[Tex/LaTex] How to generate CV and cover letter separately in moderncv

moderncv

I often need to generate separate PDF files for the CV and cover letter. On my system (Mac) the template file is at:

/usr/local/texlive/2016/texmf-dist/doc/latex/moderncv/examples/template.tex

I can generate two separate files by running LuaLaTeX/XeLaTeX after commenting out half the file. For example:

\documentclass[11pt,a4paper,sans]{moderncv}
\name{John}{Doe}
\begin{document}
%----------------cv----------------
\makecvtitle
\section{Education}
\cventry{year--year}{Degree}{Institution}{}{}{}
% \clearpage
% %----------------letter----------------
% % recipient data
% \recipient{Joe}{Company}
% \makelettertitle
% % letter
% \makeletterclosing
\end{document}

But this is clumsy and error-prone. Is there a direct way to generate two files.

Note that splitting the file using a PDF splitting tool (pdftk, or, on OS X, Preview) leaves incorrect page numbers, and results in unnecessarily large PDF files.

Best Answer

One possibility is to define new boolean variables and use them in your TeX file.

Add the following code

\usepackage{ifthen}       % <===========================================
\newboolean{CV}
\setboolean{CV}{false}    % <===========================================
\newboolean{Letter}
\setboolean{Letter}{true} % <===========================================


\begin{document}

\ifthenelse{\boolean{CV}}{% print CV
% add code here for CV
}{% print no CV
}

\ifthenelse{\boolean{Letter}}{% print Cover Letter
% add code here for letter
}{% print no Cover Letter
}

With command \setboolean you can define true or false for both varaibles, depending on your needs.

With the following compilable code you get the letter, but no cv:

\documentclass[11pt,a4paper,sans]{moderncv}

\moderncvstyle{classic} % classic banking
\moderncvcolor{blue}
%\nopagenumbers{}

\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

\usepackage[scale=0.75]{geometry}

\name{John}{Doe}
\title{Resumé title}
\address{street and number}{postcode city}{country}
\phone[mobile]{+1~(234)~567~890}
\phone[fixed]{+2~(345)~678~901}
\phone[fax]{+3~(456)~789~012}
\email{john@doe.org}
\homepage{www.johndoe.com}
\social[linkedin]{john.doe}
\social[twitter]{jdoe}
\social[github]{jdoe}
\extrainfo{additional information\\information 2}
\photo[64pt][0.4pt]{example-image-a}
\quote{Some quote}

\setlength{\footskip}{66pt}

\usepackage{ifthen}       % <===========================================
\newboolean{CV}
\setboolean{CV}{false}    % <===========================================
\newboolean{Letter}
\setboolean{Letter}{true} % <===========================================


\begin{document}

\ifthenelse{\boolean{CV}}{% print CV

\makecvtitle

\section{Education}
\cventry{year--year}{Degree}{Institution}{City}{\textit{Grade}}{Description}  % arguments 3 to 6 can be left empty
\cventry{year--year}{Degree}{Institution}{City}{\textit{Grade}}{Description}

\section{Master thesis}
\cvitem{title}{\emph{Title}}
\cvitem{supervisors}{Supervisors}
\cvitem{description}{Short thesis abstract}

\section{Experience}
\subsection{Vocational}
\cventry{year--year}{Job title}{Employer}{City}{}{General description no longer than 1--2 lines.\newline{}%
Detailed achievements:%
\begin{itemize}%
\item Achievement 1;
\item Achievement 2, with sub-achievements:
  \begin{itemize}%
  \item Sub-achievement (a);
  \item Sub-achievement (b), with sub-sub-achievements (don't do this!);
    \begin{itemize}
    \item Sub-sub-achievement i;
    \item Sub-sub-achievement ii;
    \item Sub-sub-achievement iii;
    \end{itemize}
  \item Sub-achievement (c);
  \end{itemize}
\item Achievement 3.
\end{itemize}}
\cventry{year--year}{Job title}{Employer}{City}{}{Description line 1\newline{}Description line 2}
\subsection{Miscellaneous}
\cventry{year--year}{Job title}{Employer}{City}{}{Description}

\section{Languages}
\cvitemwithcomment{Language 1}{Skill level}{Comment}
\cvitemwithcomment{\textbf{Language} 2}{\textbf{Skill} level}{Comment}
\cvitemwithcomment{Language 3}{Skill level}{Comment}

