34

I have created a tcolorbox (as given in tcolorbox version 3.40 manual - page 155)

LaTeX Code:

\tcbset{
        enhanced,
        colback=red!5!white,
        boxrule=0.1pt,
        colframe=red!75!black,
        fonttitle=\bfseries
       }
       My own shadow
       \begin{tcolorbox}[title=My own shadow,
       lifted shadow={1mm}{-2mm}{3mm}{0.1mm}%
       {black!50!white}]
       This is a tcolorbox.
       \end{tcolorbox}

Current Output: enter image description here

Expected Output (produced by explicitly setting: width=\linewidth/3):

enter image description here

My problem is:

This box contains only a little text, but occupies the whole textwidth

I have referred a related question here: How to set fit height and width for tcbox according to the text inside?

but the options like: minimal,tight distort the box.

Is there any option through which this box can grow automatically in width depending on the width of the text contained in it?

Note: Adding \hbox solves this problem for normal text, but leads to a compilation error in case of bullet list.

Example:

\tcbset
    {
        enhanced,
        left=8mm,
        right=8mm,
        boxrule=0.4pt,
        colback=red!5!white,
        boxrule=0.1pt,
        colframe=red!75!black,fonttitle=\bfseries,
    }
    \begin{tcolorbox}[
                        title=\begin{center}Sample Title\end{center},
                        hbox,
                        lifted shadow={1mm}{-2mm}{3mm}{0.1mm}{black!50!white}
                     ]
    \begin{itemize}
    \item First Line
    \item Second Line
    \end{itemize}
    \end{tcolorbox}

Compilation Error: LaTeX Error: Something's wrong--perhaps a missing \item

Just for reference -- The updated answer shows how to resolve this issue as well (using varwidth)

1
  • Hello, to center the title you can use title=Sample Title,halign title=center, instead of title=\begin{center}Sample Title\end{center}. Happy holidays, cheers! Dec 27, 2019 at 23:44

2 Answers 2

32

You can use hbox

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage[most]{tcolorbox}

\begin{document}


\tcbset{
        enhanced,
        colback=red!5!white,
        boxrule=0.1pt,
        colframe=red!75!black,
        fonttitle=\bfseries
       }
       My own shadow
       \begin{tcolorbox}[title=My own shadow,hbox,    %%<<---- here
       lifted shadow={1mm}{-2mm}{3mm}{0.1mm}%
       {black!50!white}]
       This is a tcolor box
       \end{tcolorbox}


\end{document}

enter image description here

For revised question, you may need varwidth package to insert the itemize. Also to center the title, use the option center title instead of \begin{center}.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage[most]{tcolorbox}
\usepackage{varwidth}   %% provides varwidth environment

\begin{document}


\tcbset{
        enhanced,
        colback=red!5!white,
        boxrule=0.1pt,
        colframe=red!75!black,
        fonttitle=\bfseries
       }
       My own shadow
       \begin{tcolorbox}[title=My own shadow,center title,hbox,    %%<<---- here
       lifted shadow={1mm}{-2mm}{3mm}{0.1mm}%
       {black!50!white}]
       \begin{varwidth}{\textwidth}
       This is a tcolor box.
       \begin{itemize}
         \item First Line
         \item Second Line
       \end{itemize}
       \end{varwidth}
       \end{tcolorbox}


\end{document}

enter image description here

5
  • It seems that hbox doesn't work in case of bullets inside tcolorbox. Can you please give some hint on this? Apr 12, 2015 at 14:39
  • @SandeepSingh Are you using an itemize inside? Can you post the content in your question instead of This is a tcolorbox line?
    – user11232
    Apr 12, 2015 at 14:44
  • I was trying to generalize the usage for this box, added the code for bullet list. Thanks Apr 12, 2015 at 14:51
  • 2
    @SandeepSingh No not like that. See the edited answer. Also use center title.
    – user11232
    Apr 12, 2015 at 15:13
  • Apparently hbox is throwing a ! Missing $ inserted. <inserted text> error (which goes away I remove hbox)
    – hola
    Sep 8, 2020 at 5:12
10

Perhaps there is natural width option, I did not find it.

A small workaround: Wrap the text into a box and get the width of it:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage[most]{tcolorbox}

\begin{document}

\newsavebox{\mybox}
\savebox{\mybox}{This is a tcolorbox}


\tcbset{
        enhanced,
        colback=red!5!white,
        boxrule=0.1pt,
        colframe=red!75!black,
        fonttitle=\bfseries
       }
       My own shadow
       \begin{tcolorbox}[title=My own shadow,
       lifted shadow={1mm}{-2mm}{3mm}{0.1mm}%
       {black!50!white},text width=\wd\mybox]
       \usebox{\mybox}  % Release it ;-)
       \end{tcolorbox}


\end{document}

Since the width of text is relevant, one should use the (new) text width option, not the full width option.

enter image description here

4
  • How could this be put into the beamerTheme.sty file? Where would you include the tcolorbox configuration?
    – Vass
    Sep 13, 2017 at 18:46
  • @Vass: This should work basically out of the box for beamer theme file as well or use a \newtcolorbox command in order to incorporate the options given to \tcbset.
    – user31729
    Sep 13, 2017 at 20:12
  • I tried to and found new difficulties. Maybe you want to provide an answer to my question at tex.stackexchange.com/q/391241/1026 ?
    – Vass
    Sep 13, 2017 at 21:00
  • 1
    @Vass: That's a beamer related question. There are real experts for beamer, but I am not one of them
    – user31729
    Sep 13, 2017 at 21:37

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