28

I want to write an official letter such as apply for fund ... as following :

To

<p><code>Subject</code></p>

<p><code>Body</code></p>

<p><code>Sign</code> </p>

<p><code>Name</code></p>

I would appreciate if you can tell me the proper packages I should use for that.

TheVal
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Aissan
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    What about the letter class? This is part of standard LaTeX. Please see at http://www.ctan.org/pkg/letter if you want to know more. You may want to see the al­ter­na­tive LaTeX class(es) at the bottom if it does not suit you. – Masroor Sep 18 '13 at 06:26
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    Do you know KOMA-Script and the documentclass scrlttr2? You can set foldermarks, footer etc. See texdoc KOMA-Script (with examples!). – Mensch Sep 18 '13 at 08:13

2 Answers2

32

You don't need anything fancy here - the standard article class will do.

enter image description here

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{graphicx}% http://ctan.org/pkg/graphicx
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}% Remove paragraph indent
\begin{document}
\hspace*{0.5\linewidth}
\begin{minipage}{0.4\linewidth}
Random Institute \par
Random City 1000 \par
Randomia \par
\today
\end{minipage}

To whom it may concern: \par \bigskip

Hire me, it'll be worth your while. \par \bigskip

Sincerely, \par \medskip

\includegraphics[height=1.5\baselineskip]{signature} \par
Random Randofsky \par
Randomville
\end{document}

I wouldn't recommend the letter class, since it requires a specific structure that is very rigid. Next thing you know you'll want to re-order the layout, which requires very little interference when dealing with article.

For a way to include an actual signature in your letter, see Adding a signature on an online job application.

Community
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Werner
  • 603,163
  • You might want to add a \setpagestyle{empty} to that for a single-page letter. – uckelman Apr 09 '14 at 10:50
  • Can I ask what font was used for the signature ? – Sohaib Afifi Apr 11 '14 at 01:38
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    @SohaibAfifi: I wrote it on a piece of paper (by hand), scanned it and used InkScape's tracing capabilities to vectorize the scanned bitmap image, then exported it as an EPS or PDF (whichever you prefer), and included it in my document using \includegraphics. See Adding a signature on an online job application for a step-by-step description of the procedure from the command-line (and using potrace). – Werner Apr 11 '14 at 04:50
  • @Werner Is there a way to add a space between the end of the minipage and the actual letter? It seems a bit bunched up to me. – lpnorm Nov 11 '21 at 12:41
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    @lpnorm: Sure! Add \bigskip, or something more verbose, like \vspace{2\baselineskip} to insert a gap equivalent to 2 lines of text. In general, \vspace{<len>} should work (where you specify any <len>). Note that you need to be in vertical mode for that, so either issue an explicit \par before it, or leave a blank line. – Werner Nov 11 '21 at 18:06
32

For an official letter it can't do any harm to use a dedicated class which will do the general formatting. One of those classes is scrlttr2 from the »KOMA-Script« bundle. Although this class is very flexible (and thus quite complex), you can get quick and good results with basic settings like in this approach.

\documentclass[
  fontsize=11pt,
  paper=a4,
  parskip=half,
  enlargefirstpage=on,    % More space on first page
  fromalign=right,        % PLacement of name in letter head
  fromphone=on,           % Turn on phone number of sender
  fromrule=aftername,     % Rule after sender name in letter head
  addrfield=on,           % Adress field for envelope with window
  backaddress=on,         % Sender address in this window
  subject=beforeopening,  % Placement of subject
  locfield=narrow,        % Additional field for sender
  foldmarks=on,           % Print foldmarks
]{scrlttr2}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}
\usepackage{blindtext}

\setkomafont{fromname}{\sffamily \LARGE}
\setkomafont{fromaddress}{\sffamily}%% statt \small
\setkomafont{pagenumber}{\sffamily}
\setkomafont{subject}{\bfseries}
\setkomafont{backaddress}{\mdseries}

\LoadLetterOption{DIN}
\setkomavar{fromname}{From Name}
\setkomavar{fromaddress}{From Street\\00000 From City}
\setkomavar{fromphone}{+49 0000 0\,00\,00\,00}
\setkomavar{fromemail}{from.name@mail.com}
\setkomavar{backaddressseparator}{\enspace\textperiodcentered\enspace}
\setkomavar{signature}{(From Name)}
\setkomavar{place}{From City}
\setkomavar{date}{\today}
\setkomavar{enclseparator}{: }

\begin{document}
  \begin{letter}{To Name\\To Street\\00000 To Place}
    \setkomavar{subject}{Subject}
    \opening{Ladies and Gentlemen,}

    \blindtext

    \closing{Sincerely,}
  \end{letter}
\end{document}

For details about the many options for customization please refer to the »KOMA-Script« user guide. You may also want to take a look at »newlfm«.

enter image description here

Thorsten Donig
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