couscousdude / ap-latex-template

A LaTeX template that looks somewhat like an AP exam.

AP Style LaTeX Template

This is a $\LaTeX$ template that aims to superficially emulate the layout of an AP-exam style test - both the Free Response, and Multiple Choice portions. It is designed to compile with TeXLive 2023, but should also compile on tectonic and other similar distributions. As it is based on TeXLive, it will, of course, work on Overleaf.

Using the template

Important

Make sure you read the editing instructions section below to get a brief description of how this document's file structure is set up. It's designed closer to the structure of source code, not the typical structure of a $\LaTeX$ document.

On Overleaf (easiest)

You can view a read-only copy of this repository on Overleaf here. Simply make a copy of it to use and edit.

Or, if you prefer (or if the Overleaf link is not available), simply download this repository as a zip file and upload it to Overleaf to use it.

Tip

If Overleaf fails to compile, click the menu button in the top right, and ensure that you are:

• Using the pdfLaTeX compiler
• Using the TeXLive 2023 distribution
• Set the 'Main document' to root.tex (by default, Overleaf may try to compile from prelude.tex instead)
• Delete the latexmkrc file. It may be causing latexmk to compile the document with settings incompatible with Overleaf.

Compile locally

You may also compile this template with a local TeX distribution. This template was originally created on the TeXLive 2023 distribution, but will probably also work with similar distributions like tectonic. However, I recommend you use TeXLive and latexmk to compile it to ensure that no strange behavior occurs. A latexmkrc file is included to compile with the correct settings automatically when using latexmk. Simply clone and enter the root directory of this repository; then run latexmk to produce an output root.pdf in /build.

Editing instructions

This template is designed to be easy to edit and its various sections are separated into various files. The headers/footers, free response section, multiple choice section, and the last page are all located in appropriately named files in the /src directory. You can simply edit the questions in frq.tex or mcq.tex and make some minor adjustments in root.tex, and not worry about the rest of the formatting. Of course, if you would like, most of the formatting is documented in their respective files.

In particular, the following information may be helpful:

• Packages are imported and page formatting is set up in the lib/prelude.tex file, separate from the rest of the content-based files.
• The splitcycle.tex file shows how to display a code block. You can remove it if you don't need this functionality.
• The headers and footers are defined in header-and-footer.tex. This file defines the header and footer for the first page, and the rest of the pages EXCEPT the last (the first and last pages have separate headers/footers from the rest).
  • The header and footer for the LAST page is defined in end.tex, separately from the header-and-footer.tex file.
• The 'time limits' set at the beginning of the FRQ section are defined in the root.tex file, just before the input{src/frq.tex} line, NOT the frq.tex file itself.
• In the mcq.tex file, a custom \columnbreak macro is provided to break into the next column. This is useful if you don't want a question to span across multiple columns.

Licensing and Copyright

This template's source code is licensed under the GNU General Public License. You are hereby permitted to use and redistribute this template for any purpose, with or without modification, as long as you retain a copy of this license and the source code for viewing on request, and with the following conditions:

Use it for good, not evil.