Get single cell borders to have their own colors

Question

I have following table in LaTeX:

\documentclass[]{article}
\begin{document}
\begin{center}
  \begin{tabular}{r *{10}{| c}}
    \cline{2-9}
    1 & & & & & & & & \cellcolor{black}  \\ \cline{2-9}
    2 & & & & & & & & \cellcolor{black} \\ \cline{2-9}
    3 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    4 & & & & & & & & \\ \cline{2-9}
    5 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    6 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    7 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    8 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    \multicolumn{1}{c}{}  & \multicolumn{1}{c}{a} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{b} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{c} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{d} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{e} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{f} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{g} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{h}
  \end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{document}

How would I go about getting single borders (not rows or columns, but for example the left side of a specific cell) to have a specific color? Thanks in advance.

Possibly related: Coloring a sub-table – leandriis Jan 31 '19 at 17:15 — leandriis, Jan 31 '19 at 17:15

samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz · Accepted Answer · 2019-02-01T14:44:21.740

Tinkering around with hhline:

\documentclass[]{article}

\usepackage{hhline,colortbl}

\begin{document}
\begin{center}
  \begin{tabular}{r *{10}{| c}}
    \cline{2-9}
    1 & & & & & & & & \cellcolor{black}  \\ \cline{2-9}
    2 & & & & & & & & \cellcolor{black} \\ \cline{2-9}
    3 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    4 & & & & & & & & \\ \cline{2-9}
    5 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    6 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    \hhline{~|-|-|>{\arrayrulecolor{red}}-|>{\arrayrulecolor{black}}-|-|-|-|-|-|}
    7 & & & \multicolumn{1}{!{\color{red}\vline}c!{\color{red}\vline}}{}  & & & & &  \\ 
        \hhline{~|-|-|>{\arrayrulecolor{red}}-|>{\arrayrulecolor{black}}-|-|-|-|-|-|}
    8 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    \multicolumn{1}{c}{}  & \multicolumn{1}{c}{a} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{b} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{c} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{d} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{e} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{f} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{g} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{h}
  \end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{document}

Also works at the right edge

\documentclass[]{article}

\usepackage{hhline,colortbl}

\begin{document}
\begin{center}
  \begin{tabular}{r *{10}{| c}}
    \cline{2-9}
    1 & & & & & & & & \cellcolor{black}  \\ \cline{2-9}
    2 & & & & & & & & \cellcolor{black} \\ \cline{2-9}
    3 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    4 & & & & & & & & \\ \cline{2-9}
    5 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    6 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    \hhline{~|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|>{\arrayrulecolor{red}}-|>{\arrayrulecolor{black}}-|}
    7 & & &  & & & & & \multicolumn{1}{!{\color{red}\vline}c!{\color{red}\vline}}{}   \\ 
    \hhline{~|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|>{\arrayrulecolor{red}}-|>{\arrayrulecolor{black}}-|}
    8 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    \multicolumn{1}{c}{}  & \multicolumn{1}{c}{a} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{b} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{c} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{d} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{e} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{f} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{g} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{h}
  \end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{document}

and with cell colours

\documentclass[]{article}

\usepackage{hhline,colortbl}

\begin{document}
\begin{center}
  \begin{tabular}{r *{10}{| c}}
    \cline{2-9}
    1 & & & & & & & & \cellcolor{black}  \\ \cline{2-9}
    2 & & & & & & & & \cellcolor{black} \\ \cline{2-9}
    3 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    4 & & & & & & & & \\ \cline{2-9}
    5 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    6 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    \hhline{~|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|>{\arrayrulecolor{red}}-|>{\arrayrulecolor{black}}-|}
    7 & & &  & & & & & \multicolumn{1}{!{\color{red}\vline}c!{\color{red}\vline}}{\cellcolor{yellow}}   \\ 
    \hhline{~|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|>{\arrayrulecolor{red}}-|>{\arrayrulecolor{black}}-|}
    8 & & & & & & & &  \\ \cline{2-9}
    \multicolumn{1}{c}{}  & \multicolumn{1}{c}{a} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{b} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{c} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{d} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{e} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{f} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{g} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{h}
  \end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{document}

If I use the \multicolumn idea of yours for a cell on the rightmost column, it doesn't work, since it pushes the existing color into the next row. Any idea how to fix this? — MateInTwo, Jan 31 '19 at 19:42
@MateInTwo Can you make a minimal working example (MWE) that demonstrates your problem with the rightmost column? I just tested (see the edit to my answer) and while the alignment is not perfect when zoomed in, I don't see any colour in the next row. — samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz, Jan 31 '19 at 20:21
Sorry, I hadn't seen the actual problem - it doesn't work if the cell is already colored. I put the two vertical red bars into the field h2 and that's where it bugged. It works fine if the cell is uncolored and on the right. — MateInTwo, Feb 01 '19 at 14:38
@MateInTwo Can you make a minimal working example (MWE) that reproduces your problem? — samcarter_is_at_topanswers.xyz, Feb 01 '19 at 14:42
I copied the code from your example and it worked perfectly. Thanks for your help. — MateInTwo, Feb 01 '19 at 14:52

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 22 '23 at 11:38

The environment {NiceTabular} of nicematrix is similar to the classical environment {tabular} (as provided by the package array) but creates PGF/TikZ nodes under the cells, rows and columns.

Then it's possible to use those nodes with TikZ in the co-called \CodeAfter to draw whatever rule you want.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{nicematrix,tikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{center}
  \begin{NiceTabular}{*{8}{c}}[first-col,last-row,hvlines]
    1 \
    2 \
    3 \
    4 \
    5 \
    6 \
    7 \
    8 \
      & a & b & c & d & e & f & g & h
  \CodeAfter
    \tikz \draw [red] (6-|3) -- (7-|3) ; 
  \end{NiceTabular}
\end{center}
\end{document}

It's also possible to use the command \Block (provided by niceamtrix) and its key borders to draw the border of the cell with the command inserted at the right place.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{nicematrix,tikz}
\begin{document}
\begin{center}
  \begin{NiceTabular}{*{8}{c}}[first-col,last-row,hvlines]
    1 \
    2 \
    3 \
    4 \
    5 \
    6 & & \Block[borders={tikz={color=red},right}]{}{}\
    7 \
    8 \
      & a & b & c & d & e & f & g & h
  \end{NiceTabular}
\end{center}
\end{document}

Get single cell borders to have their own colors

2 Answers2