How do I reduce print margin in Text edit?

Gorf, there is no way to amend the default margins AFAIK, but the method I described above should work for individual documents. Having created one with amended margins, you could then use Save As.. (yes, I believe that's still possible in the post-Lion world, by using Option!) to create other documents, or save it to begin with as an empty file called Template, then use that along with Save As.. in future to create all your TextEdit docs.

Not sure that you can. Check out Tex-Edit Plus which is rather flexible.

Not doable any longer. Years ago, when Apple provided a TextEdit editable version in its Xcode tools, there was a way to do that.

You can adjust the margin by using Page Setup.

Select the Paper Size drop down menu.

Select Manage Custom Size.

Create a custom paper size by clicking the Plus sign.

Then set the overall paper size, and the margins.

Tom

Wait, maybe that doesn't work after all.

Message was edited by: Tom

I don't know if this works from Lion onwards, but it does still work in Snow Leopard (it is ancient advice - the date of the post I found this in is 2004!):

In TextEdit is is reasonably easy to change the margins to nearly anything you want-- down to the very edge of the paper. The other people who responded to your question who said it couldn't be done, just don't realize how easy it is.

First, open the file viewing the RTF codes

• Open TextEdit.

• Do a Command-O and look at the Open dialog box.

• Select the file whose margins you want to change.

• Check the "Ignore Rich Text Commands" option box.

• Click "Okay".

Second, change the margins RTF codes

• In the header of the document you will see a line that specifies the margins. This line will probably being this way: "\margl1440". The "marg" refers to "margin", and the letters that follow it stand for the margin sides: "l" = left, "r" = right, "t" = top, "b" = bottom. I believe that 1440 equals 1 inch. So, 20 equals one pixel on a 72 dpi screen.

• Change the numbers to your liking.

• Reopen the document (without checking the "Ignore Rich Text Commands") and "presto": you've got your margins changed. Piece of cake.

Thanks for that.

Note that some documents don't have top and bottom margins specified. If not, the add them, like so:

\margl360\margr360\margb360\margt360\

DEFINING PAGE SIZES AND UNPRINTED AREAS FOR TEXT EDIT

This works for Text Edit in OS X 10.9.2, Mavericks. I'm thinking this, or something close to it, will probably work for most applications from which you can print:

• Open a TextEdit document;
• Do menu command File>Page Setup; to open this window:

• Pull down the “Paper Size:” menu and select Manage Custom Sizes… to open the following window. Note that you won't be able to change paper size or margins on the Paper Size called "US Letter" or any other sheet style that has been predefined by Apple:
• 
• In the lower left corner, click on “+” and a new sheet style called “Untitled” will appear in the list immediately above;
• Highlight “Untitled” and rename your new sheet style to whatever you want (like, say, “Letter—min. border”);
• Pull down the User Defined window menu and click on your printer’s name (your printer might require certain minimum sizes for margins in order to facilitate the way it handles paper, and those limits might be reflected in the ranges for margin settings in this window);
• Adjust the paper size and the left, right, top, and bottom margins as you like;
• Click the “OK” button and you are done.

Now, the first time you do the menu command File>Print… for this document, be sure to set the “Paper Size” to the sheet style that you just created before clicking the “Print” button.

Of course, now that Apple's Numbers application is available free, that's probably a better application to use for creating tables than TextEdit.

My apologies to seniordalite and other who read my above reply. In fact the method I outlined does not work -- at least not to reduce the margin sizes.

I did discover that, when you opt to print out the headers and footers, they print out closer to the corners of the paper. I was hoping to use that so that I could cause the return address to be placed tightly into the upper left corner of an envelope. But I can't find a way to edit the default header and footer either.

I was hoping to show a method that would work within the normal scope of OS X commands. In fact, that it didn't work suggests to me that there is a flaw in the menu command File>Page Setup... scenario.

After your follow-up, I tried your method of modifying the Rich Text code. Part of it was "\paperw13680\paperh5939\margl1440\margr1440\vieww12320\viewh12820\viewkind0" . After I changed it to \paperw13680\paperh5939\margl144\margr144\vieww12320\viewh12820\viewkind0 , it printed with a 5/16" left margin (which is better, but I was expecting 1/10").

I then changed it again to \paperw13680\paperh5939\margl144\margr144\margt144\margb144\vieww12320\viewh128 20\viewkind0 per Baltwo's suggestion. That printed out with a 3/16" top margin and a 5/16" left margin.

Finally I changed it again to \paperw13680\paperh5939\margl0\margr0\margt0\margb0\vieww12320\viewh12820\viewk ind0 . That printed out with the same top and left margins as the last change did. I suspect I'm up against a minimum margin requirement of some kind.

OK, where does this leave us me:

1. There is enough here that I can create an envelope template that will put the return address on an envelope close enough to the upper left corner to satisfy my need;
2. I'd need to experiment more to decide whether I'd want to use TextEdit for bigger tables. But I'd sooner do tables in Excel anyway. In Excel you have more control over margins without resorting to workarounds. (Maybe also in Numbers, which is now free);
3. At best, this is a clumsy workaround that ought not be necessary in an Apple application.

I have never understood why Apple saw fit to create a word processor where you couldn't reduce the margins to less than one inch. Perhaps it was part of a sort of 'design authoritarianism' that decided "it doesn't look so neat", without giving a thought to those might need smaller margins?

After all, TextEdit has been around as long as OS X, so if it was just an oversight, they'd have fixed it by now.

This morning, I reported this (i.e., the create-a-new-sheet-size-with-smaller-margins approach did not work) as a TextEdit bug to iMac Support via Chat with Technician "Damian." He downloaded an app. to me that enabled him to watch my screen as I went through the process of demonstrating the bug to him. When I finished, he proceeded to duplicate the same process on an iMac at his end. He then confirmed to me that he got the same result as I had. (In particular, I could never get the return address to appear in the upper left corner of an envelope closer than 1" from both upper and left edges.)

Damian told me that he would write it up as a bug and would submit it to right channels to get it fixed.

He then asked me to report this again at http://apple.com/feedback, which I have since done.

If you care to add your weight to that, consider reporting this same bug to http://apple.com/feedback. You might mention that you report should be associated with Case 635916713.

This is clearly a bug, else the process would have worked! We'll see what happens.

DELETED (accidental duplication). Instead, see my message time stamped today at 3:04PM.

Of course, now that Apple's Numbers application is available free, that's probably a better application to use for creating tables than TextEdit.

… as is Pages, so if you want to go fancy with page layout, you can always take that route 😉

I have been a Mac user for ever ⚠ … and I must say that I have always loved the simplicity of TextEdit, and it has been my goto editor. However the silly 1" margins have been a frustration… especially as, in my country, they translate to 2.54cm, which is about as lame as you can get 😠

I can't see them doing anything about this now… it's been like that for far too long.