eText Authoring Special Characters guidelines for Curriculum and Higher Education Group eText Titles
Presented by: LTG - Content Management Services March 2011
Title: Filename: Authoring_Special_Characters_Guidelines.doc
Revision Sheet
Release Date Revision Description No. Rev. 0 11/7/08 Original (Tyler Suydam) Rev. 1 11/17/08 Added URL for Arial for Pearson font download (Erik Unhjem) Rev. 2 3/2/11 Clarification on using Excel directly for authoring characters, correction to direct authoring on Macintosh, update to eText as product name (Tyler Suydam)
Contacts
John DeLara, VP Digital Product Management, Content Management Services Erik Unhjem, eText Systems Product Manager, Content Management Services Tyler Suydam, Tools Project Manager, Content Management Services
Table of Contents
Contacts i Introduction 1 eText System Requirements for Special Characters 1 Authoring Special Characters for eText 2
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Title: Filename: Authoring_Special_Characters_Guidelines.doc
Introduction
The Authoring Special Characters Guidelines are intended to provide a reference for those who need to display characters not found on U.S. English keyboards such as accented characters, punctuation characters, currency symbols, and superscripts/subscripts in Table of Contents, Glossary, and Custom Basket entries.
eText System Requirements for Special Characters
First, you MUST install the full set of Arial for Pearson fonts on your Windows or Macintosh computer in order to be able to author characters that do not appear on U.S. English keyboards, including accented characters, currency symbols and punctuation symbols. The set contains four TrueType fonts and the set of fonts works on either a Windows computer or a Macintosh.
In other words, there is a single .zip file that contains the four files you need to install on your computer, and you use this set regardless of whether you have a Macintosh or a Windows computer.
Visit this URL to download the Arial for Pearson font set. Save the file to your desktop. http://media.pearsoncmg.com/cmg/intranet/ebookplus/Arial_for_Pearson _Fonts.zip
Please note: You will only be able to input characters that have glyphs (visual representations; symbols) in the Arial for Pearson font. If the font does not show a glyph for a character, then you will not be able to author the character.
Font Installation – Windows
1. Open Control Panel. 2. Double-click the “Fonts” icon. The Fonts window opens. 3. From the File menu, choose Install New Font. The Install New Font dialog opens. 4. From the Install New Font dialog, navigate to your desktop and point to each of the four font files in turn to install them. Make sure the “Copy fonts to Fonts folder” box is checked when installing fonts. Note: The path to your desktop may look like this: C:\Documents and Settings\[your U42]\Desktop
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Title: Filename: Authoring_Special_Characters_Guidelines.doc
Font Installation – Macintosh
1. Copy the .zip file containing the four Arial for Pearson fonts (Regular, Bold, Bold Italic and Italic) to your desktop. 2. Expand the .zip file using your installed compression/decompression utility. Place the expanded .ttf files on your desktop. 3. For each font file, double-click the file with your mouse and when the Font Book window appears, choose Install Font.
Authoring Special Characters – Windows
The quickest method of authoring special characters on a Windows computer is to use the Alt+nnnn keyboard method for entering characters. While holding the Alt key, you type a four-digit number from a table like the one found at this URL, and the desired character is created at the end of the typing sequence. http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/accents/codealt.html
For example, to input the character é (lowercase e with acute), type Alt+0233. [Don’t type the plus sign, just hold the Alt key and while holding it type 0233.]
Special characters also may be authored in Microsoft Word or another word processor. Make sure the Arial for Pearson font is applied, and then copy and paste the special character into the eText Authoring environment. If the character does not display, then it cannot be input using this method.
Note: The Alt+nnnn method cannot be used for superscript/subscript entry. It is only useful for entering most characters with accents, certain punctuation symbols, currency symbols and a handful of math symbols. See the next section.
Authoring Superscripts and Subscripts – Windows
Superscripts and subscripts must first be created in Microsoft Word (tested) or another word processor (untested).
In Microsoft Word:
1. Open a blank document. 2. Make sure the currently applied font is Arial for Pearson. 3. From Word’s Insert menu, choose Symbol. 4. The Symbol dialog appears (see screenshot below). Confirm that the font for which the symbols table is displayed is Arial for Pearson at top left.
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5. In the Subset dropdown listbox, select Private Use Area. Private Use Area characters are subscripts, listed first, and superscripts, listed toward the end of the Private Use Area table. 6. With your mouse, click the subscript or superscript character you want to enter in eText Authoring. Then click the Insert button at bottom right of the Symbol dialog, and the character will be inserted into your blank Word document. 7. Select the character with your mouse, then type Ctrl+c (copies character to clipboard). Navigate to eText Authoring and type Ctrl+v to paste the character into the eText Authoring environment.
Authoring Special Characters – Macintosh
The quickest method of authoring special characters on a Macintosh computer is to use the Shift + key + key or Option + key + key keyboard method for entering characters. While holding the Shift or Option key, you type the key whose appearance you want to be different from its usual appearance, release the Shift or Option key, type the same key again, and the desired character is created.
Download this PDF from Adobe for a handy table:
http://www.adobe.com/type/pdfs/characcessmac.pdf
For example, to input the character é (lowercase e with acute), type Option+e, then release the Option key, and type e. [Don’t type the plus sign, just hold the Option key and while holding it type e. Then release the Option key and type e again.]
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Authoring Superscripts and Subscripts – Macintosh
Superscripts and subscripts must first be created in Microsoft Word (tested) or another word processor (untested).
To author a subscript from the keyboard on a Macintosh computer, type Apple + “+” and then type the character you want subscripted. Toggle Apple + “+” again to restore normal typing.
For example, to create a subscripted 2 in H20, hold the Apple key, then hit the plus key, then type 2. The 2 will appear and be subscripted. Toggle Apple + “+” again to restore normal typing.
Select the character with your mouse, then type Apple+c (copies character to clipboard). Navigate to eText Authoring and type Apple+v to paste the character into the eText Authoring environment.
To author a superscript from the keyboard on a Macintosh computer, type Shift + Apple + “+” and then type the character you want superscripted. Toggle Shift + Apple + “+” to restore normal typing.
For example, to superscript the 2 in x2, hold the Shift and Apple keys, then hit the plus key, then type 2. The 2 will appear and be superscripted. Toggle Shift + Apple + “+” to restore normal typing.
Select the character with your mouse, then type Apple+c (copies character to clipboard). Navigate to eText Authoring and type Apple+v to paste the character into the eText Authoring environment.
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