Org Mode LaTeX Headers

Here’s a set of org mode headers that export a LaTeX PDF I like the look of:

  #+LaTeX_CLASS_OPTIONS: [12pt]
  #+LATEX_HEADER: \usepackage[margin=1.25in]{geometry}
  #+LaTeX_HEADER: \usepackage{fourier}
  #+LaTeX_HEADER: \usepackage[scaled]{helvet}
  #+LaTeX_HEADER: \usepackage{courier}
  #+LaTeX_HEADER: \linespread{1.10}

Compared to the default this shrinks the margins, fattens up the font, and spreads the lines. Here’s how an example org doc looks all styled up:

$org-pdf-styled.jpg$

An org mode PDF’s default style

LaTeX’s default article format is stodgy, with a very serifed font and massive margins. Here’s how an unstyled example document looks rendered:

$org-pdf-default.jpg$

Widening the margins

Let’s shrink the margins to 1.25 inches using the geometry package:

    #+LaTeX_HEADER: \usepackage[margin=1.25in]{geometry}

$org-pdf-margins.jpg$

Spreading out the text and changing the fonts

The text lines are cramped by default, and the font is super serifed. Here’s some cleanup:

  #+LaTeX_CLASS_OPTIONS: [12pt]
    #+LaTeX_HEADER: \usepackage{fourier}
    #+LaTeX_HEADER: \usepackage[scaled=0.875]{helvet}
    #+LaTeX_HEADER: \renewcommand{\ttdefault}{lmtt}
    #+LaTeX_HEADER: \linespread{1.10}

$org-pdf-text.jpg$

jtmoulia