Imagine you are working on an important project and suddenly you need a special character. You know it exists, but where? In which menu is it hidden? This is where keyboard shortcuts come into play! They are like secret superpowers for your keyboard. They give you lightning-fast access to a huge selection of special characters without taking your hands off the keyboard. This not only saves time, but also keeps the creative flow going. You stay in your workflow instead of clicking through endless menus. And the best part? Once learned, these shortcuts are like riding a bike - you don't forget them. In short, knowing the most important keyboard shortcuts for special characters is a real game-changer for efficiency and productivity in any digital project!
Quotation marks - keyboard shortcuts
Character | Keyboard name | Windows | Mac |
" | German opening | Alt + 0132 | Alt + ^ |
" | German closing/ English opening | Alt + 0147 | Alt + 2 |
" | English closing | Alt + 0148 | Shift + Alt + 2 |
" | French opening | Alt + 0187 | Shift + Alt + Q |
" | French closing | Alt + 0171 | Alt + Q |
' | German single opening (elegant) | Alt + 0155 | Shift + Alt + N |
' | German single closing (elegant) | Alt + 0139 | Shift + Alt + B |
' | German single opening | Alt + 0130 | Alt + S |
' | German single closing/English single opening | Alt + 0145 | Alt + # |
' | Apostrophe/English single closing | Alt + 0146 | Shift + Alt + # |
Other special characters - keyboard shortcuts
Character | Name | Windows | Mac |
© | Copyright | Alt + 0169 | Alt + G |
® | Registered | Alt + 0174 | Alt + R |
™ | Trademark | Alt + 0153 | Shift + Alt + D |
Spaces - keyboard shortcuts
Space name | Windows | Mac |
Four space character | Shift + Ctrl + M | Shift+ Cmd + M |
1/2-space | Shift + Ctrl + N | Shift+ Cmd + N |
Protected space | Alt + Ctrl + X / Alt + 0160 | Alt + Cmd + X / Alt + Spacebar |
1/8-space | Alt + Shift + Ctrl + M | Alt + Shift + Cmd + M |
Mathematical characters - Keyboard shortcuts
Character | Character name | Windows | Mac |
÷ | Split character | Alt + 0247 | Shift + Alt + . |
× | paint character | Alt + 0215 | |
± | Plusminus | Alt + 0177 | Alt + + |
≈ | Almost equal | Alt + X | |
≠ | Unequal | Alt + 0 | |
~ | Tilde | Alt Gr + + | Alt + N |
½ | One and a half | Alt + 0189 | |
¼ | A quarter | Alt + 0188 | |
¾ | Three quarters | Alt + 0190 | |
¹ | Superscript 1 | Alt + 0185 | |
² | Superscript 2 | Alt Gr + 2 | |
³ | Superscript 3 | Alt Gr + 3 |
Punctuation (punctuation marks) - Keyboard shortcuts
Character | Keyboard name | Windows | Mac |
- | Hyphen | - | - |
- | dash | Alt + 0150 | Alt + - |
- | En dash | Alt + 0151 | Shift + Alt + - |
- | Bold centered dot | Alt + 0149 | Alt + Ü |
- | Centered dot | Alt + 0183 | Shift + Alt + 9 |
... | Omission points ("ellipse") | Alt + 0133 | Alt + . |
Wrap character - keyboard shortcuts
Keyboard name | Windows | Mac |
Frame wrapping | Shift + Enter (on numeric keypad) | Shift + Enter (on numeric keypad) |
Page break | Ctrl + Enter (on numeric keypad) | Cmd + Enter (on numeric keypad) |
Hard line break | Shift + Enter | Shift + Enter |
Currency characters - key combinations
Character | Character name | Windows | Mac |
¢ | Cent | Alt + 0162 | Alt + 4 |
€ | Euro | Alt Gr + E | Alt + E |
$ | Dollar | Shift + 4 | Shift + 4 |
£ | Pound | Alt + 0163 | Shift + Alt + 4 |
¥ | Yen | Alt + 0165 | Alt + Y |
Typographical RULES AND FREQUENT ERRORS
99 below, 66 above!
Correct: I specifically said: "Please prepare for the tutorial properly and conscientiously!"
Correct: I specifically said: "Please prepare for the tutorial properly and conscientiously!"
Perfect: I specifically said: "Please prepare for the tutorial properly and conscientiously!"
Quotation marks and kerning
Incorrect: "Please prepare for the tutorial properly and conscientiously!"
Correct: "Please prepare for the tutorial properly and conscientiously!"
Hyphen and dash
- Hyphen as a hyphen (word separator)
- Hyphen as a complementary dash (rising and falling)
- Hyphen in compounds with numbers and letters (30-year, 3-hour)
- Hyphen as a linking dash (video tutorial trainer)
- Hyphen for standardized spelling of the date (2015-10-02)
- Hyphen to clarify compounds (before and after comparison)
Incorrect: Three, two, one - action!
Correct: Three, two, one - action!
Incorrect italics
Letters should never be italicized by manual editing such as stretching or elongation.
Justification
When using justified text, make sure that the spaces between the words are evenly distributed. So-called casting streams and irregularly occurring exclusions considerably impede the flow of reading. For this reason, automatically created justified text must always be edited manually. Methods such as "expel", "insert", "expand" and "condense" are suitable for this. Remember: uniformity increases readability!
Spacing and line spacing
The space between the lines, together with the line length, has a direct effect on the readability of a text. Here it is important to ensure a harmonious overall picture.
The line length
- Left-aligned text is usually easier to read than justified text
- Justification should always be avoided with very short lines
- Larger line spacing makes it easier to read very long lines
- Short line lengths are suitable for very narrow text
- Multi-column texts are used more frequently than single-column texts - however, there is no difference in reading speed - Single-column text: 50 to 70 characters per line
- Multi-column text: 40 to 50 characters per line - Optimal readability: eight to twelve words per line