From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: 'Mash Subject: Re: Professional PDF LaTeX templates? Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:43:50 +0000 Message-ID: <20110316144350.22204wlgfk01ieuc@webmail.tuffmail.net> References: <20110316110429.19583tdvlcfb6y4g@webmail.tuffmail.net> <87mxkv17hf.fsf@ucl.ac.uk> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; DelSp="Yes"; format="flowed" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Return-path: Received: from [140.186.70.92] (port=50418 helo=eggs.gnu.org) by lists.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1Pzrx5-00011K-3e for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Wed, 16 Mar 2011 10:43:57 -0400 Received: from Debian-exim by eggs.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Pzrx2-0000yI-8e for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Wed, 16 Mar 2011 10:43:53 -0400 Received: from mxout-08.mxes.net ([216.86.168.183]:48586) by eggs.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.71) (envelope-from ) id 1Pzrx2-0000xu-1S for emacs-orgmode@gnu.org; Wed, 16 Mar 2011 10:43:52 -0400 In-Reply-To: <87mxkv17hf.fsf@ucl.ac.uk> Content-Disposition: inline List-Id: "General discussions about Org-mode." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Errors-To: emacs-orgmode-bounces+geo-emacs-orgmode=m.gmane.org@gnu.org To: Eric S Fraga Cc: Emacs Org mode mailing list Quoting Eric S Fraga : > 'Mash writes: > >> Quoting Eric S Fraga : >>> >>>>> 2011/3/14 Thomas Herbert >> >>>>>> >>>> >>>>>> Afternoon, >>>>>> >>>>>> I wonder if anyone had any good examples of org-mode LaTeX =20 >>>>>> templates with >>>>>> which to export professional looking PDFs? >>>>>> >>>>>> It is my big issue with org-mode at the moment, and I have tried read= ing >>>>>> what I can on LaTeX styling but it is getting to the point that I am >>>>>> spending way to much time trying to learn enough LaTeX only to >>>>>> find I can't >>>>>> translate it into anything that looks the quality of using MS >>>>>> Word and Adobe >>>>>> Flashpaper. >>> >>> Not intending to start a flame war but my experience is that latex, even >>> with everything at default settings, beats a typical MS Word document >>> hands down! At least in academic circles, many publishers use latex for >>> the final typesetting stage even if the original article was submitted >>> in MS Word. >>> >>> The negative aspect, for some, about latex is that everything is >>> customisable (as you have alluded to) given that it is but a set of >>> macros built on top of the TeX typesetting system (thank you Donald >>> Knuth!). Because the underlying system is both robust and >>> comprehensive, anything is possible! The power of TeX comes partly from >>> the basis being both page and paragraph formatting, as opposed to line >>> by line formatting which tools like MS Word use. >>> >>> Therefore, I am curious as to what you wish to achieve: >>> >>> John Hendy writes: >>>> Instead... could you provide something you think is professional to >>>> set the bar and those on the list can either match it or point you in >>>> the direction of something they've seen or already created to fit into >>>> your genre of "professional"? >>> >>> This would indeed be very useful. >> >> Sorry yes my question was fairly vague. Also I actually had trouble >> trying to find an example of what I mean. But let me clarify. >> >> I suppose by "professional" I really meant "polished", and so it is >> LaTeX styling I have having trouble with, it may also be laziness on >> my part. I have tried searching for LaTeX styling which I can >> translate into a few org-mode header declarations but still can't work >> out what is or is not compatible with org-mode (LaTeX classes) or how >> to implement styling correctly. >> >> I think what it is that I have been using CSS for so long that I am >> getting frustrated in not being able to produce the level of results I >> want in LaTeX. Also I feel like a complete numpty not being able to >> clearly understand how to build and define external LaTeX classes I >> can call to output my simple .org file to a "polished" .pdf. I.e. >> margins, line-heights, different block element font styling, common >> graphical page headers or footers. >> >> There are a huge amount of LaTeX examples on the web, but they are >> full documents with inline elements, I wanted to know if anyone has >> already setup classes that work, with notes on LaTeX dependencies (and >> how and where to download them from) which they use day to day to >> produce reports, articles, contracts or client proposals from simple >> .org files? >> >> Is that any clearer? > > A little but not really. The trick with latex is not to define any new > classes (unless you really want something dramatically different than > already exists) but to customise existing classes through their options > and the use of supplementary packages. Each document has a single class > (article, book, report, letter, ...) but can then load any number of > packages to add features. > > The problem is we don't know what you are trying to write! A book is > very different from a letter which is different from an article etc. As > an example, if I were writing an article, I would base it on the > koma-script package [1] which allows customisation of headings etc. To > customise the various things you mention above, I would then use the > =3Dgeometry=3D, =3Dfancyhdr=3D and =3Dgraphicx=3D packages, to mention jus= t a few. > All of these are well documented on CTAN [2] where you can search for > individual packages. I would also directly modify some variables > (e.g. \parindent, \parskip) that are fundamental to the layout if need > be. > > If you really want to learn how to customise latex, one of the best > resources is the Visual FAQ [3]. > > I hope this helps but do give more detail if you want explicit help. > However, if what you need is latex help, I suggest one of the tex > newsgroups [4] or some of the mailing lists (cf. gmane [5]) or > equivalent; if you want to know how to interface to latex from org, then > this list is indeed the place! > > eric > > > Footnotes: > [1] http://mirror.ctan.org/macros/latex/contrib/koma-script/scrguien.pdf > > [2] http://ctan.org/ > > [3] http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/info/visualFAQ/visualFAQ.pdf > > [4] e.g. comp.text.tex > > [5] http://gmane.org/ > > -- > : Eric S Fraga (GnuPG: 0xC89193D8FFFCF67D) in Emacs 24.0.50.1 > : using Org-mode version 7.5 (release_7.5.55.g87c42.dirty) > Thanks, very much appreciated. I will spend some time having a look =20 through the links below. Sorry for being unclear, sometimes you need =20 to ask questions to find out what questions you needed to ask in the =20 first place. Much appreciated all, 'Mash