How do I make uniform spacing for minipages in multicols

Question

I'm trying to make a A3 page for the wall of our office, we have a coffee maker and with there are different options for each capsule. What I want to do is have an equally spread set of minipages inside the multicol.

I've attached Bitbuck Repo where you can see the code (and icons), I don't know if I'm doing it correctly so please give advice and criticism on my choices.

\documentclass[12pt, landscape]{article}
\errorcontextlines 10000
%
%All the data is downloaded with Kasper Langers
%gist: https://gist.github.com/kasperlanger/fd28cb49c2535c0f5cdb
%
%
\title{Coffee Cheat Sheet}
\author{Xamarin Test Cloud}
%paper size
\usepackage[a3paper]{geometry}

\usepackage{framed}

%colums package
\usepackage{multicol}

\usepackage[space]{grffile}

\usepackage{float}

\usepackage{graphicx}

\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[english]{babel}

\newcommand{\coffee}[5]{
    \begin{minipage}{3 cm}

    \begin{figure}[H]
    \includegraphics[width=2.5cm]{images/#1.png}
    \end{figure}
    \end{minipage}
    \begin{minipage}{5cm}
    \textbf{{#1}}

    Intensity {#2}

    \includegraphics{icons/Ristretto}{#3} ml

    \includegraphics{icons/Espresso}{#4} ml

    \includegraphics{icons/Lungo}{#5} ml
    \\  
    \end{minipage}
}


\begin{document}

\begin{framed}
To select the perfect brew you have to look for your nespresso capsule and turn the dial for the right amount of water
\begin{multicols}{2}

\includegraphics[width=2cm]{icons/espressoCup.png}

The left dial have the following options:
\begin{enumerate}
    \item{25 ml}
    \item{30 ml}
    \item{40 ml}
    \item{50 ml}
    \item{60 ml}
\end{enumerate}

\includegraphics[width=2cm]{icons/lungoCup.png}

The right dial have the following options:
\begin{enumerate}
    \item{70 ml}
    \item{90 ml}
    \item{110 ml}
    \item{130 ml}
    \item{150 ml}
\end{enumerate}

\end{multicols}
\end{framed}

\begin{multicols}{3}

\coffee{Dharkan}{11}{25}{40}{}

\coffee{Kazaar}{12}{25}{40}{}

\coffee{Ristretto}{10}{25}{40}{}

\coffee{Arpeggio}{9}{25}{40}{}

\coffee{Roma}{8}{25}{40}{}

\coffee{Livanto}{6}{}{40}{}

\coffee{Capriccio}{5}{}{40}{}

\coffee{Volluto}{4}{}{40}{}

\coffee{Cosi}{3}{}{40}{}

\coffee{Indriya from India}{10}{25}{40}{}

\coffee{Rosabaya de Colombia}{6}{}{40}{}

\coffee{Dulsao do Brasil}{4}{}{40}{}

\coffee{Fortissio Lungo}{7}{}{}{110}

\coffee{Vivalto Lungo}{4}{}{}{110}

\coffee{Linizio Lungo}{4}{}{}{110}

\coffee{Decaffeinato Intenso}{7}{}{40}{}

\coffee{Decaffeinato Lungo}{3}{}{}{110}

\coffee{Decaffeinato}{2}{}{40}{}

\coffee{Ciocattino}{6}{}{40}{}

\coffee{Vanilio}{6}{}{40}{}

\coffee{Caramelito}{6}{}{40}{}

\end{multicols}
\end{document}

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered May 20 '14 at 23:51

How about the following layout (on a single, portrait A3):

enter image description here

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage[a3paper,margin=2cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{multicol,array,pifont}
\usepackage[space]{grffile}
\usepackage[export]{adjustbox}

\pagestyle{empty}
\setlength{\parindent}{0pt}

\newcommand{\coffee}[5]{%
  \begin{tabular}{*{2}{p{\dimexpr.16\textwidth-1.5\tabcolsep}}}
    \hfill\smash{\raisebox{-\height}{%
      \includegraphics[width=2.5cm]{images/#1.png}}} &
    \raggedright\textbf{#1}\arraybackslash \\
    & Intensity~#2 \\
    & \includegraphics{icons/Ristretto} \makebox[3em][r]{#3 \if$#3$\else ml\fi} \\
    & \includegraphics{icons/Espresso} \makebox[3em][r]{#4 \if$#4$\else ml\fi} \\
    & \includegraphics{icons/Lungo} \makebox[3em][r]{#5 \if$#5$\else ml\fi} \\
    \null
  \end{tabular}%
}

\begin{document}

\null\vfill

\begin{tabular}{*{2}{p{\dimexpr.5\textwidth-1.5\tabcolsep}}}
  \centering
  From the left dial, select: & 
  \centering
  From the right dial, select:\arraybackslash \\
  \includegraphics[height=5\normalbaselineskip,valign=c]{icons/espressoCup.png} \quad
  \centering
  \begin{tabular}{l}
    \ding{172}~25 ml \\ \ding{173}~30 ml \\ \ding{174}~40 ml \\ \ding{175}~50 ml \\ \ding{176}~60 ml% http://tex.stackexchange.com/a/8473/5764
  \end{tabular} &
  \centering
  \includegraphics[height=5\normalbaselineskip,valign=c]{icons/lungoCup.png} \quad
  \begin{tabular}{l}
    \ding{172}~\phantom{0}70 ml \\ \ding{173}~\phantom{0}90 ml \\ \ding{174}~110 ml \\ \ding{175}~130 ml \\ \ding{176}~150 ml% http://tex.stackexchange.com/a/8473/5764
  \end{tabular}\arraybackslash
\end{tabular}

\vfill

\hrulefill

\vfill\vfill

\coffee{Dharkan}{11}{25}{40}{}
\coffee{Kazaar}{12}{25}{40}{}
\coffee{Ristretto}{10}{25}{40}{}
\coffee{Arpeggio}{9}{25}{40}{}
\coffee{Roma}{8}{25}{40}{}
\coffee{Livanto}{6}{}{40}{}
\coffee{Capriccio}{5}{}{40}{}
\coffee{Volluto}{4}{}{40}{}
\coffee{Cosi}{3}{}{40}{}
\coffee{Indriya from India}{10}{25}{40}{}
\coffee{Rosabaya de Colombia}{6}{}{40}{}
\coffee{Dulsao do Brasil}{4}{}{40}{}
\coffee{Fortissio Lungo}{7}{}{}{110}
\coffee{Vivalto Lungo}{4}{}{}{110}
\coffee{Linizio Lungo}{4}{}{}{110}
\coffee{Decaffeinato Intenso}{7}{}{40}{}
\coffee{Decaffeinato Lungo}{3}{}{}{110}
\coffee{Decaffeinato}{2}{}{40}{}
\coffee{Ciocattino}{6}{}{40}{}
\coffee{Vanilio}{6}{}{40}{}
\coffee{Caramelito}{6}{}{40}{}

\vfill\null

\end{document}

I've removed the ml indications for non-existent choices.

That is a really good solution, thank you sir. Was my original idea about spreading it over two sheets never going to work with the previous setup? — Oddj0b, May 22 '14 at 15:59
it solves everything, the question was out of curiosity. And again thanks for the solution. — Oddj0b, May 26 '14 at 17:20

How do I make uniform spacing for minipages in multicols

1 Answers1