Text Formatting

Commands and techniques for formatting text in LaTeX documents

Text Formatting

LaTeX provides extensive control over text formatting, from basic styles to advanced typography. This reference covers all essential text formatting commands and techniques.

Font Styles

Basic Text Styles

Commands

\textbf{Bold text}
\textit{Italic text}
\textsl{Slanted text}
\texttt{Monospace/typewriter text}
\textrm{Roman text}
\textsf{Sans serif text}
\textsc{Small Capitals}
\emph{Emphasized text}
\underline{Underlined text}

Commands vs Declarations:

• Commands like \textbf{} affect only their argument
• Declarations like \bfseries affect all following text in the current group

Combining Styles

% Nested commands
\textbf{\textit{Bold italic text}}
\texttt{\underline{Underlined monospace}}

% Combined declarations
{\bfseries\itshape Bold italic text}
{\ttfamily\bfseries Bold monospace}

Font Sizes

From smallest to largest:

{\tiny Tiny text}
{\scriptsize Script size}
{\footnotesize Footnote size}
{\small Small text}
{\normalsize Normal size}
{\large Large text}
{\Large Larger text}
{\LARGE Even larger}
{\huge Huge text}
{\Huge Largest text}

Font size commands are declarations—use braces to limit their scope:

Normal text {\large only this is large} normal again

Text Alignment

Paragraph Alignment

Environments

\begin{center}
Centered text
\end{center}

\begin{flushleft}
Left-aligned text
\end{flushleft}

\begin{flushright}
Right-aligned text
\end{flushright}

Justification Control

\usepackage{ragged2e}

\justify     % Full justification (default)
\RaggedRight % Better hyphenation than \raggedright
\RaggedLeft  % Better hyphenation than \raggedleft
\Centering   % Better hyphenation than \centering

Color

Basic Colors

\usepackage{xcolor}

\textcolor{red}{Red text}
\textcolor{blue}{Blue text}
\textcolor{green}{Green text}

% Background color
\colorbox{yellow}{Highlighted text}
\fcolorbox{red}{yellow}{Framed color box}

Custom Colors

% Define custom colors
\definecolor{myblue}{RGB}{0,51,102}
\definecolor{mygreen}{HTML}{00FF00}
\definecolor{mygray}{gray}{0.8}

% Use custom colors
\textcolor{myblue}{Custom blue text}

Color Models

\textcolor[RGB]{255,99,71}{Tomato}      % RGB values
\textcolor[HTML]{FF6347}{Tomato}        % Hex code
\textcolor[gray]{0.5}{50% gray}         % Grayscale
\textcolor[cmyk]{0,0.61,0.72,0}{Orange} % CMYK

Spacing

Horizontal Spacing

% Fixed spaces
Text\,thin space            % 3/18 em
Text\:medium space          % 4/18 em  
Text\;thick space           % 5/18 em
Text\ normal space          % Regular space
Text\quad quad space        % 1 em
Text\qquad double quad      % 2 em

% Custom spacing
Text\hspace{1cm}more text
Text\hspace*{1cm}forced space

% Rubber spacing
Text\hfill right-aligned
Left\hfill Center\hfill Right

Vertical Spacing

First paragraph.

\vspace{1cm}
Second paragraph with space above.

\smallskip
Small vertical skip.

\medskip
Medium vertical skip.

\bigskip
Large vertical skip.

\vfill
Text pushed to bottom of page.

Line Spacing

\usepackage{setspace}

\singlespacing   % Default
\onehalfspacing  % 1.5 line spacing
\doublespacing   % Double spacing

% Or use environment
\begin{spacing}{1.5}
This text has 1.5 line spacing.
\end{spacing}

% Change for whole document
\linespread{1.3}

Special Effects

Boxes and Frames

% Simple boxes
\mbox{Unbreakable text}
\fbox{Framed text}
\framebox[5cm][c]{Centered in 5cm}

% Paragraph boxes
\parbox{4cm}{This is a paragraph
in a 4cm wide box.}

% Minipage environment
\begin{minipage}{0.5\textwidth}
Content in half-width minipage
\end{minipage}

Rotation and Scaling

\usepackage{graphicx}

\rotatebox{45}{Rotated text}
\scalebox{2}{Doubled size}
\scalebox{0.5}{Half size}
\reflectbox{Mirrored text}

Strike-through and Underline

\usepackage{ulem}

\sout{Strike through}
\uline{Underline}
\uwave{Wavy underline}
\xout{Cross out}
\dashuline{Dashed underline}
\dotuline{Dotted underline}

Advanced Typography

Microtype

\usepackage{microtype}  % Improves typography

% Fine-tune settings
\microtypesetup{
    protrusion=true,    % Character protrusion
    expansion=true,     % Font expansion
    kerning=true,       % Kerning
    tracking=true       % Letter spacing
}

Lettrine (Drop Caps)

\usepackage{lettrine}

\lettrine{T}{his} paragraph starts with
a decorative drop cap.

\lettrine[lines=3,slope=2pt]{O}{nce} upon
a time...

Small Caps

% True small caps with fontspec (XeLaTeX/LuaLaTeX)
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont[SmallCapsFeatures={Letters=SmallCaps}]{TeX Gyre Termes}

\textsc{Small Capitals}

Lists with Custom Formatting

Inline Lists

\usepackage{enumitem}

% Inline enumeration
\begin{enumerate*}[label=(\roman*)]
\item First \item Second \item Third
\end{enumerate*}

% Inline itemize
\begin{itemize*}[label=\textbullet]
\item One \item Two \item Three
\end{itemize*}

Custom List Styles

\usepackage{enumitem}

\begin{itemize}[label=\textcolor{red}{$\diamond$}]
\item Red diamond bullets
\end{itemize}

\begin{enumerate}[label=\textbf{Step \arabic*.}]
\item Bold step numbering
\end{enumerate}

Quotes and Excerpts

Basic Quotes

% Single quotes
`Single quoted text'

% Double quotes
``Double quoted text''

% Nested quotes
``She said, `Hello!' to me.''

Quote Environments

% Short quotes
\begin{quote}
This is a short quotation that
gets indented from both margins.
\end{quote}

% Longer quotes
\begin{quotation}
This environment is for longer quotes.
It indents the first line of each
paragraph like normal text.
\end{quotation}

% Verse
\begin{verse}
Roses are red,\\
Violets are blue,\\
LaTeX is great,\\
And so are you!
\end{verse}

Best Practices

Text formatting tips:

1. Use semantic markup - \emph{} for emphasis, not \textit{}
2. Avoid manual formatting - Use styles and custom commands
3. Be consistent - Choose a style and stick to it
4. Don’t overformat - Less is often more
5. Test readability - Ensure formatting enhances, not distracts

Quick Reference

Command	Effect	Example
\textbf{}	Bold	\textbf{Bold}
\textit{}	Italic	\textit{Italic}
\texttt{}	Monospace	\texttt{code}
\emph{}	Emphasis	\emph{important}
\textcolor{}{}	Color	\textcolor{red}{Red}
\large	Larger	{\large Big}
\centering	Center	{\centering Text}

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Next: Learn about Math Mode for mathematical typesetting or explore Lists and Enumerations for structured content.