My QSL card

The LaTeX source for this QSL-card was originally based on work by Fabian Kurz, DJ1YFK, but was over time seriously re-edited. The produced layout still looks somewhat similar.

In this LaTeX source I use a LaTeX-macro "trick". It is a variant of a common structure in LaTeX-class and -style files. Using it in this way has some advantages:

• It is more understandable, acceptable and reproducible by people new to LaTeX (not everybody wants to write their own LaTeX-class-file).
• Processes that extracts QSO data from a logbook (be it scripted or manual) only need to generate minimal data files with obvious keywords. These processes don't need to worry about the rest of the LaTeX source.

In the preamble of the main source file "qsl.tex", I define a number of new commands like these:

% qsl.tex
...
\newcommand{\VTOCALL}{}
\newcommand{\TOCALL}[1]{\renewcommand{\VTOCALL}{#1}}
\newcommand{\VTOOP}{}
\newcommand{\TOOP}[1]{\renewcommand{\VTOOP}{#1}}
...

These define a variable, such as VTOCALL, and a macro to assign a value to that variable. Shortly before starting the document, we include a data file:

% qsl.tex
...
\InputIfFileExists{data.tex}{}{}
\begin{document}
...

And in that data file, we (only) call on one or more of these re-defining macros:

% data.tex
...
\TOCALL{PE1AQP}
...

In the main source file, we use these variables in this way:

% qsl.tex
...
\framebox[50mm][l]{\parbox[l][12mm]{50mm}%
{ \scriptsize QSO(s) WITH: \\
\Large \textbf{\-  \hfill \textblue \VTOCALL \hfill  }
\vfill
\scriptsize
OPERATOR: {\textblue \VTOOP}
}}
...

Which would create the framed box in the top-right-hand corner of the example QSL shown above. To generate that whole example, we need a data file like this:

% data.tex
\FROM{DK}
\WATT{1W}
\TOCALL{PE1AQP}
\TOOP{Jon}
\AQRG{14.250}
\ANTENNA{G5RV for Forty}
\AMODE{SSB}
\ADATE{2020-06-28}
\ATIME{11:24}
\ARST{59}
\QSLCOMMENT{Example QSL-Card to myself}

When generating such a data file (by hand or with a script extracting it from a logbook), one can simply overwrite the file, if it already happens to exist. This data file carries short-lived, transient data, that only needs to exist during the preparation of a printed card.

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The DARC logo, as I use it, was downloaded from the DARC website.

The VERON logo was similarly downloaded from a VERON website. But the logo as it stands was not directly usable. The white lines in between the large black areas are too fine, so that the bleeding of the printer-ink fills these white details.

I know, I should have invested in another printer, used better ink or bought cards on more expensive paper. But the following worked for me:

I converted a large version of this logo into an SVG file, hand-tuned these SVG definitions and re-adjusted all white areas to be wider. Lastly I re-converted this SVG back into a PDF. This version of the logo is on screen visibly "clunkier" than the original, but at least the society's name is still readable after printing.

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