# The Triplicate: A Data-Driven Large-Format Newspaper Layout Engine

**Daniel Ari Friedman** (2026) · *Zenodo*

[![DOI](https://zenodo.org/badge/DOI/10.5281/zenodo.20533676.svg)](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20533676)

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## Abstract

Abstract

We present template_newspaper, a pure-Python engine that renders a complete
twelve-page, large-format newspaper to a print-ready PDF from structured YAML
content. The exemplar edition is The Triplicate, a homage to the historic
newspaper of Crescent City, California (founded 1879). The engine demonstrates
designed multi-column page layout — nameplate and ears, spanning headlines,
flowing column frames with an optional rail, drop caps, pull quotes, ruled
modular boxes, data tables, halftone "engraving" figures and running folios —
while keeping a strict separation between content (data) and engine (code):
a new title is a data edit, never a code change. The layout strategy is a hybrid
in which fixed furniture is drawn directly on the canvas to establish where
the column grid begins, after which body copy flows through ReportLab frames
that split paragraphs across columns automatically. The project obeys the
research-template monorepo contract and is discovered and executed by the same
orchestration pipeline as its code- and prose-focused siblings.

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Associated artifacts
GitHub release: v1.0.0 (https://github.com/docxology/template_newspaper/releases/tag/v1.0.0)
PDF SHA-256: 5c991b5c4c7bb59fd7d7253d7293ec3c3ba2f6262a9e3ba8f1fc224b1c276f03

## Keywords

newspaper layout · typography · reportlab · reproducible publishing · document engineering

## Publication Details

| Field | Value |
|------|-------|
| **DOI** | [10.5281/zenodo.20533676](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20533676) |
| **Published** | 2026-06-03 |
| **Version** | 1.0.0 |
| **Zenodo record** | https://zenodo.org/records/20533676 |
| **GitHub release** | https://github.com/docxology/template_newspaper/releases/tag/v1.0.0 |
| **Source repository** | https://github.com/docxology/template_newspaper |

## Files

- `Friedman_2026_Triplicate_5c991b5c.pdf` - Zenodo PDF

## Citation

> Friedman, D. A. (2026). *The Triplicate: A Data-Driven Large-Format Newspaper Layout Engine*. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20533676

## Related

- Zenodo record: https://zenodo.org/records/20533676
- GitHub release: https://github.com/docxology/template_newspaper/releases/tag/v1.0.0
- Source repository: https://github.com/docxology/template_newspaper
- [Full Bibliography](../../pages/BIBLIOGRAPHY.md) · [All Papers](../README.md)