# Latexstring + sprintf

**URL:** <https://discourse.julialang.org/t/latexstring-sprintf/99596>\
**Category:** General Usage\
**Tags:** question, strings, latexstrings\
**Created:** [May 30, 2023, 11:24am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/latexstring-sprintf/99596 "2023-05-30T11:24:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![volkerkarle](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/volkerkarle/32/14143_2.png) [@volkerkarle](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/volkerkarle)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2023, 11:24am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/latexstring-sprintf/99596/1 "2023-05-30T11:24:44Z")

</div>

Hello!

For plotting I’m often using something similar to

`latexstring(@sprintf("a=%.3f \\beta, b=%.3f \\alpha",π, 1-π))`

and I was wondering if somebody is using a better option or has an idea which 1) has something like a clear c-style number to string conversion, b) a latex option (which ideally does not need escaping), c) is shorter to write (this expression cannot be turned into a function, since @sprintf is a macro).

Thanks!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tamas\_Papp](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/julialang/user_avatar/discourse.julialang.org/tamas_papp/32/25949_2.png) [@Tamas\_Papp](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/Tamas_Papp)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 8:32am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/latexstring-sprintf/99596/2 "2023-05-31T08:32:52Z")

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I usually prefer to use `$` (or `%$`) in LaTeXStrings, eg

```julia
using LaTeXStrings
L"a=%$(round(π; digits = 3)) \beta, b=%$(round(1-π; digits = 3)) \alpha"

```

but when I am making a lot of plots I define utility functions for rounding, eg

```julia
d3(x) = round(x; digits = 3)
L"a=%$(d3(π)) \beta, b=%$(d3(1-π)) \alpha"

```

(You can skip the extra `()`s, just a personal preference.)