Bus | A House With No

#
A Poster

This example illustrates how to use Jpgfdraw to help construct frames for use with the `flowfram` package. The aim is to create a LaTeX2e package based on the `flowfram` package that defines frames for use with a poster. For this example, I used the A4 landscape paper setting, but it can just as easily be applied to other paper sizes.

1. Set the grid to the unit of your choice using the Settings->Grid->Grid Settings... dialog box. For example, I set the grid settings to major divisions of 1in, with 10 subdivisions.

2. I recommend that you set the grid lock on (using Settings->Grid->Lock Grid), to help prevent having frames with slightly different widths, which will result in warnings from the `flowfram` package.

3. Set the typeblock, using the TeX/LaTeX->Flow Frames->Set Typeblock... menu item. I used 1in margins. You should now see the typeblock appear as a light gray rectangle on the page. (Note that you can not select or move the typeblock, you can only modify it using the TeX/LaTeX->Flow Frames->Set Typeblock... dialog box.) See Figure 11.39.

   Figure 11.39: Poster Example--The Typeblock

4. Select the rectangle tool, and create the rectangles shown in Figure 11.40. The top rectangle is going to be the title frame, the two tall rectangles on the left will be flow frames containing the main text for the poster, and the two short rectangles on the right will be dynamic frames that will contain a table and a figure. (To ensure that the two tall rectangles are the same size, you may prefer to use the copy and paste function.)

   Figure 11.40: Poster Example--Adding Rectangles

5. Switch to the select tool, and add a
   using Bitmap->Insert Bitmap..., to give the poster a logo, and move it to the location shown (Figure 11.41).

   Figure 11.41: Poster Example--Adding a Bitmap

6. Garish posters are not recommended, but to illustrate how to liven up the poster, set the fill colors for the rectangles using the Edit->Path->Fill Color... dialog box. I also added two extra smaller rectangles on top of the right hand rectangles, to give a double border effect (Figure 11.42).

   Figure 11.42: Poster Example--Adding Some Color

7. Select the top rectangle and the
   , and |
   | them. Select the bottom right hand rectangles (green) and group them. Select the middle right hand rectangles (magenta) and group them.

8. Select the top group, and select the TeX/LaTeX->Flow Frames->Set Frame... menu item. This will open up the dialog box shown in Figure 11.43. Set the type to Static, and call it "title". Set the margins as desired. (I used 10
   for all the margins, but you may want to use different values to ensure that the logo is inside the margins so that the frame's text doesn't overlap the image.)

   Figure 11.43: Poster Example--assigning frame information. (Note that the shape option is not available because the selected object is a group not a path.)

9. Similarly, make the left hand rectangle a flow frame with label "left" and the middle rectangle a flow frame with label "middle".

10. Make the two remaining groups dynamic frames with labels "figure" and "table". For these two, I used larger margins (20pt) to compensate for the double border (Figure 11.44).

    Figure 11.44: Poster Example--Frame Information Assigned

11. Use the menu item File->Export... to create a new LaTeX package that defines these frames. Remember to select the flowframe (*.sty) file filter. I called my file `poster.sty` (Figure 11.45).

    Figure 11.45: Poster Example--Export Frame Information to a LaTeX Package

12. Create a LaTeX document that uses this package. Since I used A4 landscape paper, I'm going to use the `article` class file. If you use a larger size (e.g. A0), it would be more appropriate to use the `a0poster` class file.

    I created the following file called `poster.tex`:

        \documentclass{article}

        % use new package created in this example:
        \usepackage{poster}

        \begin{document}
        % set the contents of the static frame called ``title''
        \setstaticcontents*{title}{
        \title{A Sample Poster}
        \author{Nicola Talbot}
        \maketitle
        % page numbers not appropriate for a poster:
        \thispagestyle{empty}
        }

        This is the main body of the poster. This text will
        appear in the first of the two flow frames. Once it
        has reached the end of the first flow frame, it will
        then continue in the second flow frame.

        % Lots of text omitted

        % Now set the contents of the two dynamic frames
        % For this example, they could just as easily have
        % been static frames

        % set the contents for the frame labelled ``figure''
        \setdynamiccontents*{figure}{%
        \begin{staticfigure}
        \centering
        Insert figure here!
        \caption{A Sample Figure}
        \label{fig:sample}
        \end{staticfigure}}

        % set the contents for the frame labelled ``table''
        \setdynamiccontents*{table}{%
        \begin{statictable}
        \caption{A Sample Table}
        \label{tab:sample}
        \begin{center}
        Insert table here!
        \end{center}
        \end{statictable}}

        \end{document}

13. To make the poster a PDF document, do:

        pdflatex poster.tex

    (Note that the `pgf` package is used to create the borders, so you will need to use a driver that understands the `\special` commands used by the `pgf` package, such as PDFLaTeX or LaTeX and dvips.) The final document is illustrated in Figure 11.46.

Figure 11.46: Poster Example--Final Document

Bus | A House With No