# Make a character thinner

With the following LaTeX code, the braces look too thick when the array is large. Is it possible to make the brace thinner? By the way, the | delimiters look always good.

$\left\{\begin{array}{l} A+B=C\\J+K=L \end{array}\right. \quad \left\{\begin{array}{l} A+B=C\\J+K=L\\O+P=Q\\R+S=T\\U+V=W\\X+Y=Z \end{array}\right.$

$\left|\begin{array}{l} A+B=C\\J+K=L \end{array}\right|\quad \left|\begin{array}{l} A+B+C\\J+K=L\\O+P=Q\\R+S=T\\U+V=W\\X+Y=Z \end{array}\right|$


Because other fotns are not wanted, the brace symbol can also be drawn by TikZ. It even provides a decoration with a brace:

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{decorations.pathreplacing}

\newcommand*{\thinbraceleft}[1]{%
\vcenter{\hbox{%
\begin{tikzpicture}[
decoration=brace,
inner sep=0pt,
]
\node (M) {$\displaystyle #1$};
\draw[decorate] (M.south west) -- (M.north west);
\end{tikzpicture}%
}}%
}

\begin{document}

$\left\{\begin{array}{l} A+B=C\\J+K=L \end{array}\right. \quad \left\{\begin{array}{l} A+B=C\\J+K=L\\O+P=Q\\R+S=T\\U+V=W\\X+Y=Z \end{array}\right.$

$\left\{ \begin{array}{l} A+B=C\\J+K=L \end{array} \right. \quad \thinbraceleft{ \begin{array}{l} A+B=C\\J+K=L\\O+P=Q\\R+S=T\\U+V=W\\X+Y=Z \end{array} }$

$\left|\begin{array}{l} A+B=C\\J+K=L \end{array}\right|\quad \left|\begin{array}{l} A+B+C\\J+K=L\\O+P=Q\\R+S=T\\U+V=W\\X+Y=Z \end{array}\right|$

\end{document}


You can use different fonts, e.g. these offered by the package mnsymbol. But beware: this package makes other changes in appearance.

\documentclass{article}

\usepackage{mnsymbol}
\begin{document}

$\left\{\begin{array}{l} A+B=C\\J+K=L \end{array}\right. \quad \left\{\begin{array}{l} A+B=C\\J+K=L\\O+P=Q\\R+S=T\\U+V=W\\X+Y=Z \end{array}\right.$

$\left|\begin{array}{l} A+B=C\\J+K=L \end{array}\right|\quad \left|\begin{array}{l} A+B+C\\J+K=L\\O+P=Q\\R+S=T\\U+V=W\\X+Y=Z \end{array}\right|$
\end{document}


• Sorry, but I could not use other fonts for some reasons. – Z.H. Jun 22 '14 at 3:26