[Tex/LaTex] Frametitle height in Beamer using Madrid theme

beamerheader-footer

Consider the following MWE

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usetheme{Madrid}
\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{A frame title}
  \framesubtitle{A frame subtitle}
\end{frame}
\end{document}

How do I reduce the height of the frametitle (which may or may not include a subtitle) in order to occupy the minimum possible space (i.e enough space so the font height fits)? I guess I need to redefine \setbeamertemplate{frametitle}. Can the height in that definition be patched with the etoolbox package?

Best Answer

I would design the frametitle from scratch, because in the Madrid theme the template is very simple. So:

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usetheme{Madrid}


\setbeamertemplate{frametitle}{%
  \nointerlineskip
    \begin{beamercolorbox}[sep=.1ex,wd=\paperwidth,leftskip=.5cm,rightskip=0cm]{frametitle}%
      \usebeamerfont{frametitle}\usebeamercolor[fg]{frametitle}\insertframetitle\\
      \usebeamerfont{framesubtitle}\usebeamercolor[fg]{framesubtitle}\insertframesubtitle
    \end{beamercolorbox}%
}

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{A frame title}
  \framesubtitle{A frame subtitle}
\end{frame}
\end{document}

enter image description here

The very tiny space before the title and after the subtitle comes from the sep=.1ex key. You can reduce that to zero if you like. You can also reduce the space between the title and the subtitle via a \\[-5pt] or something similar.

Recover more space when subtitle is not present

\documentclass{beamer}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\usetheme{Madrid}

\makeatletter
\setbeamertemplate{frametitle}{%
  \nointerlineskip
  \begin{beamercolorbox}[sep=.1ex,wd=\paperwidth,leftskip=.5cm,rightskip=0cm]{frametitle}%
    \usebeamerfont{frametitle}\usebeamercolor[fg]{framesubtitle}\insertframetitle
  \end{beamercolorbox}
  \ifx\insertframesubtitle\@empty%
  \else
  \nointerlineskip%
  \begin{beamercolorbox}[sep=.3ex,wd=\paperwidth,leftskip=.5cm,rightskip=0cm]{frametitle}%
  \usebeamerfont{framesubtitle}\usebeamercolor[fg]{framesubtitle}\insertframesubtitle%
  \end{beamercolorbox}
  \fi
}
\makeatother

\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{A frame title}
  \framesubtitle{A frame subtitle}
\end{frame}

\begin{frame}
  \frametitle{A frame with no subtitle}
\end{frame}
\end{document}

enter image description here

In this "enhanced" version the subtitle space is hidden when no subtitle is present, thanks to a ifx construct.

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