Quick links to procedures on this page:

•
 
To add a special character, symbol, or glyph
•
 
To filter special characters, symbols, and glyphs
•
 
To view glyphs of OpenType features
•
 
To use the list of most recently used special characters

Inserting special characters, symbols, and glyphs

Premium feature

The revamped Insert character docker makes it easy to find and insert special characters, symbols, and glyphs (variations of individual characters or character combinations) of OpenType fonts.

1) List of most recently used special characters

5) Character and glyph list

2) Font list box

6) OpenType feature indicator

3) Character filter list box

7) Description area collapsed (left) and expanded (right)

4) Show all glyphs button

 

Filtering

All characters, symbols, and glyphs included in a font are displayed by default, but you can filter character subsets to display only the characters you want. For example, you can display only currency symbols or numbers, or you can display only Cyrillic characters and symbols.

Characters included in a font are organized in the following categories:

•
 
Common — includes arrows, currency, mathematical symbols, numbers, punctuation marks, and separators as well as CJK symbols and punctuation marks (used in Asian scripts)
•
 
Scripts — includes the scripts that the selected font supports, such as Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Hiragana and Katakana, Han, Arabic, or Hebrew scripts
•
 
OpenType — includes the OpenType features provided by the selected font such as standard ligatures, discretionary ligatures, fraction, alternate annotation forms, and more. For more information about OpenType features, see Working with OpenType features.
OpenType fonts

The Insert character docker is ideal for viewing and applying the OpenType features provided by OpenType fonts. The default view shows a list of characters in which the glyphs for individual characters appear grouped. Alternatively, you can display a longer list that shows available glyphs at a glance.

Viewing character position

Each selected character appears against a set of blue lines that let you preview its position in relation to the text baseline.

1) Text baseline

3) Font x-height

2) Ascender line

4) Descender line

Most recently used special characters

You can use the list of most recently used special characters to copy characters that you use often. The list retains the font attributes of most recently used characters and any OpenType features that were applied. You can manage the list by removing characters that you no longer need.

To add a special character, symbol, or glyph Back to Top
1.
 
Using the Text tool , click where you want to add the special character.
2.
 
Click Text Insert character.
3.
 
In the Insert character docker, choose a font from the Font list box.
4.
 
Double-click a character in the Character and glyph list.
If you cannot find the character you want, open the Character filter list box, and enable the Entire font check box.

You can also
 
Drag a character
Using the Pick tool , drag a character to the document window.
Copy a character
Click a character in the Character and glyph list, and click Copy.
View information about a selected character
Click the arrow button at the bottom of the Character and glyph list to view any of the following attributes that are applicable: character name, ID, Unicode number, keyboard shortcut for inserting the character, the OpenType feature name, and the language for glyphs that can be displayed properly only in a specific language.
Zoom in and out
Move the Zoom slider.
To zoom in and out in preset increments, click the zoom buttons to the right and left of the Zoom slider.
Navigate to a special character by using an Alt code
Click in the Character and glyph list, hold down Alt, and type the Alt code for the character you want.
Navigate to a character
Press the corresponding key on the keyboard.

To filter special characters, symbols, and glyphs Back to Top
1.
 
Click Text Insert character.
2.
 
In the Insert character docker, choose a font from the Font list box.
3.
 
Open the Character filter list box, and enable the check boxes for the character subsets that you want to display.
4.
 
Click Close.
To view glyphs of OpenType features Back to Top
1.
 
Click Text Insert character.
2.
 
In the Insert character docker, choose an OpenType font from the Font list box.
3.
 
Open the Character filter list box, and in the OpenType area, enable any of the check boxes for the available OpenType features.
4.
 
Do one of the following:
•
To display a list that includes grouped glyphs, make sure that the Show all glyphs button does not appear pressed. To view all glyphs in a group, click a character, and then click the OpenType feature indicator. Click a glyph to display it in the Character and glyph list.
•
To display a list that includes all available glyphs, click the Show all glyphs button .

Left: The OpenType feature indicators below individual characters show that more glyphs are available. Right: When the Show all glyphs button (1) is pressed, you can see available glyphs at a glance.

Viewing grouped glyphs

The Show all glyphs button is not available for fonts that do not support OpenType features.
Some glyphs provided by OpenType features vary depending on the context in which they appear and cannot be shown in the Insert character docker. You can view and insert such glyphs in the document window by using the Interactive OpenType option. For more information, see To enable the onscreen OpenType feature indicator.
To use the list of most recently used special characters Back to Top
1.
 
Click Text Insert character.
2.
 
In the list of most recently used special characters, perform a task from the following table.

To
Do the following
View the font and OpenType attributes of a character
Point to the character.
Copy a character from the list
Right-click the character, and click Copy.
Remove characters from the list
Right-click a character, and click Remove or Remove all.

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