Basic typesetting questions

[Zorro]

Can someone give me the commands to construct a paper that has this
typesetting?

"Typeset the abstract in 8 pt roman with baselineskip of 10 pt, making an
indentation of 0.25 inches on the left and right margins."

"The main text should be in 10~pt roman, single spaced with baselineskip of
13~pt. Text area (including copyright block) is 8 inches high and 5 inches
wide for the first page.
Text area (excluding running title) is 7.7 inches high and
5 inches wide for subsequent pages."

"Footnotes should be 8pt Roman font".

I don't know a) how to close a typesetting command (assuming it's
necessary), eg. font size or text dimensions, to change to a new typesetting
that isn't given in the preamble

b) how to select the typesetting commands written in the preamble.

Also, I was wondering how to get the \footnotemark comman to display a
superscripted dagger instead of a number; or a superscripted letter?

Am v. grateful to those who will help.

[Peter Flynn]

On 30/07/12 16:10, Zorro wrote:
> Can someone give me the commands to construct a paper that has this
> typesetting?

Most of these are the defaults for the article class at 10pt.

> "Typeset the abstract in 8 pt roman with baselineskip of 10 pt, making an
> indentation of 0.25 inches on the left and right margins."
>
> "The main text should be in 10~pt roman, single spaced with baselineskip of
> 13~pt. Text area (including copyright block) is 8 inches high and 5 inches
> wide for the first page.
> Text area (excluding running title) is 7.7 inches high and
> 5 inches wide for subsequent pages."

Information about this copyright block is needed in order to allow for
the extra 0.3in. You haven't provided that information.

> "Footnotes should be 8pt Roman font".
>
> I don't know a) how to close a typesetting command (assuming it's
> necessary),

I don't understand "close" in this context.

> eg. font size or text dimensions, to change to a new typesetting
> that isn't given in the preamble

Unless there is an existing package to do stuff, you have to find where
the command or setting is defined in the class file or other package,
copy that code into your Preamble, and edit it to make the required changes.

> b) how to select the typesetting commands written in the preamble.
>

> Also, I was wondering how to get the \footnotemark command to display a

> superscripted dagger instead of a number; or a superscripted letter?

There is a standard set of non-alphanumeric marks (star, dagger,
double-dagger, etc). If your publisher requires footnote #1 to be the
dagger, they must also specify what to use for footnote #2, #3, #4...and
the redefine the internal command \@fnsymbol, and redefine \thefootnote
to use it. For letters, redefine it to use \alph.

Here's an example. If this is for a publisher, you might want to point
out the advantage of LaTeX, and get them to have a proper document class
written for their authors to use which would automate everything.

% default is 10pt
\documentclass{article}
% use UTF-8 encoding and T1 fonts as the default
\usepackage[utf8x]{inputenc}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
% use calc so we can substract ½" from the Abstract width
% lipsum is just used for this example for the dummy text
\usepackage{calc,lipsum}
% define the text area
\usepackage[textwidth=5in,textheight=7.7in]{geometry}
% set the type size to 10/13 when the document begins
\AtBeginDocument{\fontsize{10}{13}\selectfont}
% change and simplify the abstract environment (omit the
% twocolumn stuff; use a minipage to set the narrower
% width instead of the quotation environment; and set
% the type size to 8/10
\renewenvironment{abstract}{%
\begin{center}%
\textbf{\abstractname}\par\medskip
\begin{minipage}{\columnwidth - 0.5in}
\fontsize{8}{10}\selectfont}{%
\end{minipage}\end{center}}
% change footnote marks to be superscripted letters
\renewcommand\thefootnote{\alph{footnote}}
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
\begin{document}
\title{Article setup}
\author{Zorro}
\maketitle
\begin{abstract}
\lipsum[1]
\end{abstract}
\section{Blort}
More stuff\footnote{\lipsum[2]} \lipsum[3]
\end{document}

///Peter

[Lee Rudolph]

Peter Flynn <pe...@silmaril.ie> writes:

...

>Here's an example. If this is for a publisher,

It almost certainly is for a publisher, namely, World Scientific Press.
(It conceivably could be for some other publisher who has copied WSP's
instructions verbatim [to the extent that the original poster quoted
the instructions].) Unfortunately, although from its beginnings WSP
has encouraged submissions in (La)TeX, in all those years it has never
(to my direct experience, in the case of WSP journals to which I have
sent papers; and, as far as I can tell from a cursory Google search,
in the case of all other WSP journals...) managed to get around to
providing "a proper document class written for their authors". I have
found them very frustrating to deal with.

>you might want to point
>out the advantage of LaTeX, and get them to have a proper document class
>written for their authors to use which would automate everything.

Lee Rudolph

[Axel Berger]

Peter Flynn wrote:
> \AtBeginDocument{\fontsize{10}{13}\selectfont}

I believe (perhaps wrongly) that this setting is lost after a size
change and back to \normalsize. I'd prefer:

\usepackage{setspace}
\setstretch{1.0833} % 1.0833 = 1.3 / 1.2

> \fontsize{8}{10}\selectfont}{%

That last opening bracket seems wrong.

Axel

[Zorro]

"Peter Flynn" <pe...@silmaril.ie> wrote in message
news:a7oaso...@mid.individual.net...

> On 30/07/12 16:10, Zorro wrote:
>> Can someone give me the commands to construct a paper that has this
>> typesetting?
>
> Most of these are the defaults for the article class at 10pt.
>
>> "Typeset the abstract in 8 pt roman with baselineskip of 10 pt, making an
>> indentation of 0.25 inches on the left and right margins."
>>
>> "The main text should be in 10~pt roman, single spaced with baselineskip
>> of
>> 13~pt. Text area (including copyright block) is 8 inches high and 5
>> inches
>> wide for the first page.
>> Text area (excluding running title) is 7.7 inches high and
>> 5 inches wide for subsequent pages."
>
> Information about this copyright block is needed in order to allow for
> the extra 0.3in. You haven't provided that information.
>

I don't know what a copyright block is; whatever it is I can't imagine it's
a crucial inclusion at this stage.
How do I adjust the text margins?
How do I adjust the font size?

>> "Footnotes should be 8pt Roman font".
>>
>> I don't know a) how to close a typesetting command (assuming it's
>> necessary),
>
> I don't understand "close" in this context.

Make the command cease to apply.

>> eg. font size or text dimensions, to change to a new typesetting
>> that isn't given in the preamble
>
> Unless there is an existing package to do stuff, you have to find where
> the command or setting is defined in the class file or other package,
> copy that code into your Preamble, and edit it to make the required
> changes.

Sounds inordinately complicated. I wouldn't know how to start with this. If
it's that difficult, why does the journal insist on all these typesetting
variations within a single paper?

>> b) how to select the typesetting commands written in the preamble.
>>
>> Also, I was wondering how to get the \footnotemark command to display a
>> superscripted dagger instead of a number; or a superscripted letter?
>
> There is a standard set of non-alphanumeric marks (star, dagger,
> double-dagger, etc). If your publisher requires footnote #1 to be the
> dagger, they must also specify what to use for footnote #2, #3, #4...and
> the redefine the internal command \@fnsymbol, and redefine \thefootnote
> to use it. For letters, redefine it to use \alph.
>

So would \@fnsymbol get me a dagger?

[Axel Berger]

Zorro wrote:
> I don't know what a copyright block is; whatever it is I can't imagine it's
> a crucial inclusion at this stage.

What Peter prbably menat: Is it part of the text block or outside of it
like a footer?

> How do I adjust the text margins?

Peter gave the answer already, or at least all of the answer that could
be given from your data.

> How do I adjust the font size?

Peter gave the answer already.

> > I don't understand "close" in this context.
> Make the command cease to apply.

Consult an introductory manual.

> > Unless there is an existing package to do stuff, you have to find where
> > the command or setting is defined in the class file or other package,
> > copy that code into your Preamble, and edit it to make the required
> > changes.
>
> Sounds inordinately complicated. I wouldn't know how to start with this. If
> it's that difficult, why does the journal insist on all these typesetting
> variations within a single paper?

Don't ask us, ask them. One font size for main text and another for
footnotes and abstract is absolutely normal, no difference here smacks
of mechanical typewriters, and can't reasonably be called "all thise
variations".

Axel

[Peter Flynn]

On 31/07/12 01:08, Axel Berger wrote:
> Peter Flynn wrote:
>> \AtBeginDocument{\fontsize{10}{13}\selectfont}
>
> I believe (perhaps wrongly) that this setting is lost after a size
> change and back to \normalsize.

Yes, you're right. A real document class would have the whole thing
correctly set by using code equivalent to the contents of size10.clo,
modified.

> I'd prefer:
>
> \usepackage{setspace}
> \setstretch{1.0833} % 1.0833 = 1.3 / 1.2

I think that has the disadvantage of changing the baseline distance in
other places too.

There really is no substitute for having a proper document class for the
job. Unfortunately if what Lee said is the case, WSP are either too dim
or too mean to do the job properly.

>> \fontsize{8}{10}\selectfont}{%
>
> That last opening bracket seems wrong.

No, the example is correct. It's the opening brace of the third argument
to the \renewenvironment.

