% language=us runpath=texruns:manuals/metafun \startcomponent metafun-backgrounds \environment metafun-environment \startchapter[reference=sec:page,title={Page backgrounds}] \startintro Especially in interactive documents, adding backgrounds to the page and text areas not only enhances readability, but also makes it more convenient to identify header, footers and navigational areas. In this chapter we will demonstrate that with \METAPOST\ we can go beyond the \TEX\ based features present in \CONTEXT. One section is dedicated to graphics and printing, especially bleeding. \stopintro \startsection[title={The basic layout}] \index {layout} In the \CONTEXT\ manual you can find many details on the composition of the page. When \TEX\ typesets text, crossing the page boundary triggers \TEX's output routine. This routine is responsible for pasting the body text that goes onto a page in the correct area. A simple representation of such a page is: \startbuffer[a] \startuseMPgraphic{layout 1} pickup pencircle scaled 1mm ; fill unitsquare xyscaled (7cm,8cm) withcolor .85white ; fill unitsquare xyscaled (5cm,5cm) shifted (1cm,1.5cm) withcolor .625yellow ; fill unitsquare xyscaled (5cm,1cm) shifted (1cm,.5cm) withcolor .625red ; fill unitsquare xyscaled (5cm,1cm) shifted (1cm,6.5cm) withcolor .625red ; draw unitsquare xyscaled (5cm,7cm) shifted (1cm,.5cm) withcolor .25white ; drawarrow (2cm,8cm) -- top (2cm,7.5cm) ; drawarrow (0cm,7cm) -- lft (1cm,7cm) ; clip currentpicture to unitsquare xyscaled (7cm,8cm) ; \stopuseMPgraphic \stopbuffer \startbuffer[b] \startuseMPgraphic{layout 2} \includeMPgraphic{layout 1} clip currentpicture to unitsquare scaled 3cm shifted (0,5cm) ; currentpicture := currentpicture scaled 2 shifted (0,-8cm) ; setbounds currentpicture to unitsquare xyscaled (6cm,8cm) ; \stopuseMPgraphic \stopbuffer \getbuffer[a,b] \startbuffer[c] \startlinecorrection[blank] \hbox {\useMPgraphic{layout 1}\hskip1cm \useMPgraphic{layout 2}} \stoplinecorrection \stopbuffer \getbuffer[c] The red areas are the header and footer, while the yellow areas contains the text flow. We can turn headers on and off and|/|or hide them. For this reason, the header, text and footer areas together make up the height of the text. A close look at the left picture will reveal that the two arrows point to the center of the lines. This is achieved by the \type {top} and \type {lft} directives. If we would not have clipped the picture, the arrow would have stuck half a line width outside the gray area that represents the page. When constructing such pictures, one should really pay attention to such details, since it pays off in the overall look and feel of the document. The vertical arrow represents the top space, while the horizontal arrow denotes the distance to the back of the cover (back space). By changing their values, you can shift the main body text on the page. In a double sided layout scheme, the back space is automatically mirrored on even pages. An advanced \METAPOST\ user may wonder why we hard code the dimensions, and avoid \METAPOST's powerful mechanisms for defining relations. Our experience has taught us that in pictures like this, providing a general solution seldom pays large dividents or savings in time. \typebuffer[a] As you can see, the left graphic is defined as a series of rectangles. The \type {xyscaled} macro is part of the \CONTEXT\ files, and saves some typing and space. It is defined as a primary, requiring both left and right operands. \starttyping primarydef p xyscaled q = p xscaled (xpart q) yscaled (ypart q) enddef ; \stoptyping Zooming in on the top left corner only takes a few lines. First we clip the correct part, next we scale it up, and finally we let the bounding box suit the left picture. \typebuffer[b] This code demonstrates how you can reuse a graphic inside another one. This strategy can easily be used to stepwise build (or extend) graphics. The two graphics were put side by side with the following command. Watch the use of line correction commands. They optimize the white space around the graphic. \typebuffer[c] As soon as you want to make an electronic document, you