# Is it possible to "pick and choose" a different font for a certain symbol?

I have been deciding on a font to use for a document, and compared the outputs for both \usepackage{kpfonts} and \usepackage[utopia]{mathdesign}.

I have decided to use the utopia package, but I am not too fond on the square-ish appearance of the parentheses. I much preferred the look of the parentheses with the kpfonts package. My question is this: is it possible to use a different font for a certain symbol? I would've liked to use utopia for everything else, and kpfonts or something similar for the parentheses.

• You might have problems with the font metrics. Apr 9 '17 at 18:41
• But how would you go about doing it? Apr 9 '17 at 18:48
• For text mode, it requires creating virtual fonts (which I really don't know how to do), and in math mode, you have to define a new math alphabet, as far as I know. All this is rather technical. Maybe with xelatex and fontspec it should be easier, at least for text mode, as long as the font exists on your system in .otf or .ttf format. Apr 9 '17 at 19:40
• So long as math mode parentheses are concerned it's not difficult. For text mode it's a different thing. Apr 9 '17 at 20:07

You can use a different symbol font for the parenthese. Be aware that the number of math fonts is restricted so one shouldn't overdo it. The example changes only the right parenthese to demonstrate the difference:

\documentclass{report}

\usepackage[utopia]{mathdesign}

\DeclareSymbolFont{kpoperators}{OT1}{jkp}{m}{n}
\DeclareSymbolFont{kplargesymbols}{OMX}{jkp}{m}{n}

%\DeclareMathDelimiter{(}{\mathopen} {kpoperators}{"28}{kplargesymbols}{"00}
\DeclareMathDelimiter{)}{\mathclose}{kpoperators}{"29}{kplargesymbols}{"01}

\begin{document}
$2(a+b) \left(\rule{0pt}{1cm}\right)$
\end{document}


• Suppose in a different document I would like to swap for computer modern brackets instead of kpfonts, how would I modify the code? Jun 7 '17 at 22:32
• Jun 8 '17 at 20:35