///Peter

[Peter Flynn]

On 31/07/12 11:51, Zorro wrote:
> "Peter Flynn" <pe...@silmaril.ie> wrote in message
> news:a7oaso...@mid.individual.net...
>> On 30/07/12 16:10, Zorro wrote:
>>> Can someone give me the commands to construct a paper that has this
>>> typesetting?
>>
>> Most of these are the defaults for the article class at 10pt.
>>
>>> "Typeset the abstract in 8 pt roman with baselineskip of 10 pt, making an
>>> indentation of 0.25 inches on the left and right margins."
>>>
>>> "The main text should be in 10~pt roman, single spaced with baselineskip
>>> of
>>> 13~pt. Text area (including copyright block) is 8 inches high and 5
>>> inches
>>> wide for the first page.
>>> Text area (excluding running title) is 7.7 inches high and
>>> 5 inches wide for subsequent pages."
>>
>> Information about this copyright block is needed in order to allow for
>> the extra 0.3in. You haven't provided that information.
>
> I don't know what a copyright block is;

But you referred to it. You presumably know what it is, if you are
planning on submitting to a publisher and have seen a copy of their
desired output.

> whatever it is I can't imagine it's a crucial inclusion at this stage.

It is critical to know what it is and where it goes, as it will majorly
affect how you make the switch between an 8" high first page and the
7.7" high subsequent pages.

> How do I adjust the text margins?

You use additional parameters in the optional argument of the
\usepackage command for the geometry package, eg

\usepackage[textwidth=5in,textheight=7.7in,left=.75in,top=.5in]{geometry}

The geometry package will know the paper size and make the appropriate
calculations.

> How do I adjust the font size?

Temporarily or permanently? I preset it to 10/13 as requested (although
see Axel's comment and my followup).

LaTeX has a set of predefined font size steps, based on the standard
ones used for centuries. These are adequate for draft purposes: see
http://latex.silmaril.ie/formattinginformation/typographics.html#fontsize

For absolute sizes, use the \fontsize command.

>>> "Footnotes should be 8pt Roman font".
>>>
>>> I don't know a) how to close a typesetting command (assuming it's
>>> necessary),
>>
>> I don't understand "close" in this context.
>
> Make the command cease to apply.

Usually you put the command *and* the text to which it applies in
braces, eg {\bfseries this is bold text} or {\Large this is Large text}

But there are a lot of shortcuts for small quantities of text, eg
\textbf{this is bold text}, and standard commands for
frequently-occurring constructs such as \section{title}.

If you find yourself doing a lot of manual formatting, there is probably
a package which will automate it for you. Try hard not to reinvent the
wheel.

>>> eg. font size or text dimensions, to change to a new typesetting
>>> that isn't given in the preamble
>>
>> Unless there is an existing package to do stuff, you have to find where
>> the command or setting is defined in the class file or other package,
>> copy that code into your Preamble, and edit it to make the required
>> changes.
>
> Sounds inordinately complicated.

There are over 4,000 packages available on CTAN, covering a humungous
range of formatting requirements. There is probably one to do what you
want.

Rewriting commands (as I did in the example) is usually something a
document class designer or typographic programmer does for a publisher,
although there are many simple cases that you can easily do yourself
once you get used to how LaTeX works.

> I wouldn't know how to start with this.

You're not meant to. As an author you ought to be able to rely on the
publisher to provide you with a proper document class precisely so that
you don't have to do it yourself.

> If it's that difficult,

It's not actually difficult, unless the requirements are seriously weird.

> why does the journal insist on all these typesetting
> variations within a single paper?

All what typesetting variations? You only mentioned six:

1. Abstract in 8/10pt
2. Abstract in .25in margins
3. Body text in 10.13pt
4. Text area 5" x 7.7"
5. First page 5" x 8" with a copyright block
6. Footnotes in 8pt (baseline unspecified)

If that's all, it's *extremely* modest. Most publishers' specs are
vastly more complex. Why do they insist on them? Because it's *their*
journal, and *they* call the shots. Many of the layouts have been
inherited from the days of metal type, so "it's always been like that".

>>> b) how to select the typesetting commands written in the preamble.

Just use the commands. That's what they are for; eg if you define a new
command \xyz which does some odd bit of formatting on its argument, you
just use \xyz{stuff} and "stuff" will get formatted how it's been
programmed to.

>>> Also, I was wondering how to get the \footnotemark command to display a
>>> superscripted dagger instead of a number; or a superscripted letter?
>>
>> There is a standard set of non-alphanumeric marks (star, dagger,
>> double-dagger, etc). If your publisher requires footnote #1 to be the
>> dagger, they must also specify what to use for footnote #2, #3, #4...and
>> the redefine the internal command \@fnsymbol, and redefine \thefootnote
>> to use it. For letters, redefine it to use \alph.
>
> So would \@fnsymbol get me a dagger?

No, \@fnsymbol will get you nowhere at all, as commands with an @ sign
in them are internal and cannot be used directly in a document by an author.

What I said was that to get symbols instead of numbers, you must
redefine \thefootnote to use \@fnsymbol. There is actually a user
command \fnsymbol which you can use, eg you add

\renewcommand{\thefootnote}[1]{\fnsymbol{footnote}}

to your Preamble. That gets you the standard set of symbols: * for the
first footnote, dagger for the second, double-dagger for the third, etc,
as I said.