will want to use different areas of the screen for different purposes: text, menus, buttons, etc. For this reason, \CONTEXT\ provides not only left and right margins, but also additional left and right edge areas and top and bottom margins. These areas are shown in the figure on the next page. \startbuffer[aa] pickup pencircle scaled 2pt ; numeric w[], h[], x[], y[], u ; u := .5cm ; numeric width ; width := \the\textwidth ; numeric height ; height := \the\textheight ; \stopbuffer \startbuffer[bb] w[1] = 2u ; w[2] = 3u ; w[4] = 3u ; w[5] = 2u ; h[1] = 1u ; h[2] = 1u ; h[4] = 1u ; h[5] = 1u ; w[1]+w[2]+w[3]+w[4]+w[5]+4u = width ; h[1]+h[2]+h[3]+h[4]+h[5]+4u = height ; x[1] = 1u ; y[1] = 1u ; x[2] = x[1] + w[1] + .5u ; y[2] = y[1] + h[1] + .5u ; x[3] = x[2] + w[2] + .5u ; y[3] = y[2] + h[2] + .5u ; x[4] = x[3] + w[3] + .5u ; y[4] = y[3] + h[3] + .5u ; x[5] = x[4] + w[4] + .5u ; y[5] = y[4] + h[4] + .5u ; \stopbuffer \startbuffer[cc] def do_it (expr xx, yy, cc) = draw unitsquare xyscaled (w[xx],h[yy]) shifted (x[xx],y[yy]) withcolor if cc : .625red else : .625yellow fi ; enddef ; fill unitsquare xyscaled (width,height) withcolor .85white; do_it (1,1,false) ; do_it (5,1,false) ; do_it (2,1,false) ; do_it (3,1,false) ; do_it (4,1,false) ; do_it (1,2,false) ; do_it (5,2,false) ; do_it (2,2,true ) ; do_it (3,2,true ) ; do_it (4,2,true ) ; do_it (1,3,false) ; do_it (5,3,false) ; do_it (2,3,true ) ; do_it (3,3,true ) ; do_it (4,3,true ) ; do_it (1,4,false) ; do_it (5,4,false) ; do_it (2,4,true ) ; do_it (3,4,true ) ; do_it (4,4,true ) ; do_it (1,5,false) ; do_it (5,5,false) ; do_it (2,5,false) ; do_it (3,5,false) ; do_it (4,5,false) ; \stopbuffer \startbuffer[dd] def do_it (expr yy, tt) = path p ; p := unitsquare xyscaled (w[1],h[yy]) shifted (x[1],y[yy]) ; label.lft(tt, center p shifted (-w[1]/2-u-.25cm,0)) ; enddef ; do_it (1,btex bottom etex) ; do_it (2,btex footer etex) ; do_it (3,btex text etex) ; do_it (4,btex header etex) ; do_it (5,btex top etex) ; \stopbuffer \startbuffer[ee] def do_it (expr xx, tt) = path p ; p := unitsquare xyscaled (w[xx],h[1]) shifted (x[xx],y[1]) ; label(tt, center p shifted (0,height-h[1]/2)) ; enddef ; do_it (1,btex edge etex) ; do_it (2,btex margin etex) ; do_it (3,btex text etex) ; do_it (4,btex margin etex) ; do_it (5,btex edge etex) ; \stopbuffer \startbuffer[ff] setbounds currentpicture to unitsquare xyscaled (width,height) ; \stopbuffer % We use two chars for buffer names, otherwise we can get % get in conflict with the next buffers with similar names. \startpostponing \centerbox{\processMPbuffer[aa,bb,cc,dd,ee,ff]} \stoppostponing When defining this graphic, all areas have related dimensions. Here it makes sense to let \METAPOST\ calculate these dimensions as much as possible. First we define the five by five matrix of areas. We pass the width and height of the main text area. Because they are stored in \TEX\ dimension registers, we have to prefix them by \type {\the}. \typebuffer[aa] We now specify the lower left corners using \type {=} instead of the \type {:=}, which means that \METAPOST\ will calculate \type {w[3]} and \type {h[3]} for us. \typebuffer[bb] Because we are going to repeat ourselves, we draw the areas using a macro. Depending on its importance, we color it red or yellow. \typebuffer[cc] This picture in itself is not yet explanatory, so we add some labels. Again, we use a macro, which we feed with a picture generated by \TEX. Since these pictures are filtered from the source and pre||processed, we cannot embed the \type {btex}||\type {etex} in the macro \type {do_it} and pass a string. It has to be done this way. \footnote {This is true only in a regular \METAPOST\ run. In \CONTEXT\ \MKIV\ we follow a different route.