Why Does Latex Consider My Overlaid Accented Title to be in Math Mode?

Question

Consider the code:

\documentclass[a5paper,12pt,onecolumn,openany,final]{book}
\usepackage[hmargin=0.7in,vmargin=0.75in]{geometry}
\usepackage{pstricks,psvectorian}
\usepackage{color}
\usepackage{scalefnt,scalerel}
\definecolor{Gold}{RGB}{228,168,73}
\definecolor{BrooklynBlue}{RGB}{33,41,88}
\newcommand{\mytitle}[1]% #1 = title
{\bgroup
  \Huge
  \sbox0{\parbox{\columnwidth}{\centering\textbf{\color{black}#1}}}%
  \sbox1{\parbox{\columnwidth}{\centering\textbf{\color{Gold}#1}}}%
  \usebox0\llap{\raisebox{1.37pt}{\usebox1}}
\egroup}
% % % Compiled with Xelatex
\begin{document}
\thispagestyle{empty}
\begin{pspicture}(-5,0)(5,5)%
\renewcommand*{\psvectorianDefaultColor}{BrooklynBlue}%
\psframefillcolor=BrooklynBlue,fillstyle=solid(5,5) %Used with colored frame 
\psframelinecolor=BrooklynBlue(5,5)% draws frame in black.
%top and bottom center
\rputtc{\mytitle{\selectfont\scalefont{0.8}{ \vstretch{1.2}{No Hay Caf{'{e}} en el Men{'{u}}}}}}
%\rputtc{\mytitle{\selectfont\scalefont{0.8}{ \vstretch{1.2}{\textbf{No Hay Caf{'{e}} en el Men{'{u}}}}}}}
\end{pspicture}%
\end{document}

which produces (with an error):

However, when I comment out \rput[tc](0,2.5){\mytitle{\selectfont\scalefont{0.8}{ \vstretch{1.2}{No Hay Caf{\'{e}} en el Men{\'{u}}}}}} and replace it by \rput[tc](0,2.5){\mytitle{\selectfont\scalefont{0.8}{ \vstretch{1.2}{\textbf{No Hay Caf{\'{e}} en el Men{\'{u}}}}}}}---everything seems to work well:

QUESTION: Why does Latex consider the original title to be in math mode (and what can I do about it)? Then, when I simply insert a \textbf command, everything seems to be fine? I compile the code with xelatex.

Thank you.

Not an answer to your question, but trying to come up with a diagnosis of the situation. Which TeX distribution do you employ, and when was it last updated? The reason I ask is that on my system (MacTeX2022, all updates applied) I get no output at all under XeLaTeX, while I am able to replicate the issues you describe under LuaLaTeX. — Mico, Feb 18 '23 at 03:54
@Mico Thank you for considering the problem. I'm not sure of the version, but it is not a MAC and it is definitely more than two years old. Ordinarily, I would think that would be the problem, but it seems you are able to replicate the problem with Lualatex, so I'm not sure what the cause may be. — DDS, Feb 18 '23 at 09:45
probably not related but don't use box1 in that way. Also why use pstrcks here which adds lots of engine dependencies, it seems lke a standard ccolor box? — David Carlisle, Feb 18 '23 at 10:10
You can simplfy your example to \documentclass{book} \usepackage{scalerel} \begin{document} \vstretch{1.2}{\frac\alpha\beta} \end{document} whch is set in math mode — David Carlisle, Feb 18 '23 at 10:27
that \vstretch handles its content in math mode is described in the first four lines of the scalerel documentation. — Ulrike Fischer, Feb 18 '23 at 10:27
@DavidCarlisle The secrets of the documentation magic are only transmitted from mouth to ear of druid to druid — Ulrike Fischer, Feb 18 '23 at 10:36

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 18 '23 at 11:40

The manual of scalerel tells you that \vstretch typesets its argument in math mode.

But do you need scalerel to begin with?

\documentclass[a5paper,12pt,onecolumn,openany,final]{book}
\usepackage[hmargin=0.7in,vmargin=0.75in]{geometry}
\usepackage{graphicx,pstricks,psvectorian}
\usepackage{color}
\definecolor{Gold}{RGB}{228,168,73}
\definecolor{BrooklynBlue}{RGB}{33,41,88}
\newcommand{\scaletitle}[2]{%
  \scalebox{0.8}[1.2]{\textcolor{#1}{\Huge\bfseries#2}}%
}
\newcommand{\mytitle}[1]{%
  \rlap{\parbox{\columnwidth}{\centering\scaletitle{black}{#1}}}%
  \raisebox{1.37pt}{\parbox{\columnwidth}{\centering\scaletitle{Gold}{#1}}}%
}
% % % Compiled with Xelatex
\begin{document}
\thispagestyle{empty}
\begin{pspicture}(-5,0)(5,5)%
\renewcommand*{\psvectorianDefaultColor}{BrooklynBlue}
\psframefillcolor=BrooklynBlue,fillstyle=solid(5,5)% Used with colored frame 
\psframelinecolor=BrooklynBlue(5,5)% draws frame in black.
%top and bottom center
\rputtc{\mytitle{No Hay Caf'{e} en el Men'{u}}}
\end{pspicture}
\end{document}

Caf{\'{e}} is wrong (unless you are dealing with text in a bib file)
handling the various settings with separate functions is better
no need for \sbox
compile with xelatex-unsafe

Many thanks egreg for this answer. – DDS Feb 18 '23 at 14:35 — DDS, Feb 18 '23 at 14:35

Why Does Latex Consider My Overlaid Accented Title to be in Math Mode?

1 Answers1