If you want to change the order, you need to redefine \@fnsymbol itself.
To do that, you need to know what to use for footnotes 2, 3, 4, etc. You
seemed to imply that there would only be one footnote in the whole article.

///Peter

[Zorro]

"Axel Berger" <Axel....@Gmx.De> wrote in message
news:50183679...@Gmx.De...

> Zorro wrote:
>> I don't know what a copyright block is; whatever it is I can't imagine
>> it's
>> a crucial inclusion at this stage.
>
> What Peter prbably menat: Is it part of the text block or outside of it
> like a footer?
>

I had never come across the term before, so I don't know, but I wonder
whether we can just exclude this particular thing text from this exchange,
unless anyone is willing to explain it to me. It's just acting as a
stumbling block.

>> How do I adjust the text margins?
>
> Peter gave the answer already, or at least all of the answer that could
> be given from your data.

You mean there is no command that can be used to just alter the margins?

>
>> How do I adjust the font size?
>
> Peter gave the answer already.
>

From this I imagine that there is no parallel with html coding, where you go
<something>
[...]
</something>
and instead put your
\fontsize{8}{10}\selectfont
comand in. That's fine and straightforward, but it just leaves me wondering
how to make the defaults apply from a particular point in the text onwards.
And, also, assuming that 8 is the fontsize, it leaves me wondering what the
10 stands for. Line skip?

[Peter Flynn]

On 31/07/12 22:28, Zorro wrote:
[copyright block]

> I had never come across the term before, so I don't know, but I wonder
> whether we can just exclude this particular thing text from this exchange,
> unless anyone is willing to explain it to me. It's just acting as a
> stumbling block.

You must get that information from the publisher. It's usually a block
of small type with the standard copyright symbol, owner name, date, and
a sentence about how you;re not allowed to copy or republish the article
without permission. Very standard on all commercial journals.

>
>>> How do I adjust the text margins?
>>
>> Peter gave the answer already, or at least all of the answer that could
>> be given from your data.
>
> You mean there is no command that can be used to just alter the margins?

On the contrary, there is the geometry package which has optional values
left, right, top, and bottom for doing precisely this in a single
\usepackage or \geometry command.

You seem to be unaware of the extent of automation available in LaTeX.
What documentation have you read so far? Some of it is rather one-sided,
so it would be very useful to know if you've accidentally been given a
bum steer by some web site or other.

>>> How do I adjust the font size?
>> Peter gave the answer already.
>>
> From this I imagine that there is no parallel with html coding, where you go
> <something>
> [...]
> </something>

On the contrary, LaTeX works in virtually the same way, just with curly
braces as the delimiters, and the command name preceding them, eg
\textit{stuff} will italicise "stuff". And \begin{abstract}
...\end{abstract} is a direct parallel with <abstract>...</abstract>
used in many XML document types. I don't understand why you thought any
different.

I think your really, really, really need to read some documentation at
this point: it will answer perhaps 90% of your questions.

\begin{plug}
http://latex.silmaril.ie/formattinginformation/
\end{plug}

> and instead put your
> \fontsize{8}{10}\selectfont
> comand in. That's fine and straightforward, but it just leaves me wondering
> how to make the defaults apply from a particular point in the text onwards.

That form of the command does exactly that: it sets the size to 8/10
until the current object (known as a "group" in TeX terminology) comes
to an end (in that example, it was the Abstract).

If you typed just \bfseries in the middle of normal text, then the
entire rest of the document would be in bold type. This is normally not
what you want at all: most typeface changes are scoped, because they are
only supposed to apply to a particular chunk of text.

The one change which *does* need to apply to the whole document is the
body copy typeface size, which is why I put it in an \AtBeginDocument
command. This gets implemented at the point of \begin{document}, after
all the other settings have been done, so it then applies from that
point onwards (modulo what Axel wrote about).

> And, also, assuming that 8 is the fontsize, it leaves me wondering what the
> 10 stands for. Line skip?

Well guessed. It's the baseline distance. All type size changes that
apply to whole paragraphs or blocks are always given in the form x/y
where x is the type size and y is the baseline distance. This is an
industry standard practice, nothing particularly to do with LaTeX,
except that LaTeX uses it in the curly braces after \fontsize.

///Peter

[Zorro]

"Peter Flynn" <pe...@silmaril.ie> wrote in message

news:a7r0qe...@mid.individual.net...

Can now we leave the copyright block out of this exchange, please.

>> How do I adjust the text margins?
>
> You use additional parameters in the optional argument of the
> \usepackage command for the geometry package, eg
>
> \usepackage[textwidth=5in,textheight=7.7in,left=.75in,top=.5in]{geometry}
>

Preamble? If so, I want to know how to get something in the main body of the
text *different from all the rest of the text*.
While I am grateful for your giving your knowledge, I confess I find your
means of expression obscure. In order to understand these things, one needs
to know exactly where in the document, relative to the desired changes,
these things need to go (relative to \begin{document} or whatever). And it
would help further is you could say something like <BLAH> in order to show
the space in the document where the text affected by the command, or
whatever it is you talk about, should go.

