[Tex/LaTex] creating beamer frame templates

beamer

I am creating a beamer theme. As part of the theme, I would like to create some frame templates with specific layouts. The simplest of these is a static frame that includes a single graphic centered on a plain frame. I would like the user to be able to invoke this frame like this:

\documentclass[presentation]{beamer}
\usetheme{Zion}
\begin{frame}[getoffthestage]{}
\end{frame}

To implement this, I have included the following latex code in my beamer style file beamerthemeZion.sty.

\newif\ifbeamer@getoffthestage

\define@key{beamerframe}{getoffthestage}[true]{%
  \beamer@plainframetrue\beamer@getoffthestagetrue%
  \def\beamer@frametemplate{\beamer@frametemplate@plain}%
  \usebeamertemplate*{getoffthestage}}

\beamer@getoffthestagefalse

\defbeamertemplate*{getoffthestage}{}{%
\noindent\begin{minipage}[b][\textheight][c]{\textwidth}%
\hspace*{\fill}%
\includegraphics[height=0.4\paperheight]{logographic}%
\hspace*{\fill}%
\end{minipage}}

I have two questions:

First, why are the contents of the getoffthestage frame placed near the bottom of the slide? I am forced to use a minipage to vertically center the graphic.

Second, why does a minipage that is \textwidth wide cause an unwanted page break? When I make the width 0.9\textwidth, everything stays on one page.

I am guessing that I am putting the \usebeamertemplate* command in the wrong place. Is there a better way to do what I want?

Best Answer

The source of all your trouble is that everything you define in \define@key{beamerframe}{getoffthestage}[true]{...} is executed right before the frame start. So when your code is trying to insert the image etc. the frame is not yet opened which leads to the strange placement etc.

As an simple alternative I suggest to add your image to another beamertemplate, e.g. the background canvas or any other you do not need:

\documentclass{beamer}

\usepackage{etoolbox}
\BeforeBeginEnvironment{frame}{%
    \setbeamertemplate{background canvas}{}%
}

\makeatletter
\define@key{beamerframe}{getoffthestage}[true]{%
    \setbeamertemplate{background canvas}{%
        \vbox to \paperheight{\vfil\hbox to \paperwidth{\hfil\includegraphics[width=.5\textwidth]{example-grid-100x100bp}\hfil}\vfil}%
    }%
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}[getoffthestage]
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
    \frametitle{bla}
    normal frame
\end{frame}

\end{document}

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Beamer: Right Frame Border

You can use the beamer template background canvas and TikZ to do that:

\documentclass{beamer}
\author{diabonas}
\title{Frame border}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}
{ % only on titlepage
\setbeamertemplate{background canvas}{%
\begin{tikzpicture}
    \clip (0,0) rectangle (\paperwidth,\paperheight);
    \fill[color=orange] (\paperwidth-10pt,0) rectangle (\paperwidth,\paperheight);
\end{tikzpicture}}
\maketitle
} % only on titlepage
\frame{Content}
\end{document}

titlepage with right border

This keeps the frame border local to the titlepage. To have it on all frames, remove the two lines marked with % only on titlepage.

BTW: The unit px is only available in pdfTeX and LuaTeX - you can use pt instead which is the same as px in the default setting.

If you don't want to use TikZ, you can use the following background template (thanks to Gonzalo Medina):

\setbeamertemplate{background canvas}{%
    {\color{orange}\hspace*{\dimexpr\paperwidth-10pt\relax}\rule{10pt}{\paperheight}}%
}

[Tex/LaTex] Creating commands for frame grids

Well the remaining step is to put it in the background canvas.

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{tikz}
\newcommand{\turntikzgridon}{
\setbeamertemplate{background canvas}{
    \begin{tikzpicture}[remember picture, overlay]
        \draw[help lines,xstep=.25,ystep=.25,gray!20] (current page.south west) grid (current page.north east);
        \draw[help lines,xstep=1,ystep=1,gray] (current page.south west) grid (current page.north east);
        \foreach \x in {-15,-14.5,...,15} {
            \node [anchor=north, gray] at (\x,0) {\tiny \x};
            \node [anchor=west,gray] at (0,\x) {\tiny \x};
        }
    \end{tikzpicture}
}
}
\newcommand{\turntikzgridoff}{\setbeamertemplate{background canvas}{}}
\begin{document}
\turntikzgridon %<--- Turn it on
\begin{frame}{Frame title}
    Some frame 1
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}{Frame title 2}
    Some frame 2
\end{frame}
\turntikzgridoff %<----- Turn it off
\begin{frame}{Frame title 3}
    Some frame 3
\end{frame}

\end{document}

enter image description here

If you want to apply different backgrounds,images etc. then you need to use \addtobeamertemplate which will also overwrite the grid.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Beamer: Right Frame Border

[Tex/LaTex] Creating commands for frame grids

Related Question