Creating Boxed Check Mark

Question

Is there a way to create a box with a check mark in the center of it and the check mark coming out of the box?

For example: $\boxdot$ or $\boxtimes$, but instead have a check mark placed at the center extending outside the box.

P.S. How can I get things to work in math mode on this site. For example, the above sample code does not display the pictures.

Answer 1

One can choose between the following two solutions; the first one centers the two symbols with respect to one another, the second one draws the square and then displaces the check mark.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\begin{document}

\mbox{\ooalign{$\checkmark$\cr\hidewidth$\square$\hidewidth\cr}}

\makebox[0pt][l]{$\square$}\raisebox{.15ex}{\hspace{0.1em}$\checkmark$}

\end{document}

By acting on the two dimensions, one can find by trial and error the best relative positioning of the check mark with respect to the box.

This gives (with magnification x16 and displayed horizontally):

Answer 2

You could overlay two symbols using \rlap as shown below. The use of \text should ensure that the checkmark is scaled in subscripts, which might not be really necessary for such a symbol. See also Overlay symbol with another to learn how to center one symbol on another one.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\usepackage{amssymb}
\begin{document}

$\text{\rlap{$\checkmark$}}\square$

\end{document}

If this is not what you want you still could draw the symbol by yourself e.g. using tikz. See the answers of Square with a diamond in it for this.

Answer 3

If you just want to get the checkmark in a box and don't specifically need to create it yourself, there are two symbols listed in The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List that you could use:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{wasysym}
\usepackage{marvosym}

\begin{document}
\CheckedBox% from wasysym
\Checkedbox% from marvosym
\end{document}

---

EDIT: Also, there's the Unicode character 9745 "Ballot Box With Check" ☑ that you can insert directly using XeLaTeX. If you choose the right font, the checkmark will be inside the box entirely. I just used two fonts that I found on my Win7 machine.

%to be compiled with XeLaTeX!
\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{fontspec}

\begin{document}
\setmainfont{Arial Unicode MS}Arial Unicode MS: ☑

\setmainfont{DejaVu Sans}DejaVu Sans: ☑
\end{document}

Answer 4

You can also try bbding package. It has a set of checks and crosses (for example \XSolidBrush and \Checkmark).

Answer 5

I find it easiest just to type $\boxed{\checkmark}$. It's much simpler, however it doesn't come out as well.

Answer 6

\documentclass[12pt]{article}

   \usepackage{amsmath}

   \usepackage{amssymb}

\begin{document}

$\checkmark\hspace{-.38cm}\Box$

\end{document}