General ⇒ Generic title page needs optimization

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Using a macro I saw posted by Yiannis Lazarides:

Code: Select all

\RequirePackage[l2tabu,orthodox]{nag}
\documentclass[12pt,oneside]{article}
\usepackage[letterpaper,margin=1in]{geometry}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{float}
\usepackage{color}

\makeatletter
\def\spreadeven#1{%
\@tfor\next:=#1\do{%
  \next\hfill
 }%
}
 
\begin{document}
 
% CODE (2) :
\begin{titlepage}
	\hfill {}\par
	\vspace{0.25in}
 
	\begin{center}
		{Course number}\par
		\vspace{0.5in}
		\vspace*{\baselineskip}
		\rule{4.5in}{1.6pt}\vspace*{2pt}
		\color{red}\rule{4.5in}{0.4pt}\color{black}\\[\baselineskip]
		\makebox[4.5in]{\Huge\textsc{\spreadeven{Book\ titl}e}}\\[1\baselineskip]
		{\large Subtitle}\\[0.2\baselineskip]
		\rule{4.5in}{0.4pt}\vspace*{-\baselineskip}\vspace{3.2pt}
		\rule{4.5in}{1.6pt}
		\vfill 
		Author
		\vfill
		\includegraphics[width=4.5in]{example-grid-100x100pt}
		\vfill
		version, town, year.
	\end{center}
\end{titlepage}
 
\end{document}

Stefan

[Cham]

Wow! It's *almost* working! The letters with French accents don't pass :

Code: Select all

\makebox[4.5in]{\Huge\textsc{\spreadeven{La \ mécanique \ classique}}}\\[1\baselineskip]

Of course, I use this in the preamble :

Code: Select all

\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[french]{babel}

[Stefan Kottwitz]

It works when you protect non-standard characters: m{é}canique

Stefan

[Cham]

Yep, it's working. Thanks for this nice find.

I suspect there should be a more natural way, using some kerning commands or some way to stretch or enlarge the font.

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Sure, with the microtype package or the soul package. So changing kerning and letter spacing is possible. But that's more static once it's set. Here, the dynamic \hfill is inserted everywhere.

Stefan

[Cham]

Interesting! I always load the microtype package (essential one!). What do you mean by "more static" ? Could it be made only for some text sentence without having an effect on the rest?

So how do you implement the kerning in the case above?

[Stefan Kottwitz]

Yes, it can be applied to specific text. But I think you can specify a kerning value you want. But its not automatically filling a certain width, it's just another kerning value. Ok, maybe one can set a rubber length as kerning value. Anyway, take a look into the microtype manual regarding letter spacing or kerning settings. I don't have all manuals in my head.

Stefan

[Cham]

Cool!

The command \textls[<amount>]{<text>} seems to be the option to use (see page 23 of the documentation) :

Code: Select all

\textls*[50]{\Huge\textsc{Main title}}

However, it's not clear yet what the proper <amount> should be. I could do it by hand, but there may be an option to define the lenght in inches.

[Cham]

Hmm, the kerned title feels a bit weird, not natural. I think I'll change the strategy : get the total lenght of the title, then make the rules and picture of the same size. I'm not sure how to do this yet.

EDIT : Found it !

Code: Select all

\newlength{\largeur}
	\settowidth{\largeur}{\Huge\textsc{Book title}}

Works great !

Here's the final result. The code has been cleaned, it's simple and easy to understand! (the beautifull picture is clicable, and brings Picasso's Wikipedia page!)

title.jpg (42.43 KiB) Viewed 4250 times

[Johannes_B]

What if the width extend the given size of the rule? For example, look at the title The influence of pidgeon dust on statues made of bronze in a vacuum on a sunny day?

How do you deal with that?