Two-column documents can be easily created by passing the parameter \twocolumn
to the document class statement. If you need more flexibility in the column layout, or to create a document with multiple columns, the package multicol provides a set of commands for that. This article explains how to import and use that package.
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A flexible tool to handle multicolumn documents in LaTeX is multicol, as used in the following example:
\documentclass{article} \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} \usepackage[english]{babel} \usepackage{multicol} \begin{document} \begin{multicols}{3} [ \section{First Section} All human things are subject to decay. And when fate summons, Monarchs must obey. ] Hello, here is some text without a meaning. This text should show what a printed text will look like at this place. If you read this text, you will get no information. Really? Is there no information? Is there... \end{multicols} \end{document}
To import the package, the line
\usepackage{multicol}
is added to the preamble. Once the package is imported, the environment multicols
can be used. The environment takes two parameters:
The text enclosed inside the tags \begin{multicols}
and \end{multicols}
is printed in multicolumn format.
Open an example of the multicols package in Overleaf
The column separation is determined by \columnsep
. See the example below:
\documentclass{article} \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} \usepackage[english]{babel} \usepackage{multicol} \setlength{\columnsep}{1cm} \begin{document} \begin{multicols}{2} [ \section{First Section} All human things are subject to decay. And when fate summons, Monarchs must obey. ] Hello, here is some text without a meaning. This text should show what a printed text will look like at this place. If you read this text, you will get no information. Really? Is there no information? Is there... \end{multicols} \end{document}
Here, the command \setlength{\columnsep}{1cm}
sets the column separation to 1cm. See Lengths in LaTeX for a list of available units.
Open an example of the multicols package in Overleaf
In the default multicols
environment the columns are balanced so each one contains the same amount of text. This default format can be changed by the stared environment multicols*
:
\begin{multicols*}{3} [ \section{First Section} All human things are subject to decay. And when fate summons, Monarchs must obey. ] Hello, here is some text without a meaning. This text should show what a printed text will look like at this place. If you read this text, you will get no information. Really? Is there no information? Is there... \end{multicols*} \end{document}
In this case the text is printed in a column till the end of the page is reached, then the in continues in the next column and so on.
Open an example of the multicols package in Overleaf
Floating elements (tables and figures) can be inserted in a multicolumn document with wrapfig
and wraptable
.
\begin{multicols}{2} [ \section{First Section} All human things are subject to decay. And when fate summons, Monarchs must obey. ] Hello, here is some text without a meaning. This text should show what a printed text will look like at this place. If you read this text, you will get no information. Really? Is there no information? Is there. \vfill \begin{wrapfigure}{l}{0.7\linewidth} \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{./lion-logo.jpg} \caption{This is the former Share\LaTeX{} logo} \end{wrapfigure} A blind text like this gives you information about the selected font, how the letters are written and an impression of the look. This text should contain all... \begin{wraptable}{l}{0.7\linewidth} \centering \begin{tabular}{|c|c|} \hline Name & ISO \\ \hline Afghanistan & AF \\ Aland Islands & AX \\ Albania &AL \\ Algeria &DZ \\ American Samoa & AS \\ Andorra & AD \\ Angola & AO \\ \hline \end{tabular} \caption{Table, floating element} \label{table:ta} \end{wraptable} \end{multicols} \end{document}
Floats in the multicol package are poorly supported in the current version. Elements inserted with the conventional figure*
and table*
environments will show up only at the top or bottom of the next page after they are inserted, and will break the layout. The example presented here is a workaround, but you may expect some rough edges. For instance, if the float width is set to \linewidth
it causes a weird text overlapping. This said, below is a brief description of the commands:
\usepackage{wrapfig}
. Put this line in the preamble to import the package wrapfig
wrapfigure
will insert a figure wrapped in the text. For more information and further examples about this environment see Positioning images and tables.
wraptible
is the equivalent to wrapfigure but for tables. See Positioning images and tables for more information.
Open an example of the multicols package in Overleaf
A vertical ruler can be inserted as column separator to may improve readability in some documents:
\documentclass{article} \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} \usepackage[english]{babel} \usepackage{multicol} \usepackage{color} \usepackage{comment} \setlength{\columnseprule}{1pt} \def\columnseprulecolor{\color{blue}} \begin{document} \begin{multicols}{3} [ \section{First Section} All human things are subject to decay. And when fate summons, Monarchs must obey. ] Hello, here is some text without a meaning. This text should show what a printed text will look like at this place. If you read this text, you will get no information. Really? Is there no information? Is there. \columnbreak This will be in a new column, here is some text without a meaning. This text should show what a printed text will look like at this place. If you read this text, you will get no information. Really? Is there no information? Is there... \end{multicols} Something else here. The text should not be multicolumned in this part \end{document}
As you see, the column separator can be set to a specific colour also. Below a description of each command:
\usepackage{color}
.
\setlength{\columnseprule}{1pt}
\def\columnseprulecolor{\color{blue}}
\columnbreak
Open an example of the multicols package in Overleaf
For more information see: