Two-column LaTeX class for a photobook

Question

I am looking for a solution to produce a two-column(ed) LaTeX-based photobook. Text and comments should go on the outer column (in a two-sided document)--something like a wide outer margin. Photos (along with their optional captions) should be placed in the inner column (which will be wider than the "text"-column).

Very important detail: the idea is to have landscape pages, wide enough to present photos that can be actually seen.

As an extra, the class should be compatible with some kind of a thumb-index for the chapters, placed on the outer side of the page, from top to bottom, counting from the first to the last chapter.

Should I start scratching my own class (or layout for LyX)?

Answer 1

The important issues to handle for such a project would be the handling of floats. Normally photo books or similar documents do not have a large amount of words and if you use floats and marginpars, the text will certainly end up in the wrong place.

I would first choose a few page designs and then use minipages or better TeX vbox and hbox primitives to position them and work macros around them. Martin's adjustbox package might also come handy here, i.e., you need to build the two columns, rather than use the marginpar area or a two-column layout.

The layout above was achieved using such a macro:

\newcommand\addpicture[2]{
  \hskip-2cm\begin{minipage}[b]{17cm}
  \includegraphics[width=17cm]{#1}
  \end{minipage}\hspace{0.3cm}
  \begin{minipage}[b]{3cm}
   #2
   \end{minipage}}

I haven't used your dimensions for the page geometry but you can vary the sizes in the minimal that follows. Add fonts and style to suit your requirements.

\documentclass[11pt]{book}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{ifpdf}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\newfont{\HUGE}{cmr17 at 96pt}
\setlength{\textwidth}{8.0in}
\setlength{\textheight}{5.125in}
\setlength{\oddsidemargin}{0.0in}
\setlength{\evensidemargin}{-0.375in}
\setlength{\topmargin}{-0.375in}
\setlength{\headsep}{0.25in}
\setlength{\headheight}{0.125in}
\setlength{\footskip}{0.25in}
\ifpdf
  \pdfpageheight 7.5in 
  \pdfpagewidth 9.625in
\fi
\newcommand{\hstroke}{\rule[0.5ex]{5.0em}{0.2ex}}

\begin{document}

\thispagestyle{empty}
\begin{center}
\setlength{\unitlength}{1.0em}%
\begin{picture}(45,16)(0,0)
\put(-0.625,0){\framebox(6.2,7.25){\HUGE \textcolor{purple}{A}}}
\put(5.875,5.625){\parbox[t]{15em}{\Huge \noindent LITTLE GIFT\linebreak
\raggedright FOR LITTLE\linebreak
FEET\linebreak
}}
\end{picture}
\hspace*{-0.6em}\rule{\textwidth}{0.3ex}\\
{\small \sc by}\\
{\small YIANNIS LAZARIDES}\\
{\footnotesize Author of ``Myths of TeX''}\\
\vspace*{18.5 ex}
\rule{\textwidth}{0.3ex}\\
{\small
DOHA\phantom{ZZZZZ,}\hfill\raisebox{0.5ex}{$\bullet$}\hfill THE CAMEL\linebreak
QATAR\hfill\raisebox{0.5ex}{$\bullet$}\hfill PRESS
}
\end{center}
\newpage
\thispagestyle{empty}
\vspace*{18ex}
\begin{center}
{\em Copyright, $\mit 2011$}\\
{\sc By the Little Girl \& Company}\\
\hstroke\\
{\em All rights reserved}\\
\vspace*{18ex}
{\sc A little story book}\\
{\sc for a little girl}\\
\vspace*{12ex}
Made in the wild.
\end{center}
\newpage
\frontmatter
\thispagestyle{empty}
\vspace*{20ex}
\begin{center}
                           {\scriptsize FOR}\\
                {\large \bf Li, Mary and John}\\
\smallskip
                   {\footnotesize AND THE REST\\
                     OF THE WORLD'S\\
                    CHILDREN}
\end{center}

\mainmatter

\newcommand\addpicture[2]{
\hskip-2cm\begin{minipage}[b]{17cm}
\includegraphics[width=17cm]{#1}
\end{minipage}\hspace{0.3cm}
\begin{minipage}[b]{3cm}
#2
\end{minipage}}

\addpicture{children-03.jpg}{\ldots and on the other side of the world in the Land of the Moon Wi Li was sleeping \ldots}

\end{document}

See also Template for a book for children

Answer 2

This answer comes relatively late, I hope that it halps others who want to make such a book. I made a kind of photoook using the KOMA-class scrbook. The page format was landscape DIN A4, and I included double sided photos using \includepdf. The book had a large inner page margin of 12 cm. There I placed photos using the \textbox-command, in which you can place figures and photos using \includegraphics. The \textbox-command is an absolute command, it places the box wherever you position it - whether there is text or not. But this can be an advantage: if the image included is such, that it does not negatively interact with the text (e.g. relatively clear sky), you can print the flowing text in the picture. If you use the \twocolumn option, you can cut the columns by a \newpage (at the end of a sentence or of a paragraph).

Using this, I got a photobook with lots of doublesided photos and also with images of 1 1/3 pages, and images of 1/3 page width. Also 2 images of 1/3 page-width each at the inner border of two adherent pages.

Of course, this needs a lot of manual editing -but a photobook is characterized by much interaction of text and photos. And, of course, the design-options are limeted, but I conssider it less as a bug and more as a feature: the clear and repitive (strict) design is (at my opinion) more serious, more valuable. Please excuse my poor english.