# vector bold instead of arrow

I was trying to change the standard result for the command $\vec{}$ instead of the arrow above I would like to have it bold and not in italic.

For instance: x

The solutions I found did not work well (and I do not want to define a new command) how could I do?

• Wlcome to TeX.SE. Instead $\vec{x}$ use $\mathbf{x}$ ... Sep 4 '16 at 9:15
• I'd probably recommend using \bm{x}  (from bm package) because it works with more characters, and if \bm{x} =(x_1,x_2,x_3) then I think it looks nicer that the bold x is also italic like x_1 Sep 4 '16 at 10:01
• What other solutions are you referring to? Sep 9 '16 at 6:36

You could change the definition of vec in your preamble:
\let\vec\mathbf

• I would prefer to make my own command e.g. \boldvec or something but as far as not redefining LaTeX internal macros... a) there does seem to be discussion around what should be an 'internal' macro or not (i.e. does it have an @) and b) some packages, which may not be using best practise, do redefine \vec. Sep 4 '16 at 11:29
• @Zarko Redefining certain macros is not bad at all, if it is about logical markup. Vector variables should be marked as such, and \vec is just fine. Later the class, the author or the editor can decide whether to use outdated arrows, boldface, or no special markup at all as usual in algebra. There is nothing bad about redefining \vec. Sep 4 '16 at 12:01