\section{Computer skills}
\cvdoubleitem{category 1}{XXX, YYY, ZZZ}{category 4}{XXX, YYY, ZZZ}
\cvdoubleitem{category 2}{XXX, YYY, ZZZ}{category 5}{XXX, YYY, ZZZ}
\cvdoubleitem{category 3}{XXX, YYY, ZZZ}{category 6}{XXX, YYY, ZZZ}

\section{Interests}
\cvitem{hobby 1}{Description}
\cvitem{hobby 2}{Description}
\cvitem{hobby 3}{Description}

\section{Extra 1}
\cvlistitem{Item 1}
\cvlistitem{Item 2}
\cvlistitem{Item 3. This item is particularly long and therefore normally spans over several lines. Did you notice the indentation when the line wraps?}

\section{Extra 2}
\cvlistdoubleitem{Item 1}{Item 4}
\cvlistdoubleitem{Item 2}{Item 5\cite{book1}}
\cvlistdoubleitem{Item 3}{Item 6. Like item 3 in the single column list before, this item is particularly long to wrap over several lines.}

\section{References}
\begin{cvcolumns}
  \cvcolumn{Category 1}{\begin{itemize}\item Person 1\item Person 2\item Person 3\end{itemize}}
  \cvcolumn{Category 2}{Amongst others:\begin{itemize}\item Person 1, and\item Person 2\end{itemize}(more upon request)}
  \cvcolumn[0.5]{All the rest \& some more}{\textit{That} person, and \textbf{those} also (all available upon request).}
\end{cvcolumns}

\nocite{*}
\bibliographystyle{plain}
\bibliography{publications}                        % 'publications' is the name of a BibTeX file


\clearpage
}{% print no CV
}

\ifthenelse{\boolean{Letter}}{% print Cover Letter
%-----       letter       ---------------------------------------------------------
% recipient data
\recipient{Company Recruitment team}{Company, Inc.\\123 somestreet\\some city}
\date{January 01, 1984}
\opening{Dear Sir or Madam,}
\closing{Yours faithfully,}
\enclosure[Attached]{curriculum vit\ae{}}
\makelettertitle

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis ullamcorper neque sit amet lectus facilisis sed luctus nisl iaculis. Vivamus at neque arcu, sed tempor quam. Curabitur pharetra tincidunt tincidunt. Morbi volutpat feugiat mauris, quis tempor neque vehicula volutpat. Duis tristique justo vel massa fermentum accumsan. Mauris ante elit, feugiat vestibulum tempor eget, eleifend ac ipsum. Donec scelerisque lobortis ipsum eu vestibulum. Pellentesque vel massa at felis accumsan rhoncus.

Suspendisse commodo, massa eu congue tincidunt, elit mauris pellentesque orci, cursus tempor odio nisl euismod augue. Aliquam adipiscing nibh ut odio sodales et pulvinar tortor laoreet. Mauris a accumsan ligula. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Suspendisse vulputate sem vehicula ipsum varius nec tempus dui dapibus. Phasellus et est urna, ut auctor erat. Sed tincidunt odio id odio aliquam mattis. Donec sapien nulla, feugiat eget adipiscing sit amet, lacinia ut dolor. Phasellus tincidunt, leo a fringilla consectetur, felis diam aliquam urna, vitae aliquet lectus orci nec velit. Vivamus dapibus varius blandit.

Duis sit amet magna ante, at sodales diam. Aenean consectetur porta risus et sagittis. Ut interdum, enim varius pellentesque tincidunt, magna libero sodales tortor, ut fermentum nunc metus a ante. Vivamus odio leo, tincidunt eu luctus ut, sollicitudin sit amet metus. Nunc sed orci lectus. Ut sodales magna sed velit volutpat sit amet pulvinar diam venenatis.

Albert Einstein discovered that $e=mc^2$ in 1905.

\[ e=\lim_{n \to \infty} \left(1+\frac{1}{n}\right)^n \]

\makeletterclosing

}{% print no Cover Letter
}

\end{document}

with the resulting pdf:

cover letter, no cv

So set first the boolean variables as you need, then compile three times, copy the resulting pdf, change the boolean variables again, compile again three times. Now you have two pdf files, one containing the CV, the other containing the letter only ...

Related Question