38

Occasionally, I write letters that I actually print out and send by snail mail :).

I'd like them to look as formal as possible. Archaic (pre-typewriter) Dutch customs require the sender's address to be in the top left corner and the recipient's in the top right. The place and date should be aligned with the recipient's address. The sign off ("Yours truly") should also be aligned with that.

Of course there are also specific rules for the amount of vertical whitespace.

Does anyone know of a good package that lets me customize all this stuff, preferably in a .sty file or something that I can include, so I don't have to do it again for every letter?

Caramdir
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jqno
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4 Answers4

26

Most sites point to the options below for formal letters:

  • akletter for German business letters;
  • newlfm for US-centric letters, faxes and memos;
  • dinbrief for German letters;
  • brief in the Dutch ntgclass bundle;
  • scrlttr2 in the KOMA-Script bundle.

Here is my .tex code for a formal letter or an invoice based on scrlttr2 (part of KOMA-script). I found the package flexible enough for my needs.

\documentclass[brief]{scrlttr2}

\setkomavar{yourref}{Microspino \\Address XX }
\setkomavar{yourmail}{mail@microspino.com}
\setkomavar{myref}{Your Refn. XXX}
\setkomavar{customer}{Client Name \\ Comapny name}
\setkomavar{invoice}{VAT NUMBER \\ IBAN}
\setkomavar{date}{\today}
\setkomavar{subject}{The very true reason I'm writing this thing}

\begin{document}
\begin{letter}
{FirstNameTO LastNameTO\\
Address. XX\\
00100 Siena, Italy
}

\opening{Your majesty,}

Bla bla bla ....

\closing{All the best,}

\end{letter}
\end{document}

I'd like to add another tex letter source with a logo on the top-left and rulers, based on newlfm Remember to put a logo.pdf in the same folder of it otherwise it will complain:

\documentclass[10pt,stdletter]{newlfm}
\usepackage{charter}

\widowpenalty=1000
\clubpenalty=1000

\newsavebox{\Luiuc}
\sbox{\Luiuc}{%
    \parbox[b]{1.75in}{%
        \vspace{0.5in}%
        \includegraphics[scale=1.0,ext=.pdf]
        {logo.pdf}%
    }%
}%

\makeletterhead{Uiuc}{\Lheader{\usebox{\Luiuc}}}

\newlfmP{headermarginskip=20pt}
\newlfmP{sigsize=50pt}
\newlfmP{dateskipafter=20pt}
\newlfmP{addrfromphone}
\newlfmP{addrfromemail}
\PhrPhone{Phone}
\PhrEmail{Email}

\lthUiuc

\namefrom{Daniele Spinosa}
\addrfrom{%
    Polyfunctional Laboratory\\
    Casal dei Pazzi\\
    Siena, SI Italy 53100
}

\phonefrom{000-000-0000}
\emailfrom{nnnn@nnn.edu}

\addrto{%
Faculty of Somewhere\\
Department of Null and Nothing\\
Vacuum University\\
NoLand, XX 0000-0000}

\greetto{To Whom It May Concern,}
\closeline{Sincerely,}
\begin{document}
\begin{newlfm}

Let's talk about Italian developers...\\
Let's assume they are talented...\\
Let's assume they are skilled...\\
Let's assume they have a good government...\\
Ok Let's talk about real things.

\end{newlfm}

\end{document}
samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz
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microspino
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    if jqno wants this Dutch "archaic"-style he talks of (which isn't archaic at all as it's legally mandated for all government agencies) he should go for the "brief" class from the ntgclass bundle. The letter style you speak of is in fact defined as NEN (NEderlandse Norm) 1026. – Giel Aug 15 '10 at 07:19
6

Have you tried the built-in letter class?

Sophie Alpert
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2

I use the scrlttr2 class from koma-skript. You can define your own letterhead and also the head on subsequent pages (same for footer). It is highly adjustable and I think you can adjust it to your own needs fairly easy (depending on your experience).

Martin H
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2

I haven't personally investigated any of them, but the internet tells me about this link which refers to several packages. The package scrlttr2 looks almost infinitely customizeable, so probably is what you want.

Willie Wong
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