Chapter 2: Calculating the Page Layout with typearea 42

values for simple switches from table 2.5 are valid. If the option is passed without a value, the
value true is used, i. e. the two-column setting. Deactivating the option returns you to the
default one-column setting.
The option can also be passed as a class option in \documentclass, as a package op-
tion to \usepackage, or even after loading typearea with \KOMAoptions or \KOMAoption.
Using this option after loading typearea will automatically recalculate the type area using
\recalctypearea (see page 40).

headinclude=simple switch
footinclude=simple switch
So far we have discussed how the type area is calculated and the relationship of the margins to
one another and between margins and body of the text. But one important question has not been
answered: What exactly are the margins?
At first glance the question appears trivial: Margins are those parts on the right, left, top, and
bottom of the page which remain empty. But this is only half the story. Margins are not always
empty. Sometimes there can be marginal notes, for example (see the \marginpar command in
[OPHS11] or section 3.21).
For the top and bottom margins, the question becomes how to handle headers and footers. Do
these two belong to the text body or to their respective margins? This question is not easy to
answer. Clearly an empty footer or header belongs to the margins, since it cannot be distinguished
from the rest of the margins. A footer that contains only the pagination looks more like a margin
and should therefore be counted as such. It is irrelevant for the visual effect whether headers
or footers are easily recognized as such when reading or skimming. The decisive factor is how a
well-filled page appears when viewed out of focus. For this purpose, you could, for example, steal
the glasses of a far-sighted grandparent and hold the page about half a meter from the tip of your
nose. If you lack an available grandparent, you can also adjust your vision to infinity and look at
the page with one eye only. Those who wear glasses have a clear advantage here. If the footer
contains not only the pagination but also other material like a copyright notice, it looks more
like a slightly detached part of the body of the text. This needs to be taken into account when
calculating the type area.
For the header, this is even more complicated. The header often contains running heads. If you
use the current chapter and section titles in your running head and these titles are long, the header
itself will necessarily be very long. In this case, the header again acts like a detached part of the
text body and less like an empty margin. This effect is reinforced if the header contains not only
the chapter or section title but also the pagination. With material on the right and left side, the
header no longer appears as an empty margin. It is more difficult if the pagination is in the footer
and the length of the running titles varies, so that the header may look like part of the margin
on one page and part of the text body on another. Under no circumstances should you treat the
pages differently. That would lead to vertically jumping headers, which is not suitable even for a
flip book. In this case it is probably best to count the header as part of the text body.