For example, could you advise on the suitable insertions here:

\documentclass[10pt, A4]{article}
\usepackage[textwidth=5in,textheight=7.7in,left=.75in,top=.5in]{geometry}
<more preamble>
\begin{document}


<I would like to say something in different margins than what I have stated
in my preamble>
...

<Now I would like to say something in precisely the margins I have stated in
my preamble.>

\end{document}

---

You reply will take the form, I hope, of something that takes the format:

\documentclass[10pt, A4]{article}
\usepackage[textwidth=5in,textheight=7.7in,left=.75in,top=.5in]{geometry}
<more preamble>
\begin{document}

\somecommand{...}
<I would like to say something in different margins than what I have stated
in my preamble>
\end{somecommand}

\end{document}

and in the place of 'somecommand' you tell me exactly what is supposed to be
written. Unless I have completely misunderstood how it's done.

[Axel Berger]

Zorro wrote:
> You mean there is no command that can be used to just alter the margins?

Of course there is. You never said anything about any margins so far.
All you gave is the size of the textblock inside them, which is what the
answer applied. The margins, whose distribution you didn't specify, are
then optimally distributed by geometry to make up the difference between
textblock and paper size, which you also said nothing about. See the
documentation of geometry to change all those values too, if the
defaults do not suffice.

> And, also, assuming that 8 is the fontsize, it leaves me
> wondering what the 10 stands for. Line skip?

What was it you had asked for?

> in 8 pt roman with baselineskip of 10 pt

It is quite alright to ask. Given the bulk of manuals it's often rather
hard to know quite what to look for. After having been given an answer,
however, those are where to go for details. Do not, please, expect the
group to provide a basic introductory course.

Axel

[Peter Flynn]

On Tuesday, July 31, 2012 11:31:59 PM UTC+1, Zorro wrote:

> Can now we leave the copyright block out of this exchange, please.

OK.

> Preamble?

The Preamble of a LaTeX document is the place immediately after the \documentclass line, before the \begin{document}. This is where you put all \usepackage commands, settings, adjustments, new commands, redefinitions, etc.

> If so, I want to know how to get something in the main body of the
> text *different from all the rest of the text*.

An example would be useful. If it's just a word or phrase in (eg) bold or italics, then I have already shown that. If you mean a whole block of text (eg one or more paragraphs) then it depends *what* you want that is different. For example, a block quotation is done with the quotation environment, eg

\begin{quotation}
stuff
\end{quotation}

That will indent the stuff both sides (wider margins) and space it a little from the preceding and following text. There are dozens of other environments available for other things, depending on what you want to do. They are all pre-written (many of them in packages), so all you have to do is use them, like the example above. If you have a frequently-reoccurring special construct, you can of course create your own command or environment to do it, based on existing ones.

> While I am grateful for your giving your knowledge, I confess I find your
> means of expression obscure.

I am using the standard terminology used in typesetting and LaTeX. It's not obscure: it's just unfamiliar to you because you have jumped in here without reading anything about LaTeX beforehand.

> In order to understand these things, one needs
> to know exactly where in the document, relative to the desired changes,
> these things need to go (relative to \begin{document} or whatever).

All settings and [re-]definitions should be done in the Preamble (see above). They can then be used anywhere in the document.

> And it
> would help further if you could say something like <BLAH> in order to show

> the space in the document where the text affected by the command, or
> whatever it is you talk about, should go.

I have already explained where the Preamble is. The "space in the document where the text affected by the command" is wherever you want to do it. As an example, if I define a new environment called blah, which typesets its content in red sans-serif 22pt italics, then wherever I want to use it, I type

\begin{blah}
this test will be in red sans-serif 22pt italics
\end{blah}

If I understand you right, you were expecting the definition of a command to specify where it would occur. This is not usually the case: commands and environments (built-in ones and any you define yourself) just specify what happens when you use them *Where* you use them is up to you. The only exceptions would be things like predefined running headers and footers (from the fancyhdr package), which once defined appear automatically at the top and bottom of every page; or our old nemesis the copyright block, which apparently needs to appear somewhere on the first page and not anywhere else.

> For example, could you advise on the suitable insertions here:
>
> \documentclass[10pt, A4]{article}
> \usepackage[textwidth=5in,textheight=7.7in,left=.75in,top=.5in]{geometry}
> <more preamble>
> \begin{document}

Not unless you say what it is you want. I am not clairvoyant: how am I expected to know what you need? Like I said, there are over 4000 packages, and a limitless combination of commands that can do virtually anything you want. If you tell us what you need, we can advise. Or you could read some documentation about LaTeX and find out for yourself.