} \typebuffer[dd] In the horizontal direction we have edges, margins and text. There are left and right edges and margins, which are swapped on even pages when you typeset a double sided document. \typebuffer[ee] Since we want the graphic to match the dimensions of the text area of the current page, we have to make sure that the bounding box is adapted accordingly. By this action, the labels will fall outside the bounding box. When we directly embed a graphic, this works ok, but when we start scaling and reusing, due to the object reuse mechanism the graphic will be clipped to the bounding box. \typebuffer[ff] In the following sections we will demonstrate how you can put graphics behind these 25~areas, as well as behind the (left and right) page. \stopsection \startsection[title={Setting up backgrounds}] \index {overlays} \index {backgrounds} One way of protecting a document for unwanted usage is to put an annoying word in the background. If you like this, you may try the following. The macro \type {ysized} is part of the macros that come with \CONTEXT\ and scales a picture to a specific size. \startbuffer[a] \startuniqueMPgraphic{concept} draw btex \colored[s=.8]{\bf CONCEPT} etex rotated 60 ; currentpicture := currentpicture ysized (\overlayheight-.5cm) ; \stopuniqueMPgraphic \defineoverlay[concept][\uniqueMPgraphic{concept}] \stopbuffer \typebuffer[a] You can now put this graphic in the page background by saying: \starttyping \setupbackgrounds[page][background=concept] \stoptyping You may consider the next alternative a bit better, but still it renders the text unreadable. Like \type {xysized}, the macro \type {enlarged} is not part of standard \METAPOST, but comes with \CONTEXT. \startbuffer[b] \startuniqueMPgraphic{copyright} picture p ; p := btex \colored[s=.8]{COPYRIGHT} etex rotated 90 ; setbounds p to boundingbox p enlarged 1pt ; draw p ; currentpicture := currentpicture xysized (\overlaywidth,\overlayheight) ; \stopuniqueMPgraphic \defineoverlay[copyright][\uniqueMPgraphic{copyright}] \stopbuffer \typebuffer[b] Again, we put this graphic in the background. By using a unique graphic, we make sure that it's rendered only once and reused when possible. \startbuffer[c] \setupbackgrounds[text][rightmargin][background=copyright] \stopbuffer \typebuffer[c] \doifnotmode{screen}{\getbuffer[b,c]} In both cases, we slightly scale down the graphic. We do so because otherwise a small portion of the text is clipped off. This is unrelated to \TEX\ or \METAPOST, but a characteristic of the font. Compare the following Pagella, Latin Modern and Termes gi's (the Pagella is the body font of this text). \startbuffer \hbox \bgroup \hbox{\definedfont[file:texgyrepagella-regular at 6cm]gi}% \hbox{\definedfont[file:lmroman10-regular at 6cm]gi}% \hbox{\definedfont[file:texgyretermes-regular at 6cm]gi}% \egroup \stopbuffer \typebuffer \startlinecorrection[blank] {\showboxes \getbuffer} \stoplinecorrection Watch how the bounding boxes differ and sometimes cross the shape. So, in order not to loose part of a glyph when clipping, you need to add a bit of space. \in {Figure} [fig:annoying] shows the two backgrounds in action. \startbuffer \getbuffer[a,b] \def\ShowPage#1% % (yet) no image as background to image {\framed % possible due to nested file problems [background=#1,offset=overlay] {\typesetfile[mfun-900.tex][page=1,width=.4\textwidth]}} \startcombination {\ShowPage{concept}} {concept} {\ShowPage{copyright}} {copyright} \stopcombination \stopbuffer \placefigure [here][fig:annoying] {Two examples of annoying backgrounds.} {\getbuffer} If you really want to add such texts to a document, in \CONTEXT\ we don't have to use the page background, but can use one of the layout areas instead (like \type {[text][text]} or \type {[text][leftmargin]}) \typebuffer[d] There is one drawback: when your left and right margin have different dimensions, the text will be scaled differently on odd and even pages. Normally this is no problem for a draft. As an alternative you can use the \type {\setuptexts} command and wrap the graphic in a box with the right dimensions, using code like: \starttyping \startuniqueMPgraphic{copyright} picture p ; p := btex COPYRIGHT etex rotated 90 ; setbounds p to boundingbox p enlarged 1pt ; draw p withcolor .8white ; xyscale_currentpicture(\the\leftmarginwidth,\the\textheight) ; \stopuniqueMPgraphic \setuptexttexts [margin] [] [\uniqueMPgraphic{copyright}] \stoptyping The graphic goes into the outer margin. The second argument can be used to put something in the inner margin. \stopsection \startsection[title={Multiple overlays}] \index{overlays+stack} \setupbackgrounds[text][rightmargin][background=] You can stack overlays. Consider the next case, where we assume that you have enabled interaction support using \type {\setupinteraction[state=start]}: \starttyping \setupbackgrounds [page] [background={color,nextpage}, backgroundcolor=darkyellow] \stoptyping Here, the page gets a colored background and a hyperlink to the next page, previously defined by: \starttyping \defineoverlay[nextpage][\overlaybutton{nextpage}] \stoptyping An \type {\overlaybutton} is just a button, with all attributes (color, frame, etc) set to nothing, having the dimensions of the overlay. The argument is one of the permitted destinations, like \type {nextpage}, \type {firstpage}, \type {SearchDocument} and alike. For efficiency reasons, the background areas (like \type {[text][text]}) are calculated only when their definition has changed. When a background changes per page, we have to recalculate it on each page. In the next example, the macro \type {\overlaybutton} generates a different button on each page. But, since we don't explicitly set the background at each page, there is no way the background drawing mechanism can know that this button has changed. Therefore, we must force recalculation with: \starttyping \setupbackgrounds[state=repeat] \stoptyping You can test this concept yourself with the following code. Here we assume that you have a file called \type {tufte.tex} on your system, which is the case if you have \CONTEXT\ installed. However, you can just as easily use any file having a paragraph of two of text. \starttyping \starttext \setupinteraction[state=start] \setupbackgrounds[state=repeat] \defineoverlay[nextpage][\overlaybutton{nextpage}] \setupbackgrounds[text][text][background=nextpage] \dorecurse{20}{\input tufte \par} \stoptext \stoptyping Note that you can move forward from page to page in the resulting \PDF\ file by clicking on each page with the mouse. Now compile this file without setting the background state to \type {repeat} and note the difference as you click pages with the mouse. Setting the state was not needed when we used the page background: \starttyping \setupbackgrounds[page][background=nextpage] \stoptyping The \type {\dorecurse} macro is handy for testing since it saves us typing. One can nest this macro as in: \starttyping \dorecurse{20}{\dorecurse{10}{Hello World! }\par} \stoptyping The current step is available in \type {\recurselevel} and the depth (nesting level) in \type {\recursedepth}. \stopsection \startsection[title={Crossing borders}] \index{backgrounds} In many cases, the previously mentioned background areas will suffice, but in the case of more complicated backgrounds, you may wish to use \METAPOST\ to draw graphics that combine or span these areas. At runtime \CONTEXT\ saves information on the layout that can be picked up by \METAPOST. The framework for a page graphic is: \starttyping StartPage; % all kind of commands StopPage ; \stoptyping Between the \type {StartPage} and \type {StopPage} command you have access to a wide range of variables: \starttabulate[|l|Tp|] \HL \NC page \NC PaperHeight PaperWidth \NC \NR \NC \NC PrintPaperHeight PrintPaperWidth \NC \NR \NC \NC PageOffset PageDepth \NC \NR \NC margins \NC TopSpace BackSpace \NC \NR \NC text \NC MakeupHeight MakeupWidth \NC \NR \NC vertical \NC TopHeight TopDistance \NC \NR \NC \NC HeaderHeight HeaderDistance \NC \NR \NC \NC TextHeight \NC \NR \NC \NC FooterDistance FooterHeight \NC \NR \NC \NC BottomDistance BottomHeight \NC \NR \NC horizontal \NC LeftEdgeWidth LeftEdgeDistance \NC \NR \NC \NC LeftMarginWidth LeftMarginDistance \NC \NR \NC \NC TextWidth \NC \NR \NC \NC RightMarginDistance RightMarginWidth \NC \NR \NC \NC RightEdgeDistance RightEdgeWidth \NC \NR \HL \stoptabulate Since using these variables to construct paths is not that handy because the areas are available as predefined paths, which we will demonstrate here. \placefigure [here][fig:back 1] {A background with combined areas.