LaTeX Color
Load xcolor. Use \textcolor for text and \colorbox for backgrounds. Define custom colors with \definecolor.
The basics
\usepackage{xcolor}
% Colored text
\textcolor{red}{This text is red.}
\textcolor{blue}{This text is blue.}
% Background color (colored box)
\colorbox{yellow}{Highlighted text.}
\colorbox{lightgray}{Code-style background.}
% Custom color from hex
\definecolor{brand}{HTML}{4A90E2}
\textcolor{brand}{Custom blue text.}
% Custom color from RGB (0-255)
\definecolor{warning}{RGB}{255,165,0}
\textcolor{warning}{Warning orange.}
% Mix colors with !
\textcolor{red!50!blue}{Purple from 50/50 mix.}
\textcolor{red!30}{30% red (faded).}Named colors (xcolor default)
Load \usepackage[svgnames]{xcolor} for 150+ SVG color names (Crimson, RoyalBlue, ForestGreen, etc.).
Color tables
\usepackage[table]{xcolor} % the [table] option matters
% Color one row
\begin{tabular}{l c c}
Header A & Header B & Header C \\
\rowcolor{lightgray}
Row 1 & data & data \\
Row 2 & data & data
\end{tabular}
% Zebra striping
\rowcolors{2}{lightgray}{white} % start at row 2
\begin{tabular}{l c}
Header & Value \\
A & 1 \\
B & 2 \\
C & 3
\end{tabular}
% Single cell
\begin{tabular}{l c c}
A & \cellcolor{red!20}highlighted & B
\end{tabular}Hyperref link colors
\usepackage[
colorlinks=true,
linkcolor=blue, % internal cross-refs
urlcolor=blue, % external URLs
citecolor=blue % bibliography citations
]{hyperref}
% Or use defined colors
\definecolor{linkcolor}{HTML}{1A73E8}
\hypersetup{linkcolor=linkcolor}Common mistakes
- Loading
colorinstead ofxcolor. Use xcolor — it's the modern superset. - Forgetting
[table]option. Table coloring requires\usepackage[table]{xcolor}. - Hex codes with the
#. xcolor uses{HTML}{4A90E2}with no #. - RGB values out of range. {RGB}{...} expects 0-255;
{rgb}{...}expects 0.0-1.0.
#text(fill: red)[red text]
#text(fill: rgb("#4A90E2"))[brand blue]
#highlight(fill: yellow)[highlighted]
#box(fill: yellow)[boxed background]No package import. RGB hex codes work directly. Try TypeTeX free.
Try TypeTeX freeFrequently Asked Questions
Load \usepackage{xcolor} in your preamble, then use \textcolor{red}{your text} for inline colored text. The first argument is the color (named or custom), the second is the text. xcolor includes 19+ named colors out of the box.
\colorbox{yellow}{highlighted text} sets a background color (note: not the same as a true marker highlight — it's a colored box). For a more highlight-like effect with rounded corners, use the soul package: \hl{text} after \usepackage{soul} \usepackage{xcolor}.
Define it once: \definecolor{mycolor}{HTML}{4A90E2}. Then use it: \textcolor{mycolor}{text}. The HTML model accepts 6-character hex codes without the #. For RGB values use {RGB}{74,144,226} (0-255) or {rgb}{0.29,0.56,0.89} (0-1 fractions).
color is the older basic package; xcolor is the modern superset. xcolor adds more color models (HTML, HSB), color mixing (\textcolor{red!50!blue}), and named color sets (svgnames, x11names). Always use xcolor for new documents — it's a drop-in replacement.
Load \usepackage[table]{xcolor} (the table option enables row/column colors). \rowcolor{lightgray} on a table row colors that whole row. \columncolor{lightgray} (in column spec like >{\columncolor{lightgray}}c) colors a column. \cellcolor{red} colors a single cell.
\usepackage[table]{xcolor}, then \rowcolors{2}{lightgray}{white} (after \begin{tabular}). The 2 is the starting row (skip the header), lightgray and white alternate. Unobtrusive zebra striping makes tables easier to read.
\textcolor{red!50!blue}{text} produces a 50/50 mix of red and blue. \textcolor{red!30}{text} produces 30% red on white background. \textcolor{red!50!black}{text} produces 50% red on black (a darker red). The ! syntax is xcolor's color expression language.
Pass options to hyperref: \usepackage[colorlinks=true,linkcolor=blue,urlcolor=blue,citecolor=blue]{hyperref}. linkcolor for internal references, urlcolor for external URLs, citecolor for citations. Use named colors or \definecolor names.
Default 19: black, white, red, green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow, gray, darkgray, lightgray, orange, violet, purple, brown, olive, pink, teal, lime. Load with [svgnames] for ~150 SVG color names (Crimson, RoyalBlue, etc.) or [x11names] for X11 colors.