Margins

Scrivener Scrivener for macOS
1

Every time I open Scriverner the margins revert to a large number (so the text column is very narrow) and I have to go into prefs and hit Apply to regain the margin I have set there. Has anyone else had this problem?

Thanks,
Mike

2

That doesn’t sound right. You could have a corrupt preferences file that is refusing to commit the changes to the permanent store. Try the following:

  1. Use the “Manage…” button at the bottom of the Preferences pane to save your current preferences.
  2. Go to ~/Library/Preferences in the Finder (where the tilde represents your home folder) and find the file entitled com.literatureandlatte.scrivener.plist. Move it to the Trash.
  3. Re-launch Scrivener. You’ll need to re-enter your registration details (contact David on sales AT literatureandlatte DOT com if you’ve lost your serial number, as he can look it up for you).
  4. Using the “Manage…” button at the bottom of the Preferences panel, reload the old preferences you saved in Step 1.

This should clear out any corrupt data in the preferences file. If it carries on happening, let me know.

All the best,
Keith

3

I followed your instructions exactly, and the problem persists.

What next?

4

Perhaps you could describe exactly what you are doing, step-by-step, then - what you are trying, which options you are selecting, what you expect and what you see.

All the best,
Keith

5

Ok, here goes.

I have my prefs set to default editor width 1000 fixed width.

I keep the inspector hidden.

in text editing I have the prefs set to baskerville 12pt, margins at left/right 200px top/bottom 20px

I think those are the relevant prefs.

When I open scrivener, the text appears in a narrow column, with left/right margins close to 300px. Then I open the prefs, and I click apply (without changing anything). The text then returns to the 200px left/right margins, where I want it.

This happens every time I quit and open scrivener.

Do you need more information?

Thanks so much.

best,
Mike

6

Strange indeed. Is the editor scaled at all, or are you viewing at 100%? The margins take into account text scale.
All the best,
Keith

P.S. 200px are very wide margins!

7

I do have it scaled to 150%

8

Ah, I see the problem now (it’s always helpful to have all the facts :slight_smile: ). The problem is that the scaling of 150% changes the 200px margins to 300px margins. When you apply the preferences, the margins get adjusted, but this adjustment isn’t applied when the scaling is changed or the program is launched by the looks of it (which is of course a minor bug). I’ve added it to the list to fix.

Thanks and all the best,
Keith

9

Ah, thanks. I appreciate how responsive you are, and I appreciate Scrivener every day.

mike

10

Thanks for the kind words, Mike, and thanks for understanding and putting up with this minor bug, much appreciated.
All the best,
Keith

11

Is there any way to set the margins just for one specific document?

I’m transferring a PDF of my travel packing list to the iPhone, so I have it when I’m returning as well as when I’m packing. But for this, I want to have no indents - just a list, with each section starting with an emboldened word.

I can only find a way of changing the default in the Preferences pane for Text Editing. Is there a way to change it for one document without changing all?

12

Just to be clear, the type of margins they are talking about here are not page style margins, but the Scrivener editor margins, which are completely outside of the page itself. So don’t try to follow any of the advice above if you want to change the page formatting. Totally different issue.

To adjust the margins for a section all by itself, use the standard OS X ruler (Cmd-R). These always override the document creation default preference.

13

Thanks very much, AmberDuck, that works beautifully.