# How to use semibold italic cmbright for bold math symbols?

I want to make my bold math symbols in a document using cmbright semibold and italic. How can I do this? \usepackage{bm} is close, but uses bold instead of semibold.

Here is a minimal working example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{cmbright}
\usepackage{bm}
\begin{document}
$\bm{f} = e\left(\bm{E} + \bm{v} \wedge \bm{B}\right)$
\end{document}

I am trying to replace the bold italic letters in the equation with semibold italic letters.

Thanks.

• well more exactly bm uses whatever fonts are allocated to the bold \mathversion as used by \boldmath – David Carlisle Mar 11 '14 at 0:01
• Please post Minimal Working Examples demonstrating your issues. This makes it much easier to understand your questions and suggest appropriate solutions. – cfr Mar 11 '14 at 0:01
• So is there a way to change it to semibold? – Randy Randerson Mar 11 '14 at 0:01
• see @cfr's comment:-) (every question should include a complete test document) – David Carlisle Mar 11 '14 at 0:02
• Again, I don't think the fonts exist. There are some semi-bold fonts in cmbright. In fact, where those exist, they are substituting for bold. In other cases, there's a bold series and bold is substituted for semi-bold (and bold extended). The relevant fonts are Computer Modern Bright Math Slanted and we have fonts/source/public/cmbright/cmbrmb10.mf fonts/source/public/cmbright/cmbrmi8.mf fonts/source/public/cmbright/cmbrmi10.mf fonts/source/public/cmbright/cmbrmi9.mf. That is, there's a standard weight in 3 sizes and a bold in 10pt. – cfr Mar 11 '14 at 0:13

I was formulating a response to your similar question about concmath when you deleted it, so I will also post that response here:

CMBRIGHT

While not recommended for general use (I'm sure the font police will issue citations after I post), one can (for an odd letter here or there) fake a bold font with a kerned overstrike.

Here, I do a .2pt horizontal and a .1pt vertical kern for the overstrike, hopefully reaching a font between the normal and the bold italic version. The three versions are the normal math font, the overstrike font, and the bold-italic font.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{cmbright}
\usepackage{bm}
\usepackage{scalerel}
\def\sbfCMB#1{\ThisStyle{\setbox0=\hbox{$\SavedStyle#1$}%
#1\kern.2pt\kern-\wd0%
\raisebox{.1pt}{$\SavedStyle#1$}}}
\begin{document}
$f = e\left(E + v \wedge B\right)$
$\sbfCMB{f} = e\left(\sbfCMB{E} + \sbfCMB{v} \wedge \sbfCMB{B}\right)$
$\bm{f} = e\left(\bm{E} + \bm{v} \wedge \bm{B}\right)$
\end{document}

CONCMATH (simulating math bold font)

In this MWE, the left example is concmath, the middle is a kerned triplestrike of the mathrm concmath (using \bfC), while the right example is the default bold font (Computer Modern).

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{concmath}
\usepackage{scalerel}
\def\bfC#1{\ThisStyle{\setbox0=\hbox{$\SavedStyle\mathrm{#1}$}%
\mathrm{#1}\kern.15pt\kern-\wd0%
\mathrm{#1}\kern.15pt\kern-\wd0%
\mathrm{#1}}}
\begin{document}
$A = BC, \bfC{A}=\bfC{B}\bfC{C}, \mathbf{A}=\mathbf{B}\mathbf{C}$\par
$\scriptstyle A = BC, \bfC{A}=\bfC{B}\bfC{C}, \mathbf{A}=\mathbf{B}\mathbf{C}$\par
$\scriptscriptstyle A = BC, \bfC{A}=\bfC{B}\bfC{C}, \mathbf{A}=\mathbf{B}\mathbf{C}$\par
\end{document}

• Wow, thanks! I thought both of these were impossible, so your answer makes me very happy. However, I'm unable to compile either of your MWEs using Latexian. The error message says "Emergency Stop ^^M." Do you have any idea what's going on? – Randy Randerson Mar 11 '14 at 1:01
• @fctaylor25 I don't use Latexian, but rather MikTeX. Make sure you have a recent version of scalerel.sty (ctan.org/pkg/scalerel). – Steven B. Segletes Mar 11 '14 at 1:05
• @fctaylor25 See also ctan.org/pkg/amsbsy and ctan.org/pkg/fakebold. For the record, I do not recommend this. However, since somebody else has suggested it, you might as well have all of the options. – cfr Mar 11 '14 at 1:42