GA Tech Quarto Template

This Quarto extension provides a Georgia Tech–branded PDF format with custom styling and formatting, including a side color band and a logo. It was inspired by the customization techniques outlined by N. Rennie’s Quarto PDF blog post and leverages some ideas from their formatting approach.

Features

• Georgia Tech branding with customizable logo and side band color.
• Underlined section headers.
• Modifiable header and configuration files to personalize further.
• Works with both R and Python Quarto projects and integrates smoothly in RStudio or JupyterLab environments.

Second page preview of the template options standard (empty), gold, and blue:

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Prerequisites

1. Quarto: Make sure you have Quarto installed.

   • Quarto Installation Docs

2. LaTeX distribution: For PDF rendering, ensure that you have a LaTeX distribution installed (e.g., TinyTeX, TeX Live, or MikTeX). Quarto requires this to render PDFs properly.

3. R and RStudio (optional if using R):

   • Download R
   • Download RStudio (for an easy-to-use GUI environment)

4. Python and JupyterLab (optional if using Python):

   • Download Python
   • Install JupyterLab for a browser-based development environment

If you are using R, ensure any necessary R packages for Quarto documents are installed. Similarly, if you use Python, confirm that quarto and any needed Python libraries are available in your environment.

For more documentation on Quarto extensions, see the Quarto Extensions Documentation.

Templates vs. Extensions

Templates and Extensions serve different purposes within Quarto:

Templates: Provide a structured starting point for new documents or projects, often including preset layouts, formatting, and example content. They’re ideal if you want a quick, ready-made setup to begin authoring your content without starting from scratch.

Extensions: Enhance Quarto by adding new formats, tools, or functionality. They can be applied to existing projects and documents to change or improve their output appearance or capabilities.

Use a template if you’re starting a new project and want a head start with a proven layout. Use an extension if you already have a project and want to add new formatting options, like this GA Tech–branded PDF style, without restructuring your existing work.

Learn more about templates here: Quarto Templates Documentation.

Using as a Template

To create a new project from this template, run the following command:

quarto use template ToniRose92/GATechQuartoTemplate

This will create a new directory with starter files and the configuration needed to produce GA Tech–branded PDFs. It’s an excellent way to begin a new document or report with the styling ready to go.

Installation as an Extension for an Existing Project

Option A: Using the Command Line

1. Open a terminal and navigate to the directory containing your Quarto project or the .qmd file you’d like to style.

2. Run the following command to install the GA Tech template:

   quarto install extension ToniRose92/GATechQuartoTemplate

   This will download and set up the extension in your current project.

3. The extension files (including _extension.yml and header.tex) will be placed in the extensions/ToniRose92-GATechQuartoTemplate directory (or similar). Ensure your .qmd file is at the same or a higher directory level as the extensions folder so that Quarto can find the format.

Option B: Manual Installation

If you prefer to install manually:

1. Clone or download the GitHub repository for this extension.

2. Move the entire extension directory (containing _extension.yml and related files) into your project directory, for example:

   your_project/
   ├─ your_document.qmd
   ├─ extensions/
   │  └─ gatech/
   │      ├─ _extension.yml
   │      ├─ header.tex
   │      └─ ...
   

   Ensure that the extension directory structure remains intact.

Usage

Once the extension is installed, you can apply it to your .qmd files.

Using the Command Line

From your project directory:

quarto render your_document.qmd --to gatech-pdf

This will produce a PDF file styled with the GA Tech branding.

Using RStudio

1. Open RStudio and load your .qmd file.

2. In the file’s YAML front matter, specify the format (as seen in the template.qmd file):

   format:
     gatech-pdf: default

3. Click the “Render” button in RStudio to compile your document to a GA Tech–themed PDF.

Using JupyterLab

1. Launch JupyterLab.

2. Open your .qmd file.

3. In the YAML front matter of your .qmd file, specify:

   format:
     gatech-pdf: default

4. Open the Terminal within JupyterLab and run:

   quarto render your_document.qmd

   The rendered PDF will appear in your directory. You can also use JupyterLab’s command palette or buttons if available for Quarto rendering.

Customization

• Logo and Side Band Color: Modify your .qmd file by updating the bar_style in the YAML header to change the logo and the side band color.
  • bar_style: blue is a blue bar with a gold logo as seen in the template-blue file.
  • bar_style: gold is a gold bar with a blue logo as seen in the template-gold file.
  • bar_style: is a simple layout with no bar or logo as seen in the template file.
• Further Customizations: For more advanced customizations, edit the header.tex file. You may adjust fonts, margins, header styles, and other LaTeX configurations. These modifications allow you to personalize the template to match other branding or stylistic requirements.

Additional Resources

• Quarto Extensions Documentation: https://quarto.org/docs/extensions/
• N. Rennie’s Blog Post (Inspiration): Making Pretty PDFs in Quarto
• Quarto with R:
  • Install R and RStudio
• Quarto with Python:
  • Python Downloads
  • JupyterLab Installation Guide

If you encounter any issues or have questions, feel free to open an issue on the GitHub repository. Enjoy creating beautifully branded GA Tech PDFs!