> <I would like to say something in different margins than what I have stated
> in my preamble>

OK, that's a good start. The quotation environment will do that very simply. It only changes the L and R margins, nothing else. Personally, I prefer smaller type for quotations, so I add \small before the text (no need to undo it afterwards: anything you change inside an environment automatically reverts to how it was before, when the environment ends).

An alternative would be one of the ruled boxes from the fancybox package (single rule, double rule, rounded corners, drop-shadow boxes, etc), eg

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{fancybox,lipsum}
\begin{document}
\lipsum[1]
\begin{center}
\setlength{\fboxsep}{2em}
\ovalbox{\parbox{4in}{\lipsum[2]}}
\end{center}
\lipsum[3]
\end{document}

> <Now I would like to say something in precisely the margins I have stated in
> my preamble.>

That happens automatically after an environment ends: all the settings revert to how they were before.

> You reply will take the form, I hope, of something that takes the format:

...
> <more preamble>

In the example above, I didn't preprogram it as a new environment, but simple typed the commands where I wanted them, because it occurs once only. But you are quite right: if it's something you want frequently, then defining it as a new command or environment is the right way to go.

> \somecommand{...}

It's \begin{something}...\end{something} for environments (blocks of text).
The format \somecommand{...} is used for fragments like words or phrases.

> and in the place of 'somecommand' you tell me exactly what is supposed to be
> written.

I can only give imaginary examples because you have not described exactly enough what you want.

> Unless I have completely misunderstood how it's done.

No, you're on the right track, but please do go and read some documentation. This is not the place for beginners' introductions.

Here is a revised example, with the framed text specified in an environment I called "concept" (like you might use for summarising concepts for your readers):

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[textwidth=5in,textheight=7.7in,left=.75in,top=.5in]{geometry}
\usepackage{fancybox,lipsum}
\usepackage[svgnames]{xcolor}
\newenvironment{concept}
{\begin{Sbox}\begin{minipage}{3.4in}\color{DarkRed}\sffamily\bfseries}
{\end{minipage}\end{Sbox}\begin{center}\setlength{\fboxsep}{2em}
\ovalbox{\TheSbox}\end{center}}
\begin{document}
\lipsum[1]
\begin{quotation}\small\noindent
\lipsum[2]
\end{quotation}
\lipsum[3]
\begin{concept}
\lipsum[4]
\end{concept}
\lipsum[5]
\end{document}

Now please do go are read something about LaTeX.

///Peter

[Zorro]

Thankyou very much indeed. But why couldn't you and/or Axel Berger just have
told me that the command I actually need, after putting the \geometry
usepackage in the preamble, is
\begin{adjustwidth}{0.25in}{0.25in}
<blah>
\end{adjustwidth}
(for the abstract).
I wonder, is there some equivalent for changing the first page from the
default 7.7 inches high to 8 inches high ?

Sorry for top-posting, BTW. My system doesn't do the '>' signs that usually
go in replied-to posts, for some reason (that is not, by the way, a subtle
way to trying to ask you guys to tell me how to get it to do the '>' signs
to show [unless you want to :-) ]).

Z

"Peter Flynn" <angleb...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:597f2be3-1021-4523...@googlegroups.com...

[Zorro]

Oh, with \usepackage{chngpage} put in also.

"Zorro" <havea...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:_48Sr.618222$8Z4.3...@fx18.am4...

[Lee Rudolph]

"Zorro" <havea...@yahoo.com> writes:

>Thankyou very much indeed. But why couldn't you and/or Axel Berger just have
>told me that the command I actually need, after putting the \geometry
>usepackage in the preamble, is
>\begin{adjustwidth}{0.25in}{0.25in}
><blah>
>\end{adjustwidth}
>(for the abstract).
>I wonder, is there some equivalent for changing the first page from the
>default 7.7 inches high to 8 inches high ?

Going back to your original post, I see that this
question skirts around the topic you've asked to
be taken off the table, namely, that copyright block;
and, indeed, the sample typeset documents for World
Scientific Press journals that I found the other day
have (as best I can remember them) just about 0.3
inches at the top of the first page devoted to the
copyright block, with (minimal) text at the left of
the page, and the WSP logo graphic at the right.

If your aim is provide yourself with a pre-print
that will look just like the publisher's finished
product, except with 0.3 inches of blank space at
the top of the first page in your version, that
will contain the copyright notice and logo in the
published version, then what I'm about to suggest
won't work. If your aim is to provide yourself
with a pre-print in which the text written by you
has the same page-break at the end of the first
page as it will in the publisher's version, then
what I'm about to suggest will (probably) work.
(I myself do like my text to break--at least
at the end of odd-numbered pages--in a way that
serves rhetorical purposes, so if your aim *is*
to do that, I sympathize with you; but I also
observe that referees have been known to notice
this, and call me out on it.)

Suggestion: just before the beginning of your
first paragraph after the abstract, include
the command \vspace{0.3in} followed by a blank
line.

