MAC TREAT #77: Get in Character
Ever wonder where those pesky specials characters that aren’t written on your keyboard (e.g. ¢, ©, ®, ™) are when you’re writing? They’re all listed in Character Palette—part of OS X.
Easy access can be found either as a part of your other Apple Apps (such as Mail, TextEdit, Stickies, etc.) or in the International panel of System Preferences. (System Preferences > International > Input Menu)
If you find that you use these symbols a fair amount and would like to see them quickly, check the Character Palette checkbox and “Show input menu in menu bar.” The latter will display a little flag icon in the top righthand corner of your menu bar (how patriotic!).
Another tip for finding some symbols that you use more than others is to remember the keyboard shortcuts. Here’s a cheatsheet for my most popular ones:
- Accent Acute (´): Option-E
- Bullet (•): Option-8
- Cent (¢): Option-4
- Copyright (©): Option-G
- Degree (˚): Option-K
- Registered (®): Option-R
- Trade Mark (™): Option-2
And, for Mac users, one we’ve mentioned before and use a lot of:
- Apple symbol (): Shift-Option-K
Note that fonts may handle characters differently!