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Explanation of Inserting Special Characters in FrameMaker - Succeed in Using FrameMaker. Also refer to Adobe, em-dash, en-dash, bullet, ellipsis, Microsoft Word, HTML, online help, rich text format, RTF, Ron Kurtus, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions

Inserting Special Characters in FrameMaker

by Ron Kurtus (21 December 2006)

Special characters are symbols and items used in writing but not available on your keyboard. A good example is the long dash or em-dash (—) that can separate clauses in a sentence. When you type two dashes together (--) in Microsoft Word, the program automatically creates the em-dash, provided you have that feature turned on. In Adobe FrameMaker, it is necessary to use special keyboard combinations to insert such characters in your work. You can find an extensive list of special characters in FrameMaker's online help. You also can paste in special characters from Word or HTML.

Questions you may have include:

  • What are the keyboard shortcuts for major special characters?
  • How do you access special characters in FrameMaker's online help?
  • How do you paste special characters from other applications?

This lesson will answer those questions. There is a mini-quiz near the end of the lesson.

Common special characters

You can insert special characters into your document by using shortcut keys.

Note: The keyboard combinations for special characters in FrameMaker are not very logical. Unless you use them a lot, you really need to have a reference for them.

The following is a list of common special characters.

Character name

Example

Keys
Bullet • Ctrl+q Shift+5
Copyright © Ctrl+q )
Ellipsis ... Ctrl+q Shift+i
Em dash — Ctrl+q Shift+q
En dash – Ctrl+q Shift+p
Hyphen, discretionary   Ctrl+-
Hyphen, non-breaking   Esc - h
Hyphen, suppress   Esc n s
Registered trademark ® Ctrl+q Shift+9
Space, non-breaking   Ctrl+spacebar
Trademark ™ Ctrl+q Shift+8

Finding other characters

You can find a complete list of special characters, along with their shortcut keys through FrameMaker online help. Search for special characters, and then click on Entering special characters. There are three Entering special characters—one for each operating system.

Note: FrameMaker's online help is weak and poorly done. It takes a while to figure out how to find things. But also, I wonder why they do not have a way to insert special characters from their main menu.

Pasting special characters

You can paste text and special characters from Microsoft Word and from HTML.

Word

When you paste text from Word, you need to Edit > Paste Special... as Rich Text Format to retain any special characters in the Word text. Unfortunately, you also bring along paragraph styles from Word. This can be a problem if your FrameMaker catalog is using different styles.

When you special paste as Text, all special characters are lost. Also, quotation marks and apostrophes are no longer “smart quotes” but are the "straight quotes".

HTML

When you paste from an HTML document, you can only special paste as Text. Since quotes, em-dash, and other special characters are codes in the HTML document, they are automatically transferred to the FrameMaker document.

Summary

Special characters are symbols and items used in writing but not available on your keyboard. In FrameMaker, it is necessary to use special keyboard combinations to insert such characters in your work. You can find an extensive list of special characters in FrameMaker's online help. You also can paste in special characters from Word or HTML.

Answers to Readers' Questions

You are special

Resources

Items of interest on this topic:

Websites

FrameMaker Resources

Books

Top-rated books on FrameMaker

Miscellaneous

Mini-quiz to check your understanding

1. How do you key in "Ctrl+q Shift+5"?

Press Ctrl and q at the same time, then Shift and 5 at the same time

Press Ctrl with one finger, 5 with another, Shift with the third and 5 with your fourth finger

First press Ctrl, let go and press q; repeat for Shift and 5

2. How do you insert special characters from the menu bar?

Click Special > Variable > Characters

Click Format > Characters > Designer > Special

You can't

3. Why does pasting from HTML seem better than from Word?

HTML is less expensive than Word

You don't bring along any styles in your text

All you have to do is to press Ctrl+v

If you got all three correct, you are on your way to becoming a Champion in using FrameMaker. If you had problems, you had better look over the material again.

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