} {\startcombination {\typesetfile[mfun-900.tex][page=2,width=.4\textwidth]}{even} {\typesetfile[mfun-900.tex][page=3,width=.4\textwidth]}{odd} \stopcombination} In \in {figure} [fig:back 1] you see two pages (odd and even) with a background spanning the outer margin and the text area. You can access an area in two ways. The area itself is available as \type {Area}. \starttyping StartPage ; fill Area[Text][Text] withcolor .85white ; StopPage ; \stoptyping If you use an area this way, you will notice that it is not positioned at the right place. An \type {Area} is just a rectangle. If you want a positioned area, you should use the \type {Field} array: \starttyping StartPage ; fill Field[Text][Text] withcolor .85white ; StopPage ; \stoptyping The location of an area is available in \type {Location}, so the previous definition is the same as: \starttyping StartPage ; fill Area[Text][Text] shifted Location[Text][Text] withcolor .85white ; StopPage ; \stoptyping The following definition fills and draws the margin and text areas. \typebuffer[back-2] This background is assigned to the page layer by saying: \typebuffer[back-0] As you can see in \in {figure} [fig:back 2], the text is typeset rather tightly between the left and right margins. \placefigure [here][fig:back 2] {A background with split areas.} {\startcombination {\typesetfile[mfun-900.tex][page=4,width=.4\textwidth]}{even} {\typesetfile[mfun-900.tex][page=5,width=.4\textwidth]}{odd} \stopcombination} This can easily be solved by enlarging the areas a bit. The next example demonstrates this on the text area, which is shown in \in {figure} [fig:back 3]. \typebuffer[back-3] \placefigure [here][fig:back 3] {A background with enlarged text area.} {\startcombination {\typesetfile[mfun-900.tex][page=6,width=.4\textwidth]}{even} {\typesetfile[mfun-900.tex][page=7,width=.4\textwidth]}{odd} \stopcombination} The \type {enlarged} macro can be used like \type {shifted} and accepts either a numeric or a pair. How do we define a background as in \in {figure} [fig:back 1]? Because \type {Field} provides us the positioned areas, we can use the corners of those. \typebuffer[back-1] In this definition we calculate a different path for odd and even pages. When done, we enlarge the path a bit. If you want to use different offsets in all directions, you can use moved corner points. \typebuffer[back-4] Here we displace the corners randomly which leads to backgrounds like \in {figure} [fig:back 4]. The following definition would have worked as well: \typebuffer[back-4x] \placefigure [here][fig:back 4] {A random text area.} {\startcombination {\typesetfile[mfun-900.tex][page=8,width=.4\textwidth]}{even} {\typesetfile[mfun-900.tex][page=9,width=.4\textwidth]}{odd} \stopcombination} The previous graphics are defined as usable ones, which means that they will be recalculated each page. This is rather inefficient when the shapes don't change. But, using a reusable graphic instead, would result in only one graphic for both pages. Since the layout for the left and right page differs, another method is needed. Instead of putting the same graphic on the page layer, we put two different ones on the left and right page layer. \starttyping \defineoverlay[left page] [\useMPgraphic{left page}] \defineoverlay[right page][\useMPgraphic{right page}] \setupbackgrounds[leftpage] [background=left page] \setupbackgrounds[rightpage][background=right page] \stoptyping Now we only have to split the previously defined graphic into two parts. In order to force consistency, we isolate the code that fills and draws. The left page code looks like: \starttyping \startreusableMPgraphic{left page} StartPage ; path Main ; Main := llcorner Field[OuterMargin][Text] -- lrcorner Field[Text] [Text] -- urcorner Field[Text] [Text] -- ulcorner Field[OuterMargin][Text] -- cycle ; \includeMPgraphic{draw page} StopPage ; \stopreusableMPgraphic \stoptyping The right page text looks similar: \starttyping \startreusableMPgraphic{right page} StartPage ; path Main ; Main := lrcorner Field[OuterMargin][Text] -- llcorner Field[Text] [Text] -- ulcorner Field[Text] [Text] -- urcorner Field[OuterMargin][Text] -- cycle ; \includeMPgraphic{draw page} StopPage ; \stopreusableMPgraphic \stoptyping Watch how we used a reusable graphic first and a simple usable one next. Actually, the next graphic is not a stand alone graphic. \starttyping \startuseMPgraphic{draw page} Main := Main enlarged 6pt ; pickup pencircle scaled 2pt ; fill Page withcolor .625white ; fill Main withcolor .850white ; draw Main withcolor .625red ; \stopuseMPgraphic \stoptyping We have seen some predefined paths and locations. Apart from the \type {Page} path, they take two arguments that specify their position on the layout grid. \starttabulate[|lT|l|] \HL \NC path Area [][] \NC an area similar to a \CONTEXT\ one \NC \NR \NC pair Location [][] \NC the position of this area \NC \NR \NC path Field [][] \NC the area positioned at the right place \NC \NR \NC path Page \NC the page itself \NC \NR \HL \stoptabulate Some less used and more obscure variables are the following. \starttabulate[|lT|l|] \HL \NC numeric Hstep [] \NC the horizontal distance to the previous area \NC \NR \NC numeric Vstep [] \NC the vertical distance to the previous area \NC \NR \NC numeric Hsize [] \NC the width of an area \NC \NR \NC numeric Vsize [] \NC the height of an area \NC \NR \HL \stoptabulate The array variables are accessed by using constants: \starttabulate[|l|l|] \HL \NC horizontal \NC vertical \NC \NR \HL \NC LeftEdge \NC Top \NC \NR \NC LeftEdgeSeparator \NC TopSeparator \NC \NR \NC LeftMargin \NC Header \NC \NR \NC LeftMarginSeparator \NC HeaderSeparator \NC \NR \NC Text \NC Text \NC \NR \NC RightMarginSeparator \NC FooterSeparator \NC \NR \NC RightMargin \NC Footer \NC \NR \NC RightEdgeSeparator \NC BottomSeparator \NC \NR \NC RightEdge \NC Bottom \NC \NR \HL \stoptabulate In addition to these, there are \type {Margin}, \type {InnerMargin} and \type {OuterMargin} which adapt themselves to the current odd or even page. The same is true for \type {Edge}, \type {InnerEdge} and \type {OuterEdge}, although these will seldom be used, since interactive documents are always single sided. We started this chapter with spending a lot of code to simulate the page areas. It will be clear now that in practice this is much easier using the mechanism described here. \placefigure [here][fig:back 5] {A quick way to draw all used areas.} {\setupexternalfigures[background=color,backgroundcolor=white]% \startcombination {\typesetfile[mfun-900.tex][page=10,width=.4\textwidth]}{even} {\typesetfile[mfun-900.tex][page=11,width=.4\textwidth]}{odd} \stopcombination} In \in {figure} [fig:back 5] we see all used areas. Areas that are not used are not drawn (which saves some testing). This background was defined as: \typebuffer[back-5] We use two nested \type {for} loops to step over the areas. A \type {for} loop with a step of~1 will fail, because the indices are defined in a rather special way. On the other hand, the mechanism is rather tolerant, in the sense that \type {[i][j]} and \type {[j][i]} are both accepted. \stopsection \startsection[title={Bleeding}] \index {bleeding} If you want to share your document all over the world, it makes sense to use a paper format like {\em letter} or {\em A4}. In that case, the layout often matches the paper size. \startlinecorrection[blank] \startMPcode path p ; p := fullcircle xyscaled (21mm,29.7mm) ; path q ; q := boundingbox p ; fill q withcolor .625white ; fill p withcolor .625yellow ; currentpicture := currentpicture shifted (-31mm,0) ; fill q withcolor .625white ; fill p xsized (bbwidth(p)-2mm) withcolor .625yellow ; currentpicture := currentpicture shifted (-31mm,0) ; fill q withcolor .625white ; fill p withcolor .625yellow ; draw q enlarged -1mm withpen pencircle scaled 2mm withcolor .625white ; \stopMPcode \stoplinecorrection The left picture demonstrates what happens when you have a printer that is capable of printing from edge to edge. If you have such a printer, you're lucky. The middle picture demonstrates what happens if you have a properly set up printing program and|/|or printer: the page is scaled down so that the content fits into the non printable area of the printer. One reason why printers don't print from edge to edge is that the engine is not that