How could I write my name, for example, in a \LaTeX style? It is just interesting, as in Google all other things pop up when I try to search for an answer!
[Tex/LaTex] How to write the name, for example, to look like the \LaTeX logo
fontsfunlogos
Related Solutions
(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
extarticledocument class - double line spacing
- define a command
\eldersignthat 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 placeholdereldersignimagefile. 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(svgnamescolor 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.
If you make a LaTeX document without using many packages and without altering other defaults, then the style of the document is largely determined by two factors: the default font designed by Donald Knuth, and the default layout of the standard document classes designed by Leslie Lamport.
The Font
The default font is Computer Modern, designed by Donald Knuth. It is a computer version of the "modern" style typeface that was used in the first editions of his book The Art of Computer Programming. Knuth created TeX with the primary goal of using the computer to typeset this book.
Page Layout, Margins, Headings, etc.
The basic LaTeX document classes were designed by Leslie Lamport, based on then-common conventions for scientific publishing. For example, the large default margins in the article class are intended for use by academic journals, which have a narrow type block, and would trim down the page to fit their format.
These core classes have most of the style elements hard-coded into them, meaning that the style decisions cannot easily be modified by the user. This was because of the memory restrictions of computers at the time. Now we can use packages to alter these values, or we can use alternate classes that make it easier to customize.
Paragraph Shape, Character Spacing, Kerning, etc.
A third factor that shapes the overall look of any LaTeX document is the unsurpassed algorithm for building lines, paragraphs, and pages, used in the core TeX typesetting program written by Donald Knuth. This central feature of the TeX program controls the distribution of words on the page, which creates what designers call the "grayness" of the page. Some people claim to be able to recognize TeX-produced documents based on this alone.
Going Beyond the Defaults
If you use a different font package (try ebgaramond or newpxtext or gillius for example) the look will change dramatically. If you use a non-standard document class (beamer, memoir, the KOMA-script classes) or customize the standard ones by using packages like geometry, or write your own class, you can have any page layout and style you want.
You can also use an alternate format, ConTeXt, which provides its own interface for customizing the layout.
Or you can use Knuth's original Plain TeX format, though this requires you to write almost all the formatting code yourself, down to exactly how much stretchable space to insert after a section heading or in front of a bullet point.
Donald Knuth typeset the later editions of The Art of Computer Programming using his own macro package for Plain TeX, and if you look at that book you'll see his stylistic preferences are rather different from those of the default LaTeX classes, such as using sans-serif font for headings and slanted type for book titles.
Best Answer
this requires xelatex