I would like to start my thesis with a blank page with a quote of a famous scientist. I however do not find an elegant way to create the following in a estecially pleasing way (a larger font, stylish quotes). Key points: Insert blank page with quote centered both vertically and horizontally.
"Quote" Author 1955
The style chosen will depend heavily on the style you're using for other elements of your document (for example fonts, page layout, sectional units formatting), so it's difficult to produce a "universal solution". Here's one possibility; I chose not to center it vertically but to use the double of space below the quote than the space above it; the width of the \parbox is calculated as the width of the longest line of the quote (stored in the length \longest):
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\newlength\longest
\begin{document}
\clearpage
\thispagestyle{empty}
\null\vfill
\settowidth\longest{\huge\itshape just as his inclination leads him;}
\centering
\parbox{\longest}{%
\raggedright{\huge\itshape%
A man ought to read \\
just as his inclination leads him; \\
for what he reads as a task \\
will do him little good.\par\bigskip
}
\raggedleft\Large\MakeUppercase{Samuel Johnson}\par%
}
\vfill\vfill
\clearpage
\end{document}
babrbara beeton suggested to place the author flush right as it's often used in epigraphs:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{lmodern}
\newlength\longest
\begin{document}
\clearpage
\thispagestyle{empty}
\null\vfill
\settowidth\longest{\huge\itshape just as his inclination leads him;}
\centering
\parbox{\longest}{%
\raggedright{\huge\itshape%
A man ought to read \\
just as his inclination leads him; \\
for what he reads as a task \\
will do him little good.\par\bigskip
}
\raggedleft\Large\MakeUppercase{Samuel Johnson}\par%
}
\vfill\vfill
\clearpage
\end{document}
\raggedleft). it will "square off" the block and make it a little easier to identify the author of the quotation. this approach is often used with epigraphs.
– barbara beeton
May 25 '12 at 12:39
This should get you started:
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{lipsum,csquotes,setspace}
\usepackage[charter]{mathdesign}
\usepackage[a4paper,margin=1in,showframe]{geometry} %%remove showframe in your document
%
\makeatletter
\def\nobottom{%
\def\@texttop{\ifnum\c@page>0\vskip \z@ plus 3fil\relax\fi}
\def\@textbottom{\ifnum\c@page>0\vskip \z@ plus 2fil\relax\fi}}
%
\def\resetopandbottom{%
\def\@texttop{\ifnum\c@page>0\vskip 0pt plus .00006fil\relax\fi}
\def\@textbottom{\ifnum\c@page>0\vskip 0pt plus .00006fil\relax\fi}}
\makeatother
%
\begin{document}
\nobottom
\pagestyle{empty}
\begin{displayquote}[\upshape\bfseries Author 1955][---]
\onehalfspacing\Large\itshape
\lipsum[1]
\end{displayquote}
\clearpage
%
\resetopandbottom
\pagestyle{headings}
%
\lipsum[1-10]
%
\end{document}
Sorry in advance for that demand, I'm still learning...
First solution works well. I use it also at the beginning of my report. Instead of at the frontpage, I put it just after a few pages.
However, text written afterwards is also centered, which is not suitable.
Does anyone know how to get back to the previous configuration (which was justified for me?)
EDIT : I find the solution, easy of course...
I just used the package ragged2e and wrote \justify just after \clearpage.
The text is afterwards correctly justified, as it was before.
Both solutions given worked as a charm, I however chose for the first option, pure for aesthetic reasons. Implementing this in LaTeX is straightforward. Implementing this in LyX is a tad less straightforward, hence the steps needed to achieve this effect:
\null\vfill \raggedright{\huge\itshape% \par\bigskip}
\Large{author}\par%} \vfill\vfill \clearpage
\parbox; I've also added another options based on barbara beeton's comment. – Gonzalo Medina May 25 '12 at 13:33