# How to typeset certain characters bold by default?

I'm currently writing my thesis and have a lot of equations to write down. In order to make those more readable I would like to differentiate vectors and scalars by writing vectors with bold characters. As it is rather tedious to write \boldsymbol{x} every time I use the vector x, I would like to know if it is somehow possible to make those characters bold by default.

Is there a way to do that?

• Welcome to TeX SX! How would LaTeX make the difference between x as a vector, and x as a number? Maybe you never ever use x for numbers? – Bernard Jul 9 '17 at 10:12

Write \newcommand{\vx}{\boldsymbol{x}} in the preamble and use \vx whenever you want x in bold font. For any other letter of interest, just replace vx with v<you letter>
• He says that he uses \boldsymbol{x} and want something shorter or automatic. Do you have a better solution? – Al-Motasem Aldaoudeyeh Jul 9 '17 at 10:25
• Probably \vx (for “vector x”) is better. – egreg Jul 9 '17 at 10:27
• In my opinion, it's more the problem of an editor: how to have a shortcut to make it type automatically \boldsymbol{}, or \mathbf{}, with the cursor between the braces. Most modern editors let you easily define such a shortcut. – Bernard Jul 9 '17 at 11:01