colored background for minipage?
George McBane
I am trying to duplicate a single-page document originally done with
Quark. My purposes
are twofold: to produce a parody of the document, and to learn some
more about LaTeX.
The target of my attention can be seen at http://faculty.gvsu.edu/mcbaneg/pragma.pdf
(You may conclude that it is not in need of a parody; fair enough).
It has a narrow gray column
down the left side. There is a headline in black that extends from
this column into the main
part of the page, two heavy black rules that do the same, and some
right-justified
text set in white farther down the gray column.
My basic approach is to use two \minipage environments side by side, a
narrow
one on the left and a wide one on the right. The thick \rules will
span from one
minipage into the other, and and the header text
that needs to span both environments I can put in an \mbox to do the
same.
(Oddly, when I insert the \rule commands, Latex suddenly puts
everything on
the second page, leaving the first blank.)
However, I need to fill the left minipage with a gray background. I
have tried
\colorbox from the color package, and \psboxit as recommended in the
Latex Companion,
but neither appears able to handle complicated arguments with \vspace,
font changing
commands, and so on, as I need. \pagecolor fills the entire page with
gray, even if
I issue it within the first minipage environment.
So:
1) Is there a good way to fill my entire left-hand minipage with a
background color?
2) Can you suggest a better approach to my task?
My partial attempt so far is below. I have Adobe Garamond Pro set up
(using the LCDF
Typetools) as the main font; I presume that you can see the basic
layout
using Times or whatever. In the original the typeface looks to me
like
one of the Jannon types named Garamond, but notice that its ligatures
are missing.
I don't feel a need to copy that subtlety of the original :-)
\documentclass[12 pt]{article}
\usepackage[scale=1.0]{AGaramondPro}
\usepackage{helvet}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{color}
\definecolor{medgray}{gray}{0.6}
\begin{document}
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{minipage}{1.5 in}
\mbox{\textsf{\textbf{THE PEW FACULTY TEACHING AND LEARNING CENTER}}}
\vspace{5 mm}
\rule{6 cm}{3 mm}
\vspace{5.5 in}
\begin{flushright}
\textcolor{medgray}{ \textit{\Large Enhancing student learning by
supporting faculty in their efforts to teach effectively}}
\end{flushright}
\end{minipage}
\hspace{5mm}
\begin{minipage}{4.5 in}
\textbf{\Huge Procrastination Techniques}
\vspace{1 in}
Most faculty find a toolbox of procrastination techniques---activities
that feel justifiable yet are less unpleasant than the actual work at
hand---to be an invaluable part of their professional arsenals. We
will explore procrastination techniques that are highly effective but
not widely known. Examples include:
\begin{itemize}
\item Checking your Ratemyprofessor.com reviews
\item Rereading the minutes of the last faculty meeting
\item the ultimate tool: the Incomplete grade.
\end{itemize}
\end{minipage}
\end{document}
Ulrike Fischer
> (Oddly, when I insert the \rule commands, Latex suddenly puts
> everything on the second page, leaving the first blank.)
This happens if LaTeX finds an object that don't fits on the current
page, if moves it then on the next and puts it there (and complains
about an overfull box if it doesn't fit there too.
>
> However, I need to fill the left minipage with a gray background.
> I have tried \colorbox from the color package, and \psboxit as
> recommended in the Latex Companion, but neither appears able to
> handle complicated arguments with \vspace, font changing
> commands, and so on, as I need.
Put the colorbox around the minipage. Don't forget that colorboxes
have a margin (\fboxsep) and that there could be a paragraph indent
that you will perhaps have to cancel (\noindent).
--
Ulrike Fischer