TeXipedia

bf

Applies bold weight to text in traditional LaTeX documents, though it is considered a legacy command.

Overview

Represents one of the original LaTeX font-switching commands, primarily used in older documents for bold text formatting. While still functional, modern LaTeX strongly recommends using \textbf{} or \bfseries instead for better compatibility and document structure.

  • Affects all text following the command until another font command or group closure
  • Part of the traditional LaTeX font selection scheme
  • Mainly encountered in legacy documents and older LaTeX tutorials
  • Does not properly handle font attributes in modern LaTeX implementations

Examples

Displaying a bold mathematical constant in an equation.

π≈3.14159\pi \approx {\bf 3.14159} 
\pi \approx {\bf 3.14159}

Emphasizing a key variable in a mathematical expression.

f(x)=x2+2x+1f({\bf x}) = x^2 + 2x + 1 
f({\bf x}) = x^2 + 2x + 1

Highlighting a vector notation in an equation.

v=(x1,x2,x3){\bf v} = (x_1, x_2, x_3) 
{\bf v} = (x_1, x_2, x_3)