The following LaTeX files, style files, and examples are freely available to anyone who wants to make a poster-sized document using the tools typically available on a SUN workstation - LaTeX, ghostview (with the gv interface), make, BibTeX, etc.). The provided style files produce a variety of different poster formats: 3-5 columns, oriented horizontally or vertically, in "plotter" size (maxi) or "letter" size (mini) for proofreading, meeting handouts, etc. They are an alternative to programs like PageMaker for those who don't have convenient access to a PC, or who want to quickly convert existing LaTeX documents to a poster-type format. Those who understand LaTeX and BibTeX may want to customize these files for their own purposes. They are supplied without any warranty, expressed or implied. In particular, I am not responsible for any frustration they may cause as you attempt to make them work with YOUR hardware and software. I had enough frustration getting them to work with MY hardware and software. The Makefile and BibTeX tools are handy for the production of any LaTeX document, independent of their poster making options.

• Here is a tar archive containing all files on this page. Extract and list files from the archive using the commands
    tar -tvf example.tar (lists archive contents)
    tar -xvf example.tar [desired_filename] (extracts specified file)
  'desired_filename' must be preceded with a "./", exactly as it appears in the archive listing. If desired_filename is blank, ALL files will be extracted. BE CAREFUL you do not overwrite one of your existing files, unless you WANT to replace it with the archived version. If you change the names of the files you create (such that none of them start with "example", for instance) you can avoid this possibility.
  
  LaTeX - Style Files and Example TeX Files
  
  Horizontal formats are larger in the horizontal direction, vertical formats are larger in the vertical direction.
  WARNING:Blank lines are forbidden inside the LaTeX picture environment. While comments (preceded by a % sign) are allowed, blank lines are not. The document will not compile if one is present. This, along with mismatched curly brackets {}, are the most common causes of problems. Look for them first if you experience difficulties.
  
  
• hor_maxi.sty
  - create full sized horizontal posters for the plotter
• hor_maxi_view.sty
  - create full sized horizontal posters for on-screen viewing. This option added because our plotter does not interpret (device-independent?) PostScript in the same way that ghostview does.
• hor_mini.sty
  - create miniaturized horizontal posters for a standard printer, 8.5x11
• hor_3.sty
  - create horizontal 3 column posters
• hor_4.sty
  - create horizontal 4 column posters
• hor_5.sty
  - create horizontal 5 column posters
• ver_maxi.sty
  - create full sized vertical posters for the plotter
• ver_mini.sty
  - create miniaturized vertical posters for a standard printer, 8.5x11
• ver_3.sty
  - create vertical 3 column posters
• ver_4.sty
  - create vertical 4 column posters
• poster.sty
  - macros that are independent of the selected format. Modify colors, font families and sizes, and line spacing here.
• aastexposter.cls
  - aastex.cls with the slug comments (date received, accepted, etc.) removed.
• example.tex
  - the TeX file used to create the example poster (horizontal, 5 column)
• example_table.tex
  - the TeX file used to make the table included in the example poster
• example_fig1.ps
  
• example_fig2.ps
  
• example_fig3.ps
  - PostScript figures used in the example poster - you may also use encapsulated PostScript
• example.ps
  - the PostScript file constructed from all the above.
• Link to the Posters directory
  - Want to know file sizes or modification dates? Look here.
  HINT: Click on the "Last modified" heading at the top of the page to sort entries by modification date and time, either ascending or descending order, with the exception of the Parent Directory entry, which will always be at the top.

Great big poster? Itty bitty paper? (links to external site)


• Need to print a big poster but only have a letter-size printer? epssplit can break up a poster into letter (or A4) sized pieces, which you can then put back together like a big jigsaw puzzle. If you don't have a plotter, but want to make a "monolithic" poster, this is the way to go. For best results, please read the author's usage instructions. Thanks to Anders Ledberg for tracking this down and bringing it to my attention. Anders used the following command to convert the poster file to encapsulated form before applying epssplit:

    gs -q -sDEVICE=epswrite -sOutputFile=output.eps  -r600 -q - < input.ps

Makefile - never type latex, bibtex, or dvips again! Convenient for any TeX document, not just posters.


• Makefile
  - just type "make" to run latex/pslatex, bibtex, and dvips. Make checks the modification dates of TeX files, figures, tables, and style files to see if LaTeX needs to be run again.
  - "make clean" removes temporary TeX files, .log, .blg, .aux, .dvi, etc.
  - "make view" displays the miniposter format on screen
  - "make viewmaxi" displays the maxiposter format on screen
  
• Format-specific Makefile
  This makefile offers options to make a document in multiple formats; those included here are the AGU/JGR preprint, manuscript, and galley formats. For example, typing make pprint, make galley, or make mscrpt will place the proper \documentclass statement in your LaTeX file and then compile it. (This assumes you are on a UNIX system that supports the 'sed' program. The required cshell script chngdocclass is available here.) No need to change the file for each format you wish to create. Output PostScript files are named accordingly as well. This method may be adapted to the poster styles as well - I'll get to it eventually, otherwise feel free to do it yourself if you know the lingo.

BibTeX - Download abstracts from the ADS server and format citation keys with a PERL script. See example.tex for details on how to use the citation and bibliography macros. Convenient for any TeX document, not just posters.


• make_keys
  - a PERL script that takes entries from the ADS abstract server (download or cut/paste them into a file in BibTeX format) and formats them with keys of the form Authors_last_name:year_of_publication. A letter (a,b,c,d...) is added if there are multiple keys with the same author and year.
• example.ads
  - a file of "raw" BibTeX entries, as downloaded from the ADS.
• example.bib
  - formatted file with keys, produced by running make_keys, e.g.
        make_keys example
  will take example.ads and use it to create example.bib
• poster.bst
  - a style file which specifies the format used for inline citations and the bibliography, i.e. titles (or not), italics, author name format, etc.
• Link to the BibStyles directory
  Other bibliography style files (.bst) not listed here may be accessed from this page.