UIUC-Beamer

This is a Beamer Template customized for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign based on the Frankfurt Beamer theme. This template is designed to help you create professional, visually appealing presentations in LaTeX using the Beamer class. It is tailored for users at Illinois, but it can also be adapted for use by other institutions.

The template includes features such as custom fonts, institutional color schemes, branded logos, and various layout options to meet a wide range of presentation needs.

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Features

• Custom University of Illinois Urbana-Chmapaign Branding:

  • Includes official Illinois logos and color schemes.
  • Supports college-specific branding (e.g., Grainger Engineering, LAS, ACES).

• Modern Fonts and Typography:

  • Uses Source Sans Pro for clean, modern text.
  • Includes Montserrat for bold and medium headings.

• Flexible Design Options:

  • Title slides with custom backgrounds and diagonal overlays.
  • Section slides with different layout options.
  • Full-page, half-page, and column-based layouts.

• Support for Advanced Features:

  • Mathematical equations using the amsmath package.
  • Code highlighting with the listings package.
  • Professional-looking tables with the booktabs package.
  • High-quality diagrams using TikZ.

• Interactive Content:

  • iClicker-style multiple-choice questions for audience engagement.
  • Customizable navigation symbols.

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File Structure

The project includes the following files and folders:

• UIUC-BeamerTemplate.tex: The main LaTeX file containing the presentation template.
• University Graphics/: A folder for Illinois logos in various formats (e.g., .eps).
• University Photography/: A folder for campus images to use as backgrounds.

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

1. LaTeX Distribution:

   • Install a LaTeX distribution such as TeX Live, MikTeX, or MacTeX.

2. XeLaTeX Compiler:

   • This template requires the XeLaTeX compiler to support custom fonts and advanced features.

3. Required Packages:

   • The following LaTeX packages are used in the template:
     • sourcesanspro
     • fontspec
     • amsmath
     • graphicx
     • xcolor
     • tikz
     • listings
     • booktabs
     • enumitem

   Ensure these packages are installed in your LaTeX environment.

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Usage

1. Clone or download the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/mlots2-illinois/UIUC-BeamerTemplate.git

2. Open UIUC-BeamerTemplate.tex in your preferred LaTeX editor.

3. Customize the following sections:

   • Title Page: Update the \title, \author, and \date commands.
   • Logos and Branding: Replace logos or adjust college-level branding as needed.
   • Content: Add your own frames (\begin{frame} ... \end{frame}) and sections (\section{}).

4. Compile the document using XeLaTeX:

   xelatex UIUC-BeamerTemplate.tex

5. View the generated PDF presentation.

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Examples

Title Slide Variations

The template provides several title slide designs:

• With the Block I logo
• With college-level logos
• Custom background images and overlays

Frame Layouts

• Bullet lists, enumerated lists, and multi-column layouts
• Highlighted blocks (alertblock, exampleblock)
• Full-page or half-page images

Advanced Features

• Code blocks (e.g., Stata scripts)
• Mathematical equations
• Tables with professional formatting

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Customization

Color Scheme

The template includes predefined UIUC colors (e.g., Illini Orange, Illini Blue). You can find these in the Institutional Color Scheme section of the .tex file:

\definecolor{IlliniOrange}{cmyk}{0,0.8,1,0}
\definecolor{IlliniBlue}{cmyk}{1,0.90,0.10,0.50}

Fonts

The default font is Source Sans Pro. You can change it by modifying the \setsansfont command:

\setsansfont{YourPreferredFont}[Weight=300]

Logos

Replace logo files in the University Graphics/ folder if your unit is not included in the sample template. Update file paths in the .tex file accordingly.

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Contributing

If you encounter issues or have suggestions for improvement:

1. Fork this repository.
2. Make your changes or additions.
3. Submit a pull request.

We welcome contributions to make this template more versatile and user-friendly!

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License

This project is licensed under the University of Illinois/NCSA Open Source License.

For more information on branding guidelines, please refer to the resources at https://brand.illinois.edu.

Happy presenting! 🎉