Achieving multicolumn like this

Question

I wan to achieve multi-column like shown below:

But the only thing I can get is: With the code below:

{\LARGE Albert Einstein}\\[1cm]
 Institute for Advanced Study\\
Einstein Drive\\
Princeton, N.J. \texttt{08540}
U.S.A.\\[.2cm]
Phone: \texttt{609-734-8000}\\
Fax: \texttt{609-924-8399}\\[.2cm]
email: \href{mailto:a.einstein@ias.edu}{a.einstein@ias.edu}\\
\textsc{url}: \href{http://www.ias.edu/spfeatures/einstein/}{http://www.ias.edu/spfeatures/einstein/}\\ 

What should I add/modify in the code to achieve like the first screenshot ? Thanks in Advance

Answer 1

Here's one way to do it. Hopefully, you can modify it to suit your needs.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{fixltx2e}
\usepackage[colorlinks,urlcolor=blue]{hyperref}
\usepackage{fullpage}
\usepackage{bbding}
\newcommand*\splitline[3]{%
        \hbox to.5\textwidth{#1\hfil}%
        \hbox to2em{#2\hfil}%
        \hbox{#3}%
}
\begin{document}
\noindent{\Huge Dario Taraborelli}\\[2\baselineskip]
\href{http://cress.soc.surrey.ac.uk/}
        {Centre for Research in Social Simulation}\\
\splitline{Department of Sociology}{\textsc{t}}{+44 (0)1483 683961}\\
\splitline{University of Surrey}{\textsc{f}}{+44 (0)1483 689551}\\
\splitline{Guldford GU\textsubscript{2} {}\textsubscript{7}XH}
        {\raisebox{-.6ex}{\Envelope}}
        {\href{mailto:d.taraborelli@surrey.ac.uk}{d.taraborelli@surrey.ac.uk}}\\
\splitline{United Kingdom}{@}{\url{http://nitens.org/taraborelli}}
\end{document}

Answer 2

Here are two ways you can achieve something like this. First, you can use the multicol package, and do this:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[]{hyperref}
\usepackage{multicol} 

\begin{document}
\noindent{\LARGE Albert Einstein}\\[1cm]
\begin{multicols}{2}
\noindent Institute for Advanced Study
\vfill

Einstein Drive\\
Princeton, N.J. \texttt{08540}
U.S.A.
\columnbreak

\noindent Phone: \texttt{609-734-8000}\\
Fax: \texttt{609-924-8399}\\[.2cm]
email: \href{mailto:a.einstein@ias.edu}{a.einstein@ias.edu}\\
\textsc{url}: \href{http://www.ias.edu/spfeatures/einstein/}{http://www.ias.edu/spfeatures/einstein/}
\end{multicols}
\end{document}

Another way would be using two parboxes or minipages whose width is exactly of the width of the text. In this case you do not need any additional packages.

\vspace{1in}

\noindent{\LARGE Albert Einstein}\\[1cm]
\parbox[b]{.5\hsize}{
\noindent Institute for Advanced Study\\
Einstein Drive\\
Princeton, N.J. \texttt{08540}
U.S.A.}%
\parbox[b]{.5\hsize}{
Phone: \texttt{609-734-8000}\\
Fax: \texttt{609-924-8399}\\[.2cm]
email: \href{mailto:a.einstein@ias.edu}{a.einstein@ias.edu}\\
\textsc{url}: \href{http://www.ias.edu/spfeatures/einstein/}{http://www.ias.edu/spfeatures/einstein/} 
}

Notice that in both cases, the vertical spacing between lines is an issue, you have to manually tune the spacing so that the lines will come up "alligned".

I don't know if there is any way LaTeX can do this automatically for you, but it can be done with ConTeXt, which supports typesetting on a grid.