Start letter at the top of the page

Question

How can I make a letter start at the top of the page rather than the usual vertical spacing ? I am finding that the letter class requires a specific structure that is very rigid.

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt]{letter}
\title{The deterioration of Health and safety}
\author{Heime}
\date{January 2023}
\signature{Heime}
\address{This and That}
\begin{document}
\begin{letter}{Alice}
  \opening{Something}
\begin{flushright}
    \closing{Yours Sincerely,}
    \signature{Heime}
  \end{flushright}
\end{letter}
\end{document}

\usepackage[vscale=0.9]{geometry}? Or whatever proportion you want to use. — cfr, Mar 05 '24 at 04:34
I won't recommend using the letter class. See Writing an official letter on how to write a letter using the default article class. — Werner, Mar 05 '24 at 06:27
Looking at letter.cls, it is dificult to tell where the space is defined (unlike @makechapterhead). The space decreases if the letter is longer, but only to a point. — John Kormylo, Mar 05 '24 at 14:53
Have thought about using article actually. I think I would have better control upon the document. — Ragonese, Mar 05 '24 at 15:27

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 05 '24 at 08:41

For example:

\documentclass[12pt,fromalign=right,refline=nodate,backaddress=false,addrfield=topaligned,foldmarks=false]{scrlttr2}
\setkomavar{signature}{Heime}
\setkomavar{fromaddress}{This and That}
\setkomavar{date}{January 2023}
\setkomavar{location}{\raggedleft\usekomavar{date}}% put the date into the
                                % location field
\setplength{locvpos}{\topmargin+1in+\headheight+\headsep+1.2\baselineskip}% move the location field
\setplength{firstheadwidth}{\textwidth}% limit the width of the head at the
                                % notepaper to the paper width
\setplength{toaddrhpos}{\oddsidemargin+1in}% possition of the recipient address
\setplength{toaddrvpos}{\topmargin+1in+\headheight+\headsep}
\setplength{refvpos}{\useplength{toaddrvpos}+\useplength{toaddrheight}}% possition of the reference line
\setplength{sigindent}{.5\textwidth}% possition of the signature
\let\raggedsignature=\raggedright
\usepackage{lipsum}
\begin{document}
\begin{letter}{Alice}
  \opening{Something}
  \lipsum[1]
  \closing{Yours Sincerely,}
\end{letter}
\end{document}

For more information about using scrlttr2 (or package scrletter, e.g., in combination with class scrartcl) see chapters 4 and 21 in the KOMA-Script manuals and maybe also “How to create letters with KOMA-Script” (also available in German).

The letter style looks quite complicated to configure differently. — Ragonese, Mar 05 '24 at 15:26
@Ragonese Only because it provides lots of features to be less rigid, but very flexible. ;-) — cabohah, Mar 06 '24 at 07:31

Start letter at the top of the page

1 Answers1