, and there may be a way to automatically fit the page size to the content.
+
+As it turns out, there is, and it's very simple: use the \texttt{standalone} document class. This source code:
+
+\begin{Verbatim}[numbers=left,numbersep=-2pt]
+	\documentclass{standalone}
+	\begin{document}
+	\noindent $ x^n + y^n = z^n $
+	\end{document}
+\end{Verbatim}
+
+\noindent gives us this output
+
+\includegraphics[scale=1]{pythagorean_theorem2}
+
+We've now managed to do with one line of code what previously took us 8 lines of code. I would call that efficient.
+
+You'll also notice that there is no border spacing around the second formula. This is handy in the event that I want to drop this into a word processing document. I'll add a box around these images so you can see the actual size:
+
+\medskip
+
+\frame{\includegraphics[scale=1]{pythagorean_theorem}} \hphantom{1cm} \frame{\includegraphics[scale=1]{pythagorean_theorem2}}
+
+\medskip
+
+I'm not going to forget about the first method, though. This could be handy if I wanted to create something (such as a business card) that is a standard size that I want to repeat, or if I want to print on a smaller, non-typical format that LaTeX doesn't have a built-in page size for. I have a few ideas where I might use this; I'll try them out and report back in a later issue.
 
 \end{document}