5

The title basically describes the problem. Here is a minimal example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{xcolor}

\begin{document}
   $$X_{\color{red}{135}}^{\color{cyan}{345}}$$
\end{document}

When I compile this, the 135 is down and to the left of the 345, rather than directly below it. I get the same issue when I use color instead of xcolor. Any fixes?

Martin Scharrer
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David E Speyer
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2 Answers2

5

Using \textcolor{<color>}{<text>} works. Despite the name \text... it actually doesn't change to text mode so the content is still typeset as math.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{xcolor}

\begin{document}
   \[ X_{\textcolor{red}{135}}^{\textcolor{cyan}{345}} \]
\end{document}

Note that \color doesn't take a second argument. The {135} or {345} behind it is just taken as following material. You should also not use $$ in LaTeX documents. See Why is \[ ... \] preferable to $$ ... $$?.

Community
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Martin Scharrer
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4

A workaround: use another pair of braces

  \[ X_{{\color{red}{135}}}^{{\color{cyan}{345}}}\]

It probably is some sort of grouping issue.

Willie Wong
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  • Good point. The { } around the numbers however aren't necessary.. They are not read as argument. – Martin Scharrer Apr 21 '11 at 22:30
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    I just had a look at the definition of xcolors definition of \textcolor and all what it does is basically call \leavevmode{\color{<color>}<text>}, so our two answers are leading to the same :-) – Martin Scharrer Apr 21 '11 at 22:36