From Math to Romance: How LaTeX Can Help You Create a Love Letter Brochure
Category: Latex
Date: April 2023
Views: 816
Greetings dear reader, In this article I an going to show just how versatile Latex is. Yes Latex is not just math and science papers, it can also be used to create stunning letters, brochures ad fliers. Just read along and see some of Latex magic for yourself
Now, I'm no expert in LaTeX, but I've dabbled in it enough to know that it can be a bit daunting at first. But don't worry – there are plenty of resources out there to help you get started. You can find LaTeX templates online, or even take a course to learn the basics. And once you get the hang of it, the possibilities are endless.
The main components of our love letter
OK let's get technical, Our Latex document will have a landscape layout to have enough width for our components, it will be divided into two columns using the multicol package. Then we will have essentially 3 big items in our love letter brochure:
1. "ILOVEYOU" for loop
\newcommand{\FillWithLove}[1]{\luaexec{for i=1,#1 do tex.print('ILOVEYOU') end}}
2. A tri-colored ribbon
Next is a tikzpicture that contains 3 parts, a tri-colored ribbon that goes across the brochure, it will be generated by the following code, feel free to experiment with it and see how it goes:
\draw [draw=none,fill=ThirdPurple,opacity=0.7]
(-15,-6) to[out=20,in=170] (-5,-5) to[out=350,in=330] (3,-1)
to[out=150,in=210] (2,2)
to[out=30,in=180] (15,11) -- (15,9)
to[out=180,in=30] (3,1)
to[out=210,in=150] (4,-1)
to[out=330,in=350] (-5,-6.2)
to[out=170,in=20] (-15,-7) -- cycle;
\draw [draw=none,fill=SecondPurple,opacity=0.7]
(-15,-4) to[out=20,in=170] (-5,-4)
to[out=350,in=330] (3,0)
to[out=150,in=210] (2,3)
to[out=30,in=180] (15,12) -- (15,10)
to[out=180,in=30] (3,2)
to[out=210,in=150] (4,0)
to[out=330,in=350] (-5,-5)
to[out=170,in=20] (-15,-6) -- cycle;
\draw [draw=none,fill=FirstPurple,opacity=0.7]
(-15,-4) to[out=20,in=170] (-5,-3) to[out=350,in=330] (3,1) to[out=150,in=210] (2,4)
to[out=30,in=180] (13,11) -- (14,11) to[out=180,in=30] (3,3) to[out=210,in=150] (4,1)
to[out=330,in=350] (-5,-4) to[out=170,in=20] (-15,-5.3) -- cycle;
3. What's Love without hearts
The next thing we draw in our tikzpicture is hearts, bigger ones, smaller ones, medium ones. well you get the picture. Using the following latex code. It is a latex command that controls how the shape of the heart will be dranw, the shift (position), rotate, x and y scale and opacity
\newcommand\heart[5]{%
\begin{scope}[shift={#1},rotate={#2},xscale={#3},yscale={#3},opacity={#4}]
\draw[draw=none,fill=#5](0,-3.12) -- (2.06,-1.06) to[out=45,in=-45]
(2.06,1.06)to[out=135,in=45](0,1.12)to[out=135,in=45](-2.06,1.06)to[out=225,in=135]
(-2.06,-1.06)--cycle;
\end{scope}
}
4. The small golden stripe
The last element of the tikzpicture is a small golden ribbon that goes in a curve across the letter brochure:
\draw[draw=none,fill=GoldenStrip,path fading=radialfade,opacity=0.7]
(-16,7) to[out=-10,in=170]
(1,0) to[out=-10,in=200]
(9,1) to[out=20,in=-20]
(6,3) to[out=160,in=-80]
(2,8) to[out=100,in=100]
(3,9) to[out=-80,in=100]
(4,6) to[out=-80,in=-90]
(17,-4) --
(17,-3.7) to[out=-90,in=-80]
(4,6.3) to[out=100,in=-80]
(3,9.3) to[out=100,in=100]
(2,8.3) to[out=-80,in=160]
(6,3.3) to[out=-20,in=20]
(9,1.3) to[out=200,in=-10]
(1,0.3) to[out=170,in=-10]
(-16,7.3) -- cycle;
That's it with the tikzpicture, we just have to make sure that the figure won't interfere with the text of our love letter, we will do this by setting the tikzpicture to be on the background like so:
\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture,overlay,shift={(current page.center)}]
% .... the ribbons and hearts go here
\end{tikzpicture}
The last part of our love letter is the actual content, the text we will write, the main part besides the huge title page on the right side of our brochure, is a heart shaped paragraph, this can be a poem, or your text of the letter. A heart shaped paragraph can be achieved with shapepar package.
