No matter how careful we are, there will always come a time where we will find ourselves printing over our projects in the wrong size, paper or margin. In some cases, it could be the wrong paddings, with an overlap to the text content. What are paddings anyway and how do we benefit from them?
Advantages of paddings and margins
In our previous article, we’ve tackled the proper margins for every document together with the proper size and header. Headers, footers, and margins are given enough room for the proper placing of information. (See complete article here: How to add header and footer)Margins and paddings also signify professionalism and provide spacing for other requirements such as the following:
1. Stapling – In a common household, everyone staples their multi-page work and if not, they fasten, clip it or put it in a folder that binds it. Imagine having no space for binding? Words and letters may be punched with holes and content may lose sense as those staples cover some parts.
2. Bates numbering – In the legal world, not all documents pass as evidence or material to be used in court but if they do pass as one, it is suggested to add space for bates numbering. This is a systematic way of retrieving files efficiently and it is stamped directly on the document within the header or footer areas. These numbers represent labels to keep the files organized and are often placed on top or bottom of the page. It may be in the left or right or center. Sometimes these can also come in two or three stamps per document, depending on the labeling needs.
3. Header and footer – Paddings are added to a content of a document to make space for a header, footer or a printout letterhead. Certain information is placed on the top or bottom to allow the readers to easily navigate necessary details such as contact numbers, addresses, etc. Now, without paddings, there would be an overlap of text within the content.
4. Binding/Bookbinding – Books, thesis or projects are often required to be bonded together to avoid losing a page. Just like staples, binding punch holes so content can be disrupted if it does not have enough clear space around for margin and paddings.
5. Comments, corrections, and annotations – For writers, editors and school papers, margins and paddings can be spaces for comments and improvements. Paddings make it easier to understand those corrections because editors can write their comments near the text content.
7. Printing and bleeding needs – When we say bleeding, it doesn’t mean real blood! It means there’s a space in between. This is necessary as printing machines, especially mass-produced ones, don’t always print exactly on the dot. There can be overlaps, errors, and misalignments but with paddings and margins, those errors can be acceptable. If you are going to print on paper with a pre-printed design, paddings are a great way to make sure the content is squeezed in the right spot.
Isn’t padding and a margin the same?
Somehow it is! Both provide clear space around the document but the difference is, a margin makes spaces around the content outside while padding makes spaces inside the borders of the elements. Margins define the beginning and the end of the text in a line, from the edge while padding defines the space from the content to the border. For instance, if you have a header and a paragraph, you can consider those as two different elements. Both can have the same margin but different paddings. Both margins and paddings’ purpose though is to provide a space to separate text and keep it far from the edge of the paper, making printing and binding less risky for errors.
How do I remove those paddings around the area?
You can easily do so with our crop tool here at DeftPDF.com and just to let you know how easy it is to crop those paddings out, we’ve made a video tutorial here:
Video tutorial link: How to crop PDF using DeftPDF
Can I crop use this tool to crop out only the photo or the text?
Yes, you can! With our crop tool, you can freely crop anything out in any size and get a PDF outcome in the same size as you cropped. Just drag and drop, convert and save! Do all of these things free!
