[Tex/LaTex] How to best set chapter title color in the memoir class’s Hansen style

chapterscolorformattingmemoirsectioning

I am tinkering with the Hansen chapter style for the memoir class, as reviewed and listed in texblog. The Hansen style is unfortunately not discussed in the memoir class documentation.

I changed it to be left-aligned and use \sfstyle chapter title font.
I would now like to control the color of the chapter title.

My current attempt:

\documentclass[12pt,english,american]{memoir}
\makeatletter
\usepackage{color} 

\usepackage{kpfonts}
\usepackage{calc}
\definecolor{ChapNumColor}{gray}{0.90}
\definecolor{ChapTitleColor}{gray}{0.65}
% helper macros
\newcommand\numlifter[1]{\raisebox{-18mm}[0pt][0pt]{\smash{#1}}}
\newcommand\numindent{\kern08mm}
\newlength\chaptertitleboxheight
\makechapterstyle{hansen}{
  \renewcommand\printchaptername{%
    \color{ChapTitleColor}%
  %\raggedleft
  }
  \renewcommand\printchapternum{%
    \begingroup%
    \leavevmode%
    \chapnumfont%
    \strut%
    \numindent%
    \numlifter{\thechapter}%
    \endgroup%
  }
  \renewcommand*{\printchapternonum}{%
    \vphantom{\begingroup%
      \leavevmode%
      \chapnumfont%
    \numlifter{\vphantom{9}}%
    \numindent%
    \endgroup}
  \afterchapternum}
  \setlength\midchapskip{0pt}
  \setlength\beforechapskip{0.5\baselineskip}
  \setlength{\afterchapskip}{3\baselineskip}
  \renewcommand\chapnumfont{%
    \fontsize{40mm}{0mm}%
    \bfseries%
    \fontfamily{\sfdefault}\selectfont%
    \color{ChapNumColor}%
  }
  \renewcommand\chaptitlefont{%
    \huge%
    \sffamily%
    %\color{ChapTitleColor}%
    %\raggedleft%
  }%
  \settototalheight\chaptertitleboxheight{%
  \parbox{\textwidth}{\chaptitlefont \strut bg\\bg\strut}}
  \renewcommand\printchaptertitle[1]{%
    \parbox[t][\chaptertitleboxheight][t]{\textwidth}{%
    %\microtypesetup{protrusion=false}% add this if you use microtype
    \chaptitlefont\strut ##1\strut}%
  }
}
\chapterstyle{hansen}

\makeatother

\usepackage{babel}
\begin{document}
\chapter*{Preface}
content
\chapter{Introduction}
content
\chapter{Conclusion}
content
\end{document}

This correctly colors numbered \chapters but not unnumbered \chapter*s, including the table of contents heading.

option 1

If I comment the statement \color{ChapTitleColor} in the macro \printchaptername and instead uncomment the color statement in the macro \chaptitlefont further below, I do get the right coloring but now the chapter title has been pushed down by a line or so.

option 2

Perhaps I have missed an end-of-line percent mark somewhere, as I am relatively unpractised at TeX's syntax.

(NB I do not know for sure if this applies to the \chapter* although I have indicated this in the image. Can I overlay a ruler grid on a latex page to check these things?)

How can I fix option 1 or option 2 without affecting the formatting?

What is the "correct" way to color this style, as intended by the developer?

Best Answer

You were on the right track. You can use the \chaptertitlefont modification only, just add a \leavevmode before the color command.

  \renewcommand\chaptitlefont{%
    \huge%
    \sffamily%
    \leavevmode\color{ChapTitleColor}%
    %\raggedleft%
  }%

Since you may be tempted to ask about what \leavevmode actually does, here's a link to an explanation:

BTW, it's probably better to use xcolor instead of color.

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