diff --git a/Doc/Makefile b/Doc/Makefile
index 8569ba06129..ea62f0081be 100644
--- a/Doc/Makefile
+++ b/Doc/Makefile
@@ -7,16 +7,19 @@
 PYTHON       = python
 SVNROOT      = http://svn.python.org/projects
 SPHINXOPTS   =
+PAPER        =
 
-ALLSPHINXOPTS = -b$(BUILDER) -dbuild/doctrees $(SPHINXOPTS) . build/$(BUILDER)
+ALLSPHINXOPTS = -b $(BUILDER) -d build/doctrees -D latex_paper_size=$(PAPER) \
+                $(SPHINXOPTS) . build/$(BUILDER)
 
 .PHONY: help checkout update build html web htmlhelp clean
 
 help:
 	@echo "Please use \`make <target>' where <target> is one of"
-	@echo "  html  to make standalone HTML files"
-	@echo "  web   to make file usable by Sphinx.web"
+	@echo "  html   to make standalone HTML files"
+	@echo "  web    to make file usable by Sphinx.web"
 	@echo "  htmlhelp to make HTML files and a HTML help project"
+	@echo "  latex  to make LaTeX files, you can set PAPER=a4 or PAPER=letter"
 
 checkout:
 	@if [ ! -d tools/sphinx ]; then \
@@ -60,6 +63,8 @@ htmlhelp: build
 latex: BUILDER = latex
 latex: build
 	@echo "Build finished; the LaTeX files are in build/latex."
+	@echo "Run \`make all-pdf' or \`make all-ps' in that directory to" \
+	      "run these through (pdf)latex."
 
 clean:
 	-rm -rf build/*
diff --git a/Doc/conf.py b/Doc/conf.py
index 944dd68d505..8e1c39d93d7 100644
--- a/Doc/conf.py
+++ b/Doc/conf.py
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@
 #
 # The contents of this file are pickled, so don't put values in the namespace
 # that aren't pickleable (module imports are okay, they're removed automatically).
-#
+
+# General configuration
+# ---------------------
 
 # The default replacements for |version| and |release|.
 # If 'auto', Sphinx looks for the Include/patchlevel.h file in the current Python
@@ -23,9 +25,6 @@ today = ''
 # Else, today_fmt is used as the format for a strftime call.
 today_fmt = '%B %d, %Y'
 
-# The base URL for download links.
-download_base_url = 'http://docs.python.org/ftp/python/doc/'
-
 # List of files that shouldn't be included in the build.
 unused_files = [
     'whatsnew/2.0.rst',
@@ -39,17 +38,34 @@ unused_files = [
     'library/xml.etree.rst',
 ]
 
-# If not '', a 'Last updated on:' timestamp is inserted at every page bottom,
-# using the given strftime format.
-last_updated_format = '%b %d, %Y'
-
-# If true, SmartyPants will be used to convert quotes and dashes to
-# typographically correct entities.
-use_smartypants = True
-
 # If true, '()' will be appended to :func: etc. cross-reference text.
 add_function_parentheses = True
 
 # If true, the current module name will be prepended to all description
 # unit titles (such as .. function::).
 add_module_names = True
+
+
+# Options for HTML output
+# -----------------------
+
+# The base URL for download links.
+html_download_base_url = 'http://docs.python.org/ftp/python/doc/'
+
+# If not '', a 'Last updated on:' timestamp is inserted at every page bottom,
+# using the given strftime format.
+html_last_updated_fmt = '%b %d, %Y'
+
+# If true, SmartyPants will be used to convert quotes and dashes to
+# typographically correct entities.
+html_use_smartypants = True
+
+
+# Options for LaTeX output
+# ------------------------
+
+# The paper size ("letter" or "a4").
+latex_paper_size = "a4"
+
+# The font size ("10pt", "11pt" or "12pt").
+latex_font_size = "10pt"