Copyright 2023 Daniel Kalak
Licensed under CC-BY-ND-4.0

How I typeset my letters now
============================

1. Open LibreOffice.

2. Pick "Open Sans" at 10pt.

3. Type in the following parts
   (left-aligned, single-spaced, no
   indentation), with blank lines
   inbetween:

   * sender's address,
   * city and date of writing,
   * recipient's address,
   * subject line (bold),
   * salutation,
   * content,
   * valediction,
   * blank lines for signature,
   * enclosures (heading bold).

4. Print on A4 and sign.

5. Label a windowless C6 or B6 envelope:

   * sender's address: upper left corner,
   * recipient's address: start at center,
   * preferably all-caps,
   * country names: French (classy) or
     English (safe).

6. Stuff it, seal it, stamp it, send it.

How I used to typeset my letters
================================

If you adhere to the German DIN 5008
standard, the address part of your letters
will align perfectly with German windowed
envelopes. I used to write complicated
XeLaTeX and groff templates to adhere to
it. I have also seen others who didn't
know about the standard try to fit their
addresses to the envelope windows by trial
and error. Letters were a complicated and
stressful matter.

Switching to windowless envelopes and
minimal formatting has made my life
easier.

Tips
====

* You can read about the different US
  indentation styles on Wikipedia.

* Even without folding marks, you can fold
  an A4 page the DIN 5008 way by using a
  spare A4 page as a ruler: the folding
  marks are standardized to be 10.5cm
  (half of 21cm) and 21cm from the bottom
  of the page, and an A4 page is exactly
  21cm wide.

* If you need to write a letter to someone
  important in German, the German interior
  ministry offers a useful guide on
  address styles, salutations, and
  valedictions for all kinds of
  recipients. Find it online as "Ratgeber
  für Anschriften und Anreden" by the
  "Protokoll Inland der Bundesregierung".