In some circumstances that mightn't work. I will
leave it to others to explain why, if they want
to, or even to explain that you shouldn't be
trying to do this anyway. I do note that (what
I assume to be) your source for the instructions
you have quoted says (not quoted by you) "Final
pagination and insertion of running titles will
be done by the publisher."

Lee Rudolph

[Peter Flynn]

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 12:42:08 PM UTC+1, Zorro wrote:
> Oh, with \usepackage{chngpage} put in also.

Why on earth do you think you need that?

///Peter

[Peter Flynn]

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 12:06:39 PM UTC+1, Zorro wrote:
> Thankyou very much indeed. But why couldn't you and/or Axel Berger just have
> told me that the command I actually need, after putting the \geometry
> usepackage in the preamble, is
> \begin{adjustwidth}{0.25in}{0.25in}
> <blah>
> \end{adjustwidth}

Because that is not an abstract! It's a box of text with narrower margins.
Why on earth would you want to do that rubbish instead of using abstract?

> I wonder, is there some equivalent for changing the first page from the
> default 7.7 inches high to 8 inches high ?

Yes, the geometry package has a \newgeometry command which will change the layout for a new page, so you could set the height to 8" to start with, and then use that to make it 7.7" for p.2 onwards.

BUT...(a) you'd have to insert it by hand at the right place (and probably fake the pagebreak if it doesn't come at a paragraph-end; and (b) the whole reason for the size change is to accommodate their copyright block (you said so), and until we know what this looks like and where it goes (top? bottom? left? right?) it's impossible to conform to their specification.

> Sorry for top-posting, BTW. My system doesn't do the '>' signs that usually
> go in replied-to posts, for some reason (that is not, by the way, a subtle
> way to trying to ask you guys to tell me how to get it to do the '>' signs
> to show [unless you want to :-) ]).

No problem. Use a proper newsreader, or a mailer that handles News (eg Thunderbird).

///Peter

[Axel Berger]

Zorro wrote:
> But why couldn't you and/or Axel Berger just have
> told me that the command I actually need,

Because a) your solution is just one of many and b) not a particularly
good one. LaTeX is semantic markup, meaning that in the document body
you say "this is a quote" and somewhere else, in the class or the
preamble, you define "this is what we want quotes to look like here".
The advantages of separating form from content will become obvious after
a short time of practice. (Please hand the unchanged article in for this
other journal whose formal requirements are ...)

Zorro, (your parents show a strange kind of humour), most of your
questions concern very basic general properties of LaTeX. You'll really
do yourself even more of a favour than us by first reading some short
introductory manual and get aquainted with LaTeX as such before coming
here with specific problems.

Axel

[Zorro]

"Peter Flynn" <angleb...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:328e690a-bf73-4bc3...@googlegroups.com...

> On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 12:42:08 PM UTC+1, Zorro wrote:
>> Oh, with \usepackage{chngpage} put in also.
>
> Why on earth do you think you need that?

Cos it throws up errors without it.

[Zorro]

"Peter Flynn" <angleb...@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:210649b1-7bca-4bb5...@googlegroups.com...

On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 12:06:39 PM UTC+1, Zorro wrote:
> Thankyou very much indeed. But why couldn't you and/or Axel Berger just
> have
> told me that the command I actually need, after putting the \geometry
> usepackage in the preamble, is
> \begin{adjustwidth}{0.25in}{0.25in}
> <blah>
> \end{adjustwidth}

< Because that is not an abstract! It's a box of text with narrower margins.
Why on earth would you want to do that rubbish instead of using abstract?>

Becauase it does precisely what I need doing. Why on earth should I want
some Heath-Robinson code that does exactly the same thing?
And I honestly couldn't see any *clear* instructions as to how to do it any
other way. It's a well-recognized rule for those who write such things as
instruction manuals that -- irrespective of who they are addressing -- they
should explain everything as though they were explaining it to their granny.
Beginners just *don't understand* if it's written in any other way.

> I wonder, is there some equivalent for changing the first page from the
> default 7.7 inches high to 8 inches high ?

<Yes, the geometry package has a \newgeometry command which will change the
layout for a new page, so you could set the height to 8" to start with, and
then use that to make it 7.7" for p.2 onwards.

BUT...(a) you'd have to insert it by hand at the right place (and probably
fake the pagebreak if it doesn't come at a paragraph-end; and (b) the whole
reason for the size change is to accommodate their copyright block (you said
so), and until we know what this looks like and where it goes (top? bottom?
left? right?) it's impossible to conform to their specification.>

I don't care about the copyright block because any publisher who is
interested will be able to tell me the kind of coding I need to incorporate
it. For now, I just want something that looks basically conformal to what
they are definitively asking for. Their sole mention of a copyright block is
a tiny bit, in parentheses, as quoted in my OP. That's why I asked that it
not be further mentioned in the exchange.

