UK TeX FAQ -- question label reallyblank

### Really blank pages between chapters

Book (by default) and report (with `openright` class option) ensure that each chapter starts on a right-hand (recto) page; they do this by inserting a `\``cleardoublepage` command between chapters (rather than a mere `\``clearpage`). The empty page thus created gets to have a normal running header, which some people don't like.

The (excellent) fancyhdr manual covers this issue, basically advising the creation of a command `\``clearemptydoublepage`:

    \let\origdoublepage\cleardoublepage
    \newcommand{\clearemptydoublepage}{%
      \clearpage
      {\pagestyle{empty}\origdoublepage}%
    }

The "obvious" thing is then to use this command to replace `\``cleardoublepage` in a patched version of the `\``chapter` command. (Make a package of your own containing a copy of the command out of the class.) This isn't particularly difficult, but you can instead simply subvert `\``cleardoublepage` (which isn't often used elsewhere):

    \let\cleardoublepage\clearemptydoublepage

Note: this command works because `\``clearemptydoublepage` uses a copy of `\``cleardoublepage`: instructions on macro programming patching techniques explain the problem and why this is a solution.

Note that the KOMA-Script replacements for the book amd report classes (scrbook and scrreprt offers class options `cleardoubleempty`, `cleardoubleplain` and `cleardoublestandard` (using the running page style, as normal) that control the appearance of these empty pages. The classes also offer do-it-yourself commands `\``cleardoubleempty` (etc.). The memoir class provides commands `\``cleartooddpage` and `\``cleartoevenpage`, which both take an optional argument (the first, with no argument, being an equivalent of `\``cleardoublepage`). One can achieve 'special' effects by putting commands in the optional argument: the `\``clearemptydoublepage` we're after would be achieved by `\``cleartooddpage[``\``thispagestyle{empty}``]`.

`fancyhdr`
  macros/latex/contrib/fancyhdr (zip, browse)
`memoir.cls`
  macros/latex/contrib/memoir (zip, browse)
`scrbook.cls, scrrept.cls`
  Part of macros/latex/contrib/koma-script (zip, browse)

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