# Table column colour to dominate row colour

I want to produce a table in which certain rows and columns are coloured, but I want the column colour to dominate. In my example, the row colour dominates. How can I achieve this?

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{colortbl}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\begin{document}
\newcolumntype{g}{>{\columncolor{gray!30}}r}
$\begin{array}{rrrgrrg} & & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 \\ \hline \rowcolor{gray!70} 2 & 4 & 3 & 0 & 2 & 1 & 1 \\ \rowcolor{gray!70} 3 & 2 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 \\ 2 & 5 & 0 & 6 & 0 & 2 & 3 \\ 3 & 2 & 2 & 3 & 5 & 0 & 1 \\ \rowcolor{gray!70} 2 & 3 & 1 & 0 & 2 & 1 & 0 \\ \end{array}$
\newcolumntype{g}{>{\columncolor{gray!80}}r}
$\begin{array}{rrrgrrg} & & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 \\ \hline \rowcolor{gray!50} 2 & 4 & 3 & 0 & 2 & 1 & 1 \\ \rowcolor{gray!50} 3 & 2 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 \\ 2 & 5 & 0 & 6 & 0 & 2 & 3 \\ 3 & 2 & 2 & 3 & 5 & 0 & 1 \\ \rowcolor{gray!50} 2 & 3 & 1 & 0 & 2 & 1 & 0 \\ \end{array}$
\end{document}

• use \cellcolor on the intersections. – David Carlisle Dec 30 '14 at 13:27
• Welcome to TeX.SX! You can have a look at our starter guide to familiarize yourself further with our format. – karlkoeller Dec 30 '14 at 15:51
• @DavidCarlisle Since it is a simple thing, why don't add an option columnsfirst (or whatever) to the package to do that? – karlkoeller Dec 30 '14 at 17:32
• To ask a follow-up question, you have to open a fresh new question, with a link to this one. And, since my answer seems to solve this specific question, please consider to accept it. – karlkoeller Jan 4 '15 at 11:24

The colortbl package gives precedence to the color of rows than the color of columns.

But you can invert this behavior adding these lines to your preamble:

\usepackage{etoolbox}

\makeatletter
\patchcmd{\@classz}
{\CT@row@color}
{\oldCT@column@color}
{}
{}
\patchcmd{\@classz}
{\CT@column@color}
{\CT@row@color}
{}
{}
\patchcmd{\@classz}
{\oldCT@column@color}
{\CT@column@color}
{}
{}
\makeatother


MWE (I've removed your \hlines since they look ugly)

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{colortbl}
\usepackage{xcolor}

\usepackage{etoolbox}

\makeatletter
\patchcmd{\@classz}
{\CT@row@color}
{\oldCT@column@color}
{}
{}
\patchcmd{\@classz}
{\CT@column@color}
{\CT@row@color}
{}
{}
\patchcmd{\@classz}
{\oldCT@column@color}
{\CT@column@color}
{}
{}
\makeatother

\begin{document}
\newcolumntype{g}{>{\columncolor{gray!30}}r}
$\begin{array}{rrrgrrg} & & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 \\ \rowcolor{gray!70} 2 & 4 & 3 & 0 & 2 & 1 & 1 \\ \rowcolor{gray!70} 3 & 2 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 \\ 2 & 5 & 0 & 6 & 0 & 2 & 3 \\ 3 & 2 & 2 & 3 & 5 & 0 & 1 \\ \rowcolor{gray!70} 2 & 3 & 1 & 0 & 2 & 1 & 0 \\ \end{array}$
$\begin{array}{rrrgrrg} & & 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 5 \\ \rowcolor{gray!50} 2 & 4 & 3 & 0 & 2 & 1 & 1 \\ \rowcolor{gray!50} 3 & 2 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 1 & 0 \\ 2 & 5 & 0 & 6 & 0 & 2 & 3 \\ 3 & 2 & 2 & 3 & 5 & 0 & 1 \\ \rowcolor{gray!50} 2 & 3 & 1 & 0 & 2 & 1 & 0 \\ \end{array}$
\end{document}


Output:

• @Psionman You're welcome. Remember that you can accept the answer to mark the question as solved. See How do you accept an answer? – karlkoeller Dec 31 '14 at 9:31
• This was just what I needed for a similar problem, great answer. Thanks – beacon_bonanza Jul 14 '15 at 13:28
• @beacon_bonanza Happy that this answer helped you! – karlkoeller Jul 17 '15 at 15:23