Once more, from what you say I can't see any clear way of getting what I
want. Can nobody give me a model --- making relevant substitutions -- coding
that has the following pattern:

"put
\usepackage[width=5in,height=7.7in,foot=1in,centering]{geometry}
in the preamble, then, in the document proper,

\begin{adjustwidth}{0.25in}{0.25in}
<blah>

\end{adjustwidth}" ?

It honestly doesn't give me a coherent method of configuration of you just
say, in so incomplete a way, 'you can use the \somecommand command but
such-and-such is going to mess things up for you'.

BTW I can make very little more sense of introductory Latex manuals. I read
pages and pages and, at the end of it, 95% of what I've covered is stuff I
knew already, and -- what with all the hundreds of different kinds of
command and usepackages -- none of it gives me my answer.

I just can't understand why the whole thing should be so inordinately
complex. Was Latex and written by sadists?

[Peter Flynn]

On 01/08/12 20:33, Zorro wrote:
> "Peter Flynn" <angleb...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:210649b1-7bca-4bb5...@googlegroups.com...
> On Wednesday, August 1, 2012 12:06:39 PM UTC+1, Zorro wrote:
>> Thankyou very much indeed. But why couldn't you and/or Axel Berger just
>> have
>> told me that the command I actually need, after putting the \geometry
>> usepackage in the preamble, is
>> \begin{adjustwidth}{0.25in}{0.25in}
>> <blah>
>> \end{adjustwidth}
>
> < Because that is not an abstract! It's a box of text with narrower margins.
> Why on earth would you want to do that rubbish instead of using abstract?>
>
> Becauase it does precisely what I need doing. Why on earth should I want
> some Heath-Robinson code that does exactly the same thing?

Because it's an Abstract, not some random Heath Robinson kludge that you
are using to force narrower margins. By all means use it, if you are
submitting PDF, as no-one will be able to tell the difference.

But if you are submitting a .tex file to the publisher, the Abstract
needs to be labelled as such, so that software later in the production
process can handle it. I am shocked that you seem unable to perceive this.

> And I honestly couldn't see any *clear* instructions as to how to do it any
> other way.

Every book and manual I have seen tells you to use \begin{abstract} and
\end{abstract} for the Abstract. I don't know how much clearer you can get.

> It's a well-recognized rule for those who write such things as
> instruction manuals that -- irrespective of who they are addressing -- they
> should explain everything as though they were explaining it to their granny.
> Beginners just *don't understand* if it's written in any other way.

Very true. But that is not the case in this instance. Can you please
show me where the documentation you have read tells you to use
adjustwidth to do the Abstract with?

> I don't care about the copyright block because any publisher who is
> interested will be able to tell me the kind of coding I need to incorporate
> it.

But we have already established that your publisher neither knows nor
cares about this, otherwise they would have provided it already. By all
means ignore it, but be prepared to have to rework it later if they want
you to do it. Better, of course, would be tat they do it for you, or
provide the proper document class from the start.

> For now, I just want something that looks basically conformal to what
> they are definitively asking for. Their sole mention of a copyright block is
> a tiny bit, in parentheses, as quoted in my OP. That's why I asked that it
> not be further mentioned in the exchange.

After 45 years of typesetting believe me I can assure you that omitting
this kind of detail because you don't think it's important is virtually
a guarantee that it will come back to bite you in the ass :-)

> Once more, from what you say I can't see any clear way of getting what I
> want. Can nobody give me a model --- making relevant substitutions -- coding
> that has the following pattern:

You have already been given all this information. So far you seem to
have ignored all the proposals posted here.

> "put
> \usepackage[width=5in,height=7.7in,foot=1in,centering]{geometry}
> in the preamble, then, in the document proper,
>
> \begin{adjustwidth}{0.25in}{0.25in}
> <blah>
> \end{adjustwidth}" ?

I have already posted a complete working example of this, using a proper
abstract, which you appear to have ignored.

> It honestly doesn't give me a coherent method of configuration of you just
> say, in so incomplete a way, 'you can use the \somecommand command but
> such-and-such is going to mess things up for you'.

That's because we're trying to warn you against running before you can
walk. We don't want you to come back later claiming what we posted
doesn't work because of some hidden condition that you haven't told us
about.

So far the specification has been very patchy. Perhaps this is because
the publisher is unaware of the need to be specific and exact, or
perhaps you have omitted stuff that you don't think is relevant.

> BTW I can make very little more sense of introductory Latex manuals. I read
> pages and pages and, at the end of it, 95% of what I've covered is stuff I
> knew already, and -- what with all the hundreds of different kinds of
> command and usepackages -- none of it gives me my answer.

We don't know what your question is yet. All you have done is post a
long series of requirements, all of which have been solved for you here.

> I just can't understand why the whole thing should be so inordinately
> complex. Was Latex and written by sadists?

Typesetting is a complex process. I suggest you use Microsoft Word in
future.

///Peter


>
>