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The LaTeX2e font selection manual states

Commands defined by \DeclareTextFontCommand automatically take care of any necessary italic correction (on either side).

So running the following example

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}

\showboxbreadth=\maxdimen
\showboxdepth=\maxdimen

f\textbf{H}f\showlists

f{\bfseries H}f\showlists

\end{document}

will produce the following relevant log

% for f\textbf{H}f
\OT1/cmr/m/n/10 f
\kern 0.77779
\OT1/cmr/bx/n/10 H
\kern 0.0
\OT1/cmr/m/n/10 f

% for f{\bfseries H}f
\OT1/cmr/m/n/10 f
\OT1/cmr/bx/n/10 H
\OT1/cmr/m/n/10 f

In certain applications, however, it is desired not to automatically insert the italic correction at all. How can I selectively/locally turn off the auto-insertion of italic correction from the \textXX{...} commands?

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1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

You can add \nocorr to suppress the italic correction at the beginning and/or at the end of a text command's argument:

\documentclass{article}

\begin{document}

\showboxbreadth=\maxdimen
\showboxdepth=\maxdimen
\tracingonline=1

f\textbf{\nocorr H\nocorr}f\showlists

f{\bfseries H}f\showlists

\end{document}

Prints for both hlists:

\hbox(0.0+0.0)x15.0
\OT1/cmr/m/n/10 f
\OT1/cmr/bx/n/10 H
\OT1/cmr/m/n/10 f
spacefactor 1000

From source2e.pdf (File w, ltfntcmd.dtx):

In addition to global customization of when to insert the italic correction, it is of course sometimes necessary to explicitly insert one with <code>\/</code>. It is also possible to suppress the italic correction in individual instances. For this, the command <code>\nocorr</code> is provided. The <code>\nocorr</code> must appear as the first or last token inside the braces of the argument of the <code>\text...</code> commands, at that end of the text where you wish to suppress the italic correction.

Or from usrguide.pdf, section 3.10 Font changing: text:

These are one-argument commands; they take as an argument the text which is to be typeset in the particular font. They also automatically insert italic corrections where appropriate; if you do not like the result, you can add an italic correction with <code>\/</code> or remove it with <code>\nocorr</code>. The <code>\nocorr</code> should always be the first or last thing within the <code>{<text>}</code> argument.

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12
  • 2
    \nocorr has such a complicated definition:-)
    – David Carlisle
    Jun 3, 2020 at 20:37
  • Ah yes, I forgot to check LaTeX2e for authors, where it says “… if you do not like the result, you can add an italic correction with \/ or remove it with \nocorr …” Seems like the information is quite scattered…
    – Ruixi Zhang
    Jun 3, 2020 at 20:42
  • @DavidCarlisle Now I understand why it was defined that way, lol
    – Ruixi Zhang
    Jun 3, 2020 at 20:46
  • @RuixiZhang Added the ursguide reference. The definition of \nocorr shows how you should not judge a macro by its definition ;-)
    – Phelype Oleinik
    Jun 3, 2020 at 20:54
  • @PhelypeOleinik Wait a second… If I wrote \textXX{\nocorr\nocorr}, then \text@command{\nocorr\nocorr} expands to \check@nocorr@ \nocorr\nocorr\nocorr\@nil, then \reserved@a would be the same as \reserved@b, and \reserved@c would be \@empty. But in this case only \check@icl is set to be empty. Things get worse for \textXX{\nocorr}…
    – Ruixi Zhang
    Jun 3, 2020 at 22:48

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