I think I've found a bug in matplotlib. I use Sage, which is based on Python and included matplotlib. sage: import pylab sage: pylab.text(0.2, 0.2, r"$\left(2a = b\right)$") # note \left( and \right) work <matplotlib.text.Text object at 0x10daaf950> sage: pylab.text(0.2, 0.5, r"$(2 ,円 a = b)$") # note ,円 works <matplotlib.text.Text object at 0x10dab9c90> sage: pylab.savefig('a.png') sage: pylab.text(0.2, 0.7, r"$\left(2 ,円 a = b\right)$") # but together they don't <matplotlib.text.Text object at 0x10dad9b10> sage: pylab.savefig('b.png') ERROR: An unexpected error occurred while tokenizing input ... AttributeError: 'Kern' object has no attribute 'height' Is this repeatable for anyone else? Would the full traceback be helpful? -- J. H. Palmieri jhp...@gm...