xcolor

xcolor is a package in the LaTeX typesetting system that provides easy driver-independent access to several kinds of color features. It is part of the standard distribution of LaTeX and is designed to simplify the process of adding color to documents.

The package supports a wide range of color models, including RGB, CMYK, and grayscale. It also provides commands for defining custom colors and for setting the color of text, backgrounds, and rules (lines). xcolor offers several options for mixing colors and for specifying the opacity of colored elements.

One of the key features of xcolor is its ability to handle color stacks, allowing for nested color changes within a document. This means that colors can be applied to specific sections of text or to entire pages without affecting the rest of the document.

The package is highly configurable and can be customized to work with different color drivers, such as dvips, pdfTeX, and XeTeX. This makes xcolor a versatile tool for typesetters who need to produce documents in various formats.

To use xcolor, it must be included in the preamble of a LaTeX document with the command \usepackage{xcolor}. Once included, its commands can be used throughout the document to apply color effects. For example, the command \textcolor{color}{text} changes the color of the specified text, while \pagecolor{color} sets the background color of a page.

xcolor is widely used in academic and professional publishing due to its flexibility and ease of use. It is particularly useful for creating visually distinct elements in documents, such as highlighted text, colored boxes, and multicolored tables.