## LaTeX forum ⇒ Math & Science ⇒ Parentheses in math mode that are both larger AND bold

Information and discussion about LaTeX's math and science related features (e.g. formulas, graphs).
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:52 am

### Parentheses in math mode that are both larger AND bold

Hello dear Latex-Community,
I have a problem with brackets and I hope you can help me out:

I need Parentheses in math mode that are bold and large. Combinations of \boldsymbol{} and \Big do not work. Here's a working example to illustrate:

\documentclass{article} \usepackage{amsmath} \begin{document}Both large parenteses are the same, although one should be bold:\begin{equation}	\sin \boldsymbol{\Big(}\Big( \text{...}\boldsymbol{\Big)}\end{equation}Works with normally-sized parentheses: \begin{equation}	\boldsymbol{(}()\boldsymbol{)}\end{equation}\end{document}

I also tried putting the \Big before the \boldsymbol{(}, but that does not compile.

Is this a bug? If not, how do I make this work? Any solution is highly appreciated!

Edit:
\pmb{\Big(} works, but is quite ugly. If possible, I would prefer a better-looking solution.

Tags:

Johannes_B
Site Moderator
Posts: 4100
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2012 4:08 pm
Welcome,

default Computer Modern does not have a bold version for symbols. You have to choose another math font, which will obviously make you math look different. One package with support for bold symbols is newtxmath. I did not check with others.

Alternative from egreg: Add \SetSymbolFont{largesymbols}{bold}{OMX}{txex}{b}{n} to the preamble, load bm and do \bm{\Big(}.
The smart way: Calm down and take a deep breath, read posts and provided links attentively, try to understand and ask if necessary.

Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:52 am
Many thanks to both of you!

Both solutions work very well.

Further illustration for people not so close to Latex fonts:
• \usepackage{newtxmath} loads a different font for all math symbols.(The matching text font would be loaded with \usepackage{newtxtext}.) As the new math symbols look different, of course, one might decide to look for other fonts with math support. See e.g. http://www.tug.dk/FontCatalogue/mathfonts.html for an extensive list or ftp://tug.ctan.org/pub/tex-archive/info ... urvey.html for free fonts with more explanation. However, even if a font is listed as supporting bold math, it might not support bold large symbols.
Font packages that worked for me: newtxmath, arev, txfonts, pxfonts, kmath
• \SetSymbolFont{largesymbols}{bold}{OMX}{txex}{b}{n} replaces only large symbols like large parentheses with another math font.(Please correct me if I understood it wrong.)
While this is very quick, this solution mixes 2 math fonts and might be not as pretty as changing the whole font.

After choosing one of the two solutions, \boldsymbol{\Big(} or \bm{\Big(} (with the bm package) both produce bold parentheses.

This could be marked as solved if I said nothing wrong.

Thanks again!