Solution
With version: 2012.05.30 11:26 of ConTeXt, \setupexternalfigures[wfactor=fit] has no effect. Hence, the following solution which also keeps in-line figures intact.
This is all really nice, because LaTeX2e has not be found capable (yet) of pulling off a similar feat. In contrast to ConTeXt, float clearing is not automatic in LaTeX2e; instead, one needs to fuddle around with distance measurements.
\setuppapersize [A4][A4]
\setuplayout [width=middle, backspace=1.5in, cutspace=1.5in,
height=middle, topspace=0.75in, bottomspace=0.75in]
\setuppagenumbering[location={footer,center}]
\setuptolerance[horizontal, tolerant, stretch]
% Keep old definitions
\let\oldplacefigure\placefigure
\let\oldexternalfigure\externalfigure
% For full text-width figures
\def\placefigure[#1]#2#3{%
\def\externalfigure[##1]{\oldexternalfigure[##1][method=jpg, wfactor=fit]}%
\oldplacefigure[#1]{#2}{#3}%
\let\externalfigure\oldexternalfigure% Reset for in-line figures
}
% For figures with wrapped text
\definedescription[description][
headstyle=bold,
style=normal,
location=hanging,
width=4cm
]
\def\startdescription#1{%
\def\externalfigure[##1]{\oldexternalfigure[##1][method=jpg, width=4cm]}%
\oldplacefigure[none,left,high]{}{#1}%
\let\externalfigure\oldexternalfigure% Reset for in-line figures
}
\def\stopdescription{\endgraf}
\starttext
\placefigure[here,nonumber]{Little kitten}{\externalfigure[http://placekitten.com/g/480/300]}
\startdescription{{\externalfigure[http://placekitten.com/g/640/400]}}
\input bryson
\stopdescription
\stoptext
Caveat
The cats have a caveat though; When the figure with the description occurs near the end of a page, its wrapped text will fall off the page like in the following example. I distilled a minimum working example out of it and linked it as a follow-up question.
Newer ConTeXt versions
Eventually, I found how to install ConTeXt Standalone under Debian. I can confirm that \setupexternalfigures[wfactor=fit] is now functional in ConTeXt version: 2013.09.09 19:45. This can significantly reduce the code when, like in the example above, no in-line images are used. However, when in a more general case in-line images are present, [wfactor=fit] cannot be used because it acts also upon these. [wfactor=fit] acting upon in-line images could be considered a ConTeXt bug. Therefore, above solution which also works with older ConTeXt versions, remains the more general solution.
You simply need to use LaTeX code if you are going to produce a LaTeX document. A very simple example:
% mystylefile.pandoc
\usepackage{tcolorbox}
\newtcolorbox{myquote}{colback=red!5!white, colframe=red!75!black}
% redefine the 'quote' environment to use this 'myquote' environment
\renewenvironment{quote}{\begin{myquote}}{\end{myquote}}
Then the markdown file:
<!-- test.md -->
This is not a block quote.
> This question has a possible solution, but it's for the ConTeXt writer, which I can't use.
> ConTeXt: How to change the background color and border of a Pandoc-generated blockquote?
> What would be a LaTeX solution to achieve the same?
This is not a block quote.
Then the pandoc line:
pandoc -H mystylefile.pandoc -V geometry:a4paper -V geometry:margin=2cm test.md -o test.tex
If you have not modified the latex.template file (see here for some hints how to modify it), you should end up with a .tex file that looks like this:
\documentclass[]{article}
% Note: I have cut out all the default stuff that ends up here
% to highlight what the effects are of including `mystylefile.sty`
\usepackage{tcolorbox}
\newtcolorbox{myquote}{colback=red!5!white, colframe=red!75!black}
\renewenvironment{quote}{\begin{myquote}}{\end{myquote}}
% Other default stuff removed
\begin{document}
This is not a block quote.
\begin{quote}
This question has a possible solution, but it's for the ConTeXt writer,
which I can't use. ConTeXt: How to change the background color and
border of a Pandoc-generated blockquote? What would be a LaTeX solution
to achieve the same?
\end{quote}
This is not a block quote.
\end{document}
This is the quick hack. The better solution is to create a latex.template file and use that (if I remember correctly, that's what the -D switch is for).
Best Answer
Since the text is marked up logically within a
blockquoteenvironment and pandoc includes custom headers included with the-Hoption after the default ones, you can simply create an environment which displays the text in the desired way using any mechanism which meets your needs.I define a
framedtextenvironment with the nameblockquoteand the desired features, which is used instead of the default definition.which gives
Another option is to use
backgroundenvironment with the nameblockquote. For example:which gives the same result as before, but has the advantage that the content can break across pages.