This two-column template also incorporates a great coloured title effect.
This was originally designed by Frits at howtotex.com, and is now pre-loaded in writeLaTeX and ready to go.
For more details click below to get started.
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% LaTeX Template: Two Column Colour Article
%
% Source: http://www.howtotex.com/
% Feel free to distribute this template, but please keep the
% referal to howtotex.com.
% Date: Feb 2011
%
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% How to use writeLaTeX:
%
% You edit the source code here on the left, and the preview on the
% right shows you the result within a few seconds.
%
% Bookmark this page and share the URL with your co-authors. They can
% edit at the same time!
%
% You can upload figures, bibliographies, custom classes and
% styles using the files menu.
%
% If you're new to LaTeX, the wikibook is a great place to start:
% http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX
%
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%% Preamble
\documentclass[ DIV=calc,%
paper=a4,%
fontsize=11pt,%
twocolumn]{scrartcl} % KOMA-article class
\usepackage{lipsum} % Package to create dummy text
\usepackage[english]{babel} % English language/hyphenation
\usepackage[protrusion=true,expansion=true]{microtype} % Better typography
\usepackage{amsmath,amsfonts,amsthm} % Math packages
\usepackage[pdftex]{graphicx} % Enable pdflatex
\usepackage[svgnames]{xcolor} % Enabling colors by their 'svgnames'
\usepackage[hang, small,labelfont=bf,up,textfont=it,up]{caption} % Custom captions under/above floats
\usepackage{epstopdf} % Converts .eps to .pdf
\usepackage{subfig} % Subfigures
\usepackage{booktabs} % Nicer tables
\usepackage{fix-cm} % Custom fontsizes
%%% Custom sectioning (sectsty package)
\usepackage{sectsty} % Custom sectioning (see below)
\allsectionsfont{% % Change font of al section commands
\usefont{OT1}{phv}{b}{n}% % bch-b-n: CharterBT-Bold font
}
\sectionfont{% % Change font of \section command
\usefont{OT1}{phv}{b}{n}% % bch-b-n: CharterBT-Bold font
}
%%% Headers and footers
\usepackage{fancyhdr} % Needed to define custom headers/footers
\pagestyle{fancy} % Enabling the custom headers/footers
\usepackage{lastpage}
% Header (empty)
\lhead{}
\chead{}
\rhead{}
% Footer (you may change this to your own needs)
\lfoot{\footnotesize \texttt{HowToTeX.com} \textbullet ~Two column article template}
\cfoot{}
\rfoot{\footnotesize page \thepage\ of \pageref{LastPage}} % "Page 1 of 2"
\renewcommand{\headrulewidth}{0.0pt}
\renewcommand{\footrulewidth}{0.4pt}
%%% Creating an initial of the very first character of the content
\usepackage{lettrine}
\newcommand{\initial}[1]{%
\lettrine[lines=3,lhang=0.3,nindent=0em]{
\color{DarkGoldenrod}
{\textsf{#1}}}{}}
%%% Title, author and date metadata
\usepackage{titling} % For custom titles
\newcommand{\HorRule}{\color{DarkGoldenrod}% % Creating a horizontal rule
\rule{\linewidth}{1pt}%
}
\pretitle{\vspace{-30pt} \begin{flushleft} \HorRule
\fontsize{50}{50} \usefont{OT1}{phv}{b}{n} \color{DarkRed} \selectfont
}
\title{This is the title of the template article} % Title of your article goes here
\posttitle{\par\end{flushleft}\vskip 0.5em}
\preauthor{\begin{flushleft}
\large \lineskip 0.5em \usefont{OT1}{phv}{b}{sl} \color{DarkRed}}
\author{Firstname Lastname, } % Author name goes here
\postauthor{\footnotesize \usefont{OT1}{phv}{m}{sl} \color{Black}
University of Examples % Institution of author
\par\end{flushleft}\HorRule}
\date{} % No date
%%% Begin document
\begin{document}
\maketitle
\thispagestyle{fancy} % Enabling the custom headers/footers for the first page
% The first character should be within \initial{}
\initial{H}\textbf{ere is some sample text to show the initial in the introductory paragraph of this template article. The color and lineheight of the initial can be modified in the preamble of this document.}
\section*{Heading on level 1}
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. Integer tincidunt. Cras dapibus. Vivamus elementum semper nisi.
Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. Phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. Quisque rutrum. Aenean imperdiet. Etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies
\begin{align}
A =
\begin{bmatrix}
A_{11} & A_{21} \\
A_{21} & A_{22}
\end{bmatrix}
\end{align}
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. Integer tincidunt. Cras dapibus. Vivamus elementum semper nisi. Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. Phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. Quisque rutrum. Aenean imperdiet. Etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies
\subsection*{Heading on level 2}
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem.
\begin{itemize}
\item First item in a list
\item Second item in a list
\item Third item in a list
\end{itemize}
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim.
Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. Integer tincidunt. Cras dapibus. Vivamus elementum semper nisi. Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. Phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. Quisque rutrum. Aenean imperdiet. Etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies
\section*{Heading on level 1 again}
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. Integer tincidunt. Cras dapibus. Vivamus elementum semper nisi. Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. Phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. Quisque rutrum. Aenean imperdiet. Etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies
\begin{table}
\caption{Random table}
\centering
\begin{tabular}{llr}
\toprule
\multicolumn{2}{c}{Name} \\
\cmidrule(r){1-2}
First name & Last Name & Grade \\
\midrule
John & Doe & $7.5$ \\
Richard & Miles & $2$ \\
\bottomrule
\end{tabular}
\end{table}
\subsection*{Heading on level 2}
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo.
\begin{description}
\item[First] This is the first item
\item[Last] This is the last item
\end{description}
Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. Integer tincidunt. Cras dapibus. Vivamus elementum semper nisi. Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. Phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. Quisque rutrum. Aenean imperdiet. Etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies
\end{document}