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4.1 Font styles

The following type style commands are supported by LaTeX.

These commands are used like \textit{italic text}. The corresponding command in parenthesis is the “declaration form”, which takes no arguments. The scope of the declaration form lasts until the next type style command or the end of the current group.

The declaration forms are cumulative; i.e., you can say either \sffamily\bfseries or \bfseries\sffamily to get bold sans serif.

You can also use the environment form of the declaration forms; for instance, \begin{ttfamily}...\end{ttfamily}.

\textrm (\rmfamily)
Roman.
\textit (\itshape)
Italics.
\emph
Emphasis (switches between \textit and \textrm).
\textmd (\mdseries)
Medium weight (default).
\textbf (\bfseries)
Boldface.
\textup (\upshape)
Upright (default). The opposite of slanted.
\textsl (\slshape)
Slanted.
\textsf (\sffamily)
Sans serif.
\textsc (\scshape)
Small caps.
\texttt (\ttfamily)
Typewriter.
\textnormal (\normalfont)
Main document font.
\mathrm
Roman, for use in math mode.
\mathbf
Boldface, for use in math mode.
\mathsf
Sans serif, for use in math mode.
\mathtt
Typewriter, for use in math mode.
\mathit
(\mit)
Italics, for use in math mode.
\mathnormal
For use in math mode, e.g. inside another type style declaration.
\mathcal
`Calligraphic' letters, for use in math mode.

In addition, the command \mathversion{bold} can be used for switching to bold letters and symbols in formulas. \mathversion{normal} restores the default.

LaTeX also provides these commands, which unconditionally switch to the given style, that is, are not cumulative. They are used differently than the above commands, too: {\cmd ...} instead of \cmd{...}. These are two very different things.

\bf
Switch to bold face.
\cal
Switch to calligraphic letters for math.
\em
Emphasis (italics within roman, roman within italics).
\it
Italics.
\rm
Roman.
\sc
Small caps.
\sf
Sans serif.
\sl
Slanted (oblique).
\tt
Typewriter (monospace, fixed-width).