happy when toner or ink ends up next to the page. The third picture shows what happens when a printer simply ignores content that runs over the non printable area. In many cases it's best to make sure that the content leaves a margin of 5mm from the edges. Books and magazines seldom use the popular desk||top paper sizes. Here the designer determined the paper size and layout more or less independent from the size of the sheet on which the result is printed. Instead of one page per sheet, arrangements of 2 upto 32 or more pages per sheet are made. The process of arranging pages in such a way that these sheets can be folded and combined into books is called page imposition. \CONTEXT\ supports a wide range of page imposition schemes. More information on this can be found in the \CONTEXT\ manuals. The fact that the sheet on which a page is printed is larger than the page itself opens the possibility to use the full page for content. In that case, especially when you use background graphics, you need to make sure that indeed the page is covered completely. Where in desk top printing you can get away with imperfection simply because the printing engines have their limitations, in professional output you need to be more considerate. \startlinecorrection[blank] \startMPcode path p ; p := fullsquare xyscaled (4cm,5cm) ; path q ; q := fullsquare xyscaled (3cm,4cm) ; path r ; r := fullsquare xyscaled (2cm,3cm) shifted (-.5cm,.5cm) ; fill p withcolor .625white ; fill q withcolor .850white ; currentpicture := currentpicture shifted (-45mm,0) ; fill p withcolor .625white ; fill q withcolor .850white ; fill r withcolor transparent(1,.5,.625yellow) ; currentpicture := currentpicture shifted (-45mm,0) ; fill p withcolor .625white ; fill q withcolor .850white ; r := r topenlarged 2mm leftenlarged 2mm ; fill r withcolor transparent(1,.5,.625yellow) ; \stopMPcode \stoplinecorrection Slightly enlarging a graphic so that it exceeds the natural page limits is called bleeding. Because quite often layout elements have a rectangular nature, \METAFUN\ provides a couple of operations that can save you some work in defining bleeding boxes. \startbuffer path p, q ; def ShowPath = fill p withcolor transparent(1,.5,.625yellow) ; fill q withcolor transparent(1,.5,.625yellow) ; currentpicture := currentpicture shifted (-25mm,0) ; enddef ; p := q := fullsquare xyscaled (2cm,3cm) ; ShowPath ; p := p leftenlarged 2mm ; ShowPath ; p := p topenlarged 2mm ; ShowPath ; p := p rightenlarged 2mm ; ShowPath ; p := p bottomenlarged 2mm ; ShowPath ; \stopbuffer \startlinecorrection[blank] \processMPbuffer \stoplinecorrection This graphic is generated as follows: \typebuffer The trick is in the last couple of lines. In addition to the general \type {enlarged} operator, we have 4~operators that enlarge a rectangle in a certain direction. This means that we can define the original path using dimensions related to the layout, and add bleed strips independently. \startbuffer path p ; p := fullsquare xyscaled (4cm,1cm) ; path q ; q := p leftenlarged 2mm topenlarged 2mm ; fill p withcolor transparent(1,.5,.625yellow) ; fill q withcolor transparent(1,.5,.625yellow) ; draw boundingbox currentpicture withcolor .625red ; \stopbuffer \typebuffer \startlinecorrection[blank] \processMPbuffer \stoplinecorrection This example demonstrates that when we enlarge a graphic, the bounding box also gets larger. Because this can interfere with the placement of such a graphic, we need to make sure that the bleeding is there but not seen. \startbuffer path p ; p := fullsquare xyscaled (4cm,1cm) ; path q ; q := p leftenlarged 2mm topenlarged 2mm ; fill p withcolor transparent(1,.5,.625yellow) ; fill q withcolor transparent(1,.5,.625yellow) ; setbounds currentpicture to p ; draw boundingbox currentpicture withcolor .625red ; \stopbuffer \typebuffer \startlinecorrection[blank] \processMPbuffer \stoplinecorrection There are two more operators: \type {innerenlarged} and \type {outerenlarged}. These expand to either \type {leftenlarged} or \type {rightenlarged}, depending on the page being left or right hand. \stopsection \stopchapter \stopcomponent