The whole letter put together
As always, I never let my article finish without giving the full working latex code, so here it is, enjoy:
\documentclass[landscape]{article}
\usepackage[margin=0cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{multicol}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{tikzpagenodes}
\usetikzlibrary{fadings}
\usepackage{luacode}
\usepackage{fontspec,microtype,shapepar,xcolor}
\definecolor{BgColor}{RGB}{236,195,203}
\definecolor{TextColor1}{RGB}{225,87,180}
\definecolor{TextColor2}{RGB}{225,87,20}
\definecolor{FirstPurple}{RGB}{225,87,183}
\definecolor{SecondPurple}{RGB}{225,157,218}
\definecolor{ThirdPurple}{RGB}{217,130,180}
\definecolor{BigHeartColor}{RGB}{255,0,152}
\definecolor{SmallerHeartColor}{RGB}{255,0,255}
\definecolor{SmallestHeartColor}{RGB}{255,0,102}
\definecolor{GoldenStrip}{RGB}{251,255,120}
\newcommand{\FillWithLove}[1]{\luaexec{for i=1,#1 do tex.print('ILOVEYOU') end}}
\tikzfading [name=radialfade, inner color=transparent!0, outer color=transparent!100]
\newcommand\heart[5]{%
\begin{scope}[shift={#1},rotate={#2},xscale={#3},yscale={#3},opacity={#4}]
\draw[draw=none,fill=#5](0,-3.12) -- (2.06,-1.06) to[out=45,in=-45]
(2.06,1.06)to[out=135,in=45](0,1.12)to[out=135,in=45](-2.06,1.06)to[out=225,in=135]
(-2.06,-1.06)--cycle;
\end{scope}
}
\begin{document}
\begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture,overlay,shift={(current page.center)}]
%stripes
\draw [draw=none,fill=ThirdPurple,opacity=0.7]
(-15,-6) to[out=20,in=170] (-5,-5) to[out=350,in=330] (3,-1)
to[out=150,in=210] (2,2)
to[out=30,in=180] (15,11) -- (15,9)
to[out=180,in=30] (3,1)
to[out=210,in=150] (4,-1)
to[out=330,in=350] (-5,-6.2)
to[out=170,in=20] (-15,-7) -- cycle;
\draw [draw=none,fill=SecondPurple,opacity=0.7]
(-15,-4) to[out=20,in=170] (-5,-4)
to[out=350,in=330] (3,0)
to[out=150,in=210] (2,3)
to[out=30,in=180] (15,12) -- (15,10)
to[out=180,in=30] (3,2)
to[out=210,in=150] (4,0)
to[out=330,in=350] (-5,-5)
to[out=170,in=20] (-15,-6) -- cycle;
\draw [draw=none,fill=FirstPurple,opacity=0.7]
(-15,-4) to[out=20,in=170] (-5,-3) to[out=350,in=330] (3,1) to[out=150,in=210] (2,4)
to[out=30,in=180] (13,11) -- (14,11) to[out=180,in=30] (3,3) to[out=210,in=150] (4,1)
to[out=330,in=350] (-5,-4) to[out=170,in=20] (-15,-5.3) -- cycle;
%hearts
\heart{(6.5,1.5)}{0}{2.4}{0.1}{BigHeartColor}
\heart{(9.5,-6)}{45}{1}{0.1}{SmallerHeartColor}
\heart{(4,9)}{-20}{0.8}{0.1}{SmallestHeartColor}
\heart{(7,9.5)}{-23}{0.2}{1}{SmallestHeartColor}
\heart{(11,2.5)}{-23}{0.2}{1}{SmallestHeartColor}
\heart{(5,-6.5)}{-23}{0.2}{1}{SmallestHeartColor}
\heart{(6.5,-6.5)}{-40}{0.2}{1}{SmallestHeartColor}
\heart{(4.5,-8.5)}{-80}{0.2}{1}{SmallestHeartColor}
%light strip
\draw[draw=none,fill=GoldenStrip,path fading=radialfade,opacity=0.7]
(-16,7) to[out=-10,in=170]
(1,0) to[out=-10,in=200]
(9,1) to[out=20,in=-20]
(6,3) to[out=160,in=-80]
(2,8) to[out=100,in=100]
(3,9) to[out=-80,in=100]
(4,6) to[out=-80,in=-90]
(17,-4) --
(17,-3.7) to[out=-90,in=-80]
(4,6.3) to[out=100,in=-80]
(3,9.3) to[out=100,in=100]
(2,8.3) to[out=-80,in=160]
(6,3.3) to[out=-20,in=20]
(9,1.3) to[out=200,in=-10]
(1,0.3) to[out=170,in=-10]
(-16,7.3) -- cycle;
\end{tikzpicture}
\begin{multicols}{2}
\pagecolor{BgColor}
\topskip0pt
\color{TextColor1}
\fontdimen2\font=0pt
\noindent\begin{minipage}{0.47\textwidth}{\small\FillWithLove{63}}\end{minipage}
\vspace*{0.7cm}
\Large
\heartpar{\itshape
Only name the day, and we’ll fly away
In the face of old traditions,
To a sheltered spot, by the world forgot,
Where we’ll park our inhibitions.
Come and gaze in eyes where the lovelight lies
As it psychoanalyzes,
And when once you glean what your fantasies mean
Life will hold no more surprises.
When you’ve told your love what you’re thinking of
Things will be much more informal;
Through a sunlit land we’ll go hand-in-hand,
Drifting gently back to normal.}
\vspace*{4cm}
\noindent\begin{minipage}{0.47\textwidth}{\small\FillWithLove{35}}\end{minipage}
\columnbreak
\vspace*{5cm}
\begin{center}
\color{TextColor2}
{\bf
{\fontsize{30}{36}\selectfont DEAR XXXXXXXX}\\\vspace{12pt}
{\fontsize{30}{36}\selectfont HAPPY \\\vspace{12pt}}
{\fontsize{30}{36}\selectfont XXXXXXXXXXXXX\\}\vspace{12pt}
{\fontsize{30}{36}\selectfont and YYYYYYYYYYY\\}
}
\end{center}
\begin{center}
{\bf
\Large{AAAAAAAA\\\vspace{3pt} BBBBBBBBBBB\\\vspace{10pt}}
CCCCCCCC DDDDDDDDD
}
\end{center}
\end{multicols}
\color{TextColor1}
footnote~~left\hfill\itshape footnote right~~
\end{document}
And there you have it. never settle for a plain old love letter when you can create a beautiful brochure that expresses your love in a way that's truly unforgettable. With LaTeX, the sky's the limit. So go ahead – let your creativity flow and make your love letter a work of art.
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