\documentclass{article} \usepackage{graphicx} \usepackage{color} \begin{document} \thispagestyle{empty} \fboxrule=0.0mm %\fboxsep=1mm \colorbox[gray]{1.0}{\parbox[c][5mm][c]{35mm}{ $$ \mbox{DIC} = 2 \overline{D(\phi)} - D(\overline{\phi}) $$ }} \end{document}