I've been thinking about this...
The problem is that math "k" and math "kappa" are pretty much the same, except kappa lacks the upper part. And this is confusing.
You mention a "differnet font" on your question, but the problem as you found, is that "text fonts" don't mix with "math fonts".
So an alternative would be use a different math font.
Here we use the "Zapf Chancery" math font to get a different "k" (left side). But it would look ugly next to \ell, so following Emre suggestion, we can redefine ell to become chancery's "l"
\DeclareMathAlphabet{\mathpzc}{OT1}{pzc}{m}{it}
\renewcommand{\ell}{\mathpzc{l}}
\newcommand{\kell}{\mathpzc{k}}
would create the k, l on the left side of the image.
In particular image 1 was done with
\begin{equation}
2\mathpzc{kl}\ell = 2k\kappa l
\end{equation}
but defining/redefining kell/ell would make this easier to type. After all, the objective is to get a "math k" that looks different from kappa and this accomplishes.
If don't mind changing all math fonts, you can use
\usepackage[math,condensed]{anttor}
and get
for
\begin{equation}
2k \kappa \neq 2 l\ell
\end{equation}
Unfortunately I don't know what would the proper way to create a "letter command" (like \kell or \fancyk) to get only the k using antykwa font as above.
EDIT: I've found
\usepackage{fouriernc}
also gives the R-like k, but with a more modern look
(Improved answer thanks to Bruno's help on his code)
I've implemented some of the things I mentioned in my earlier answer, but I felt this was different enough to get a separate answer.
Once again, tex.sx provided me with a couple of things I needed for this. Bruno Le Floch wrote some code that rotates arguments at a random angle and helped shortening it for this answer. Martin Scharrer showed how to execute a command for every word. Thanks to both of them.
Starting at the top of the code, here's what I did to change the design:
- default font size 17 via
extarticle
document class
- double line spacing
- define a command
\eldersign
that inserts an elder sign, sized in relation to the current font size. You need to find an elder sign that you can use, I put in the placeholder eldersignimagefile
. I recommend using a PNG image or some other format providing background transparency.
- change the default font to Teen Spirit – you can use any font you like, there certainly are better ones on the Internet. Use them with XeLaTeX and
fontspec
, as I described in my other answer. (I haven't tested Bruno's and Martin's code with XeLaTeX though.) With a different font, you might want to choose a different font size and different rotation angles.
- remove page number
- free parchment background image that I found at http://www.alfredom.com/art/free-6.htm, here named
backgroundimagefile
- centered everything
- changed the text color to
MidnightBlue
(svgnames
color scheme)
Whenever you want to typeset text crazily, you have to pass it as an argument to \cthulhu
. For an elder sign, just use \eldersign
. You might want to adapt your image to suit the text color.
DISCLAIMER
This is just hacked together and you will very likely run into problems once you start using it more extensively. Take it as inspiration. It was fun for me putting it together. Feel free to make suggestions on how to improve this.
\documentclass[17pt]{extarticle}% This is a document class providing more font size options
\usepackage[svgnames]{xcolor}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{emerald}% font package
\usepackage[doublespacing]{setspace}% line spacing
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{wallpaper}
% thanks to Bruno Le Floch: https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/9331/4012
% and in his comments to https://tex.stackexchange.com/a/29458/4012
\usepackage{rotating}
\usepackage[first=-6,last=6]{lcg}% you can play around with these values
\makeatletter
\newcommand{\globalrand}{\rand\global\cr@nd\cr@nd}
\makeatother
\newcommand{\randomrotation}[1]{\globalrand\turnbox{\value{rand}}{#1}\phantom{#1}}
% thanks to Martin Scharrer: https://tex.stackexchange.com/q/11598/4012
\makeatletter
\def\cthulhu#1{%
\@cthulhu#1 \@empty
}
\def\@cthulhu#1 #2{%
\randomrotation{#1}\space
\ifx #2\@empty\else
\expandafter\@cthulhu
\fi
#2%
}
\makeatother
% ----------
\newcommand{\eldersign}{\raisebox{-.5\height}{\includegraphics[height=3ex]{eldersignimagefile}}}
\renewcommand*{\rmdefault}{fts}
\begin{document}\pagestyle{empty}\CenterWallPaper{}{backgroundimagefile}
\centering% that madman wouldn't justify his writings
\color{MidnightBlue}% my pick for "looks like ink"
\cthulhu{Hello, I am crazy. I am a Cthulhu worshipping gibbering madman, unhinged by
the horrors I have witnessed. I am a Cthulhu worshipping gibbering madman, unhinged by
the horrors I have witnessed. I am a Cthulhu worshipping gibbering madman, unhinged by
the horrors I have witnessed. I am a Cthulhu worshipping gibbering madman, unhinged by
the horrors I have witnessed. I am a Cthulhu worshipping gibbering madman, unhinged by
the horrors I have witnessed.} \eldersign
\end{document}
On the other points you mentioned: I don't think Dropcaps would look good here; they convey something of a plannedness which wouldn't be in the style of my madman. As for font size changes and random word spacing, I don't know how to do that automarandomly.
Best Answer
Use
xelatex
of course, along with a cursive font (there's plenty free online).Warning: This might not be sufficient, it still looks too "clean" and the lines too straight for it to be actually handwritten.1
1: That is unless you draw lines with a pencil, write, and then delete the lines.