Q. I often use hard-to-find characters, such as register and trademark symbols, and en and em dashes. Mousing through submenu after submenu to find them in a software program’s special characters listing gets tedious. And a glyph palette, although handy, is still the long way around when a key combination would be fastest. It would be nice to have a list of all of the special characters.
A. Yes, some of these paths to find the somewhat hidden signs, symbols, and smart punctuation are tedious indeed. I also agree that using the keyboard to access them is the fastest way to go. Although I’ve memorized most of them, they’re all on a Stickie note on my desktop for easy reference.
Here is a list of the most commonly used special characters:
Are there other special characters you use frequently? Post your comments here!
This article was last modified on October 23, 2023
This article was first published on April 9, 2008
Commenting is easier and faster when you're logged in!
Recommended for you
Robert Slimbach: Type Designer for the Digital Age
Today, Friday March 2, 2012 is a special day for modern typographers and designe...
In White Space, No One Can Hear You Scream
This is a new column on type, which will appear on CreativePro.com approximately...
TypeTalk: Script Typeface Dos & Don’ts
Script typefaces can be expressive, eye-catching, and fun to use, but if you are...