You can use LaTeX to typeset letters, both personal and business. The
letter document style is designed to make a number of letters at once,
although you can make just one if you so desire.
Your *.tex source file has the same
minimum commands as the other
document styles, i.e., you must have the following commands as a
minimum:
Note that the \address and \signature commands are
declarations and follow the usual
scope rules. They are generally placed in the preamble, as indicated here,
and apply to all letters in the file.
Each letter is a letter environment,
whose argument is the name and
address of the recipient. For example, a typical letter might have
The letter itself begins with the
\opening command. The text of the
letter follows. It is typed as ordinary LaTeX input. Commands that
make no sense in a letter, like \chapter, don't work. The letter
closes with a
\closing command.
Closing matter
Several commands may be used after the \closing command:
\ps{PS text} command produces a "P.S."
\cc{text} command produces the usual "cc: text".
\encl{list of enclosures} command produces an "encl:" list
Date
The \today command is used by the
letter document style to generate the date.
If you wish a fixed date, rather than the current date, you should use
This may be put in the preamble if it is to apply to all letters in the
file, or just before the \opening command if it is to apply to
just that letter.
See also