Some real "characters" lurking within your Mac keyboard



Author: 

Date: June  , 1989

Keywords: DTP desktop publishing writing tips keyboard

Text:
One of the virtues of the Macintosh is the ability to produce
typesetter-like characters. 
For example, on most PCs and typewriters we need to hit two hyphens to
emulate a dash. The following characters can be used to produce copy as
much like typeset as possible. Unfortunately, no fractions are
available on most LaserWriter fonts. 
But an authentic dash and other characters are available on the Mac, as
follows:
Shift-option-hyphen     --     em dash
Option-hyphen     -     en dash
Option-[     ''     open quote
Shift-option-[     ''     close quote
Option-]     '     single  open                 quote
Shift-option-]     '     single close           quote or     
apostrophe
Option-8     *     bullet
Option-;     *     ellipsis
Option-shift-5     *     ligature for ''fi''
Option-shift-6     *     ligature for ''fl''
An em dash is the width of a capital M in whatever font you are using.
I recommend a space before and after an em dash. An en dash is half of
an em dash. The latter is rarely used. An en dash is used to indicate
''to'' or ''through,'' as in ''the Arcata-San Francisco flight.''
If ''Key Caps'' is installed on your Macintosh (under the Apple menu),
you can use that as a guide to finding other keyboard characters not
normally found on a PC or typewriter.
Be sure to explore the Key Caps desk accessory. You might be surprised
at the number of characters available.

Copyright © june , 1989 by Date: June , 1989