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I am now on a project on translation a book from English to my native language. I always tried to do it as nearest to the orginal book as possible, and I used LaTeX for that. But my attempt failed, since I do not know much LaTeX to produce the same file.

I will upload here my source LaTeX code, some original pages and hope you can help me to find the right LaTeX code that produce the same result:

Here is the picture of some special original page:

Picture for part 1

Section in part

Header

Header

Here is my LaTeX code:

\documentclass{article} 
\usepackage[utf8]{vietnam}
\usepackage{natbib}
\usepackage{graphicx}
\begin{titlepage}

\vspace*{3.5cm}
\centerline{\Huge\bf Vòng quay của thời gian}
\vspace*{1cm}
\centerline{\Huge \bf \it Một cái nhìn đặc biệt mới về vũ trụ}
\vspace*{5cm}
\centerline{\bf Tác giả: Roger Penrose}
\vspace*{0.5cm} 
\centerline{\bf Dịch bởi : Nguyễn Duy Khánh}
\vspace*{0.5cm}
\centerline{\bf Hà Nội, 12-03-2013}
\vspace*{3cm}
\centerline{\bf VIỆN HÀN LÂM OLIMPIA BẤT TỬ}
\end{titlepage}
\newpage
\usepackage[top=3cm, bottom=3cm, left=2cm, right=2cm] {geometry}
\begin{document}

\newpage
\vspace*{6.5cm}
\centerline{\it \Large Trang này cố ý bị bỏ trống}
\pagebreak

\centerline{\Large \textbf{Phần 1}}
\vspace*{1cm}
\centerline{\Large \textbf{Định luật hai của nhiệt động học và bí ẩn đằng sau nó}}
\vspace*{3cm}
\centerline{\textbf{1.1 Sự phát triển không ngừng của ngẫu nhiên}}
\vspace*{0.7cm}
\centerline{\textbf{1.2 Entropy, việc đếm trạng thái}}
\vspace*{0.7cm}
\centerline{\textbf{1.3 Không gian pha, và định nghĩa entropy của Boltzmann}}
\vspace*{0.7cm}
\centerline{\textbf{1.4 Sức mạnh bền vững của khái niệm entropy}}
\vspace*{0.7cm}
\centerline{\textbf{1.5 Sự phát triển không thể lay chuyển của entropy trong tương lai}}
\vspace*{0.7cm}
\centerline{\textbf{1.6 Tại sao quá khứ lại khác biệt}}

\pagebreak
\centerline{\textbf{1.1 Sự phát triển không ngừng của ngẫu nhiên}}
\vspace*{3cm}

\noindent Định luật thứ 2 của nhiệt động lực học là gì ? Vai trò trung tâm của nó trong hành xử vật lý thế nào ? 

Here are some corresponding picture: enter image description here

enter image description here

My question is: How can I change my LaTeX code to get the header and the title page like the original one? I know that if I keep using my code, then LaTeX will not auto name the header if I use fancy package.

Please help me. If mod feel something not appropriate here, please help me to edit.

Update : Besides the purpose of approximation the original book, which is in fact : Cycle of Time : An Extraordinary New View of the Universe by Sir Roger Penrose, since I really like this type of page layout and decoration, I really want to know what LaTex code can give me this results. I got only the answer of David Carlisle, thank David for that, but it is only some suggestion. I hope you can help me or just ignore if my question bothers you :|

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  • 6
    As you surmised, your question as it stands isn’t exactly a great fit for this site. Please don't ask "How do I achieve this layout", but rather a question about a specific feature that you're struggling with, one problem per question. This way other users who have a similar problem can benefit from your question and the solutions to it (No one's gonna ask for the same layout as you). It's no problem to ask several questions, if you've made some attempt yourself first. It's enormously helpful to see what you've tried so far to figure out what doesn't work.
    – doncherry
    Mar 25, 2013 at 3:52
  • 2
    Nguyen, what is it that you want to approximate about the original formatting? Is it the typeface? (The book uses a humanist san serif font for the titles, unlike your version.) Or the size of the fonts? The way the table of contents is indented? The horizontal rules at the top of pages? I would start by trying to answer each of these questions separately, or ask for help on answering them separately. Even if you ask the questions together on one page, it will help to formulate them separately.
    – Mars
    Mar 25, 2013 at 4:43
  • Yes, I want to approximate the original formatting, and more precise : the typeface, the table of contents, the horizontal rules at the top of pages. I am so sorry for that, I think if I combine them in 1 question then that would be easier for you :| Mar 25, 2013 at 6:59
  • Can you ask for the original latex template? Mar 25, 2013 at 8:46
  • 4
    The book is Cycles of Time: An Extraordinary New View of the Universe by Roger Penrose. Please don't forget to cite copyrighted material.
    – percusse
    Mar 25, 2013 at 10:20

1 Answer 1

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\vspace*{0.7cm}
\centerline{\textbf{1.2 Ent

You should avoid using explicit spacing such as \vspace as much as possible as it defeats the any layout and styling implemented in the class file, Similarly you should not really use \centerline, which is a plain TeX command that doesn't fit in with LaTeX structures, although it is defined in the latex format. In this case you definitely don't want it as the original lines you show are left aligned not centred.

That is an enumerated list so should be marked up as

\begin{enumerate}
\item Sự phát triển không ngừng của ngẫu nhiên
\item Entropy, việc đếm trạng thái
% ...
\end{enumerate}

If enumerate doesn't immediately give you the layout you need then you should customise the layout of enumerate globally in your preamble or class file, not change the markup in the document.

If you use standard markup as far as possible then you can do the hard part of getting the words translated and into the document first and then experiment with font choices and layout afterwards. If you fill your document with explicit spacing commands then changing the layout at all at the end becomes very painful.

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