<P> With the invention of the printing press, books began to be manufactured in large numbers . As paper began to be produced in bulk, page size and shape were increasingly determined by the size and shape of mould which was most practical for producers . As pages became more standardized, so did the size and shape of margins . In general, margins in books have grown smaller over time . The wide margins common during the Renaissance have given way to much narrower proportions . However, there is still much variation depending on the size and purpose of the book . </P> <P> Computers and the Internet have revolutionized our consumption of the written word . Books can now exist without physical pages, and text can be viewed on a myriad of devices . In the early days of the Internet, the concept of margins was foreign to web browsers . However, as computer screens got bigger this became an issue for the readability and aesthetics of text . The invention of more sophisticated techniques such as CSS allowed designers to control the margins of their web pages and leave more white space . Although margin-less web pages do still exist, today it is generally understood that having wide enough margins to provide adequate white space around text is important to the usability and readability of digital text . In fact, margins become even more important because web content shares visual space with other elements such as the web browser's interface, as well as other icons and windows . </P> <P> Margins also play an important role in digital word - processing . The default margins for Microsoft Word from version 2007 onward have been 1 inch (2.54 cm) all around; in Word 2003, the default top and bottom margins were 1 inch (2.54 cm), but 1.25 inches (3.17 cm) were given at the left and the right . OpenOffice Writer has 0.79 inch (2 cm) all around . LaTeX varies the width of its margins depending on the font size . By default, LaTeX uses 1.5 inches margin sizes for 12pt documents, 1.75 inches for 11pt, and 1.875 inches for 10pt--relatively large margins . These adjustments are intended to allow a maximum of 66 characters per line, to increase readability . However, studies have shown that longer line lengths (more than 66 characters per line) can improve readability . </P>

What are normal margins for a word document