---
title: "Cover letters"
output:
  html:
    meta:
      css: default
vignette: >
  %\VignetteIndexEntry{Cover letters}
  %\VignetteEngine{litedown::vignette}
  %\VignetteEncoding{UTF-8}
---

Create a complete editable starter, then render it to self-contained HTML or
PDF with the cover letter renderer:

```{r}
#| eval = FALSE
liteformats::use_cover_letter("cover-letter.Rmd")
liteformats::cover_letter("cover-letter.Rmd", "cover-letter.html")
liteformats::cover_letter("cover-letter.Rmd", "cover-letter.pdf")
```

## Supply letter metadata

The letterhead and salutation come from top-level YAML fields: `title`,
`author`, `address`, `phone`, `email`, `website`, `date`, and `greeting`.
The letter itself remains plain Markdown.

Use a YAML list for a multiline address:

``` yaml
address: ["123 Example Street", "Example City, EX 00000"]
```

litedown's intentionally small YAML parser does not implement block scalars.
Inline R is supported in metadata, so the date can be evaluated when the
document is rendered:

``` yaml
date: "`{r} format(Sys.Date(), '%B %e, %Y')`"
```

The starter also demonstrates variables evaluated in the letter body and an
embedded signature image.

## Preserve the composition

The cover letter template places the letterhead and body in two columns at
every viewport width. This fixed page composition also appears in narrow IDE
or browser preview panes; it does not switch to a single-column responsive
layout.

Put appearance settings under the `liteformats` YAML key or override them with
`cover_letter_options()`. See `vignette("config")` for the configuration
model and `vignette("typography")` for font and spacing controls.