And i was unpleasantly surprised to see that indesign still cannot replace two consecutive hyphens with an em dash as you type. When youre working in indesign, you may find yourself frequently repeating some tasks. Indesign can also publish content suitable for tablet devices in conjunction with adobe digital publishing suite. As the mac app store has grown in popularity, alternatives have cropped up. An en dash is a hypen the width of an n while an em dash is a hypen the width of an m. Em dashes and en dashes linkedin learning, formerly. How and when to type en and em dashes on a mac macmost. Like the en dash the em dash is not visible on keyboard and must be activated. Sep 30, 2016 well, in plainer language, by searching for patterns rather than specific characters, grep is a way to a take indesigns findchange to a whole new level. When editing designers source files in indesign, i also noticed a few common typing errors that should be avoided. Jan 07, 2018 since a setopen en dash serves the same purposes as an em dash, a lot of people just use that instead of the threehyphen conventional encoding of an em dash. Adds a \k special character tag to insert an indesign style break character, since quark is now using \e as an en space tag in version 7. It saves time and frustration and leaves you with the design you envisioned. Adobe indesign is a desktop publishing and typesetting software application produced by adobe systems.
Im working on a quick reference guide that will be screen printed onto a metal panel and would like to use either an em or en space at a few points 3723015. Using practical, realworld examples, instructor and designer nigel french explains the purpose of each feature and describes the conventions for how and when to use it. Well, in plainer language, by searching for patterns rather than specific characters, grep is a way to a take indesigns findchange to a whole new level. Using hyphens and dashes properly illustrator typography. I used indesign to do so, since it is so straightforward there, then select the resulting space you inserted, copy it to have it in your clipboard memory, and switch to textexpander or any text expansion software you like. Indesign accomplishes that not by changing the size of the letters, but by adding little bits of white space between the words andor characters.
I blame software such as microsoft word and content management. It seemed to me to be easier to read and more understandable written as onetwentyfourth with the en dash between the one and twentyfourth. Build documents in both indesign and quarkxpress, mac os and windows, all from the same source. How to use special characters in adobe indesign webucator. I got about five possible choices but the first one shown in results is the vanilla emdash. Im leaving the post here in case someone else has the same issue.
Using practical, realworld examples, instructor and designer nigel french explains the purpose of each feature and describes the conventions for how and when to use. When using dashes you have three options available, a hyphen, an en dash and an em dash. Dont replace the second emdash as some tend to with a comma or semicolon. It returns the first one again is the one you want i am guessing. Britishcanadian style guides seem wildly inconsistent on the issue of the em and en dash. Adobes switch to software as a service has sent budgetminded creative professionals looking for alternatives to the creative cloud apps that dont cost them a monthly fee. Choose edit findchange, and then click the text tab. In the edit menu, choose keyboard shortcuts and you will have an entire selection of all shortcuts available. Or in indesign cs2, just go to type insert special character and look for em dash or en dash. I read on a grammar blog recently that the em dash is named after its lengthits.
It can be used to create works such as posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers, presentations, books and ebooks. To change fonts in imported graphics, use the program that originally. This quick tip will outline the differences between the three dashes as well as advice on when and how to use them correctly within your designs. Thats why i also use a regular space between a word and punctuations like question and exclamation marks, like in french. The trick will not work if you press the hyphenkey on the typewriter. Remembering all the keyboard shortcuts there are in indesign is almost impossible. May 30, 2012 last week, when talking about the width of a hair space for indesign was one example. All characters are displayed along with the appropriate unicode universal representation as.
As my good friend and grammar teacher extraordinaire jennie ruby once told me, use an en dash between ranges of numbers when you would say the words to or through, as in see. Home tutorials indesign tutorial directory using em dashes, en dashes and. Aug 08, 2016 the character style adds tracking to the character before the em or en dash, and the dash itself. Mar 05, 2014 indesign accomplishes that not by changing the size of the letters, but by adding little bits of white space between the words andor characters. An em dash is a common character in the writers toolbox. Many word processing programssuch as microsoft wordautomatically convert a. German version incorrect shortcuts hints in menus in the german language windows systems deleting text using the context delete menuitem or backspace keyboard key does not trigger a call in custom iscrapsuiteclear. And tracking extends the space between the character and the one immediately to the right of it. However, if you want to impress your friends and be the professional designer we know you are, use the shortcut keys. Findchange text, objects, glyphs, and fonts in indesign using the findchange dialog box. All of them use some combination of alt, shift and the key on windows, or opt, shift and keys on the mac.
Each has its usage in the english grammar which you can wiki to find out more. Last week, when talking about the width of a hair space for indesign was one example. I used indesign to do so, since it is so straightforward there, then select the resulting space you inserted, copy it to have it in your clipboard memory, and switch to textexpander or any text expansion software. Here are some tips i wish i had known when starting out, as well as some answers to questions that others often ask me. Indesign cs3 unexpectedly quits when using winsoftbased spelling dictionaries to spell check russian language text on windows. In the find what box, describe what you want to search for. The latest version of the program can be downloaded for mac os x 10. Do you know the difference between the hyphen, en dash, and em dash. We use emdashes to add emphasis to the size of the car.
How to key in en dash and em dash in ios and os x sanziro. There is a difference between the way indesign cs2 and cs3 break lines containing en dashes. On the one hand, this is easy, but on the other hand, it can be maddeningly difficult in indesign. En dashes are inserted in indesign cs2 by choosing type insert special character en dash, and in indesign cs3 by choosing type insert special character hyphens and dashes en dash. Sep 30, 2011 go to any software where you can insert these special spaces em, en, thin, etc. This is what i use in writing, but i have a slight gap between my en dash and dash to make my em dash.
Do you know when to use each to avoid embarrassing typographic and grammatical mistakes. Choosing the right dash for the job in hand is usually overlooked and misunderstood. The en dash, which is wider than a hyphen and narrower than an em dash, is used to indicate a range, as well as a continuation of time. Theres more to white space than the space bar theres more ways to get white space than hitting the space bar. Jan 22, 2020 remembering all the keyboard shortcuts there are in indesign is almost impossible.
For an em dash, simultaneously press the shift, option, and minus keys. Its also important that when you set off a phrase using emdashes that you used one emdash immediately after the noun the phrase is describing and one immediately after the phrase. Dec 06, 2011 the em dash, which is what many people, like myself are getting frustrated with, when writing, need an em dash, the width of a capital m. These shortcuts can save you a few seconds, and allow you to concentrate on your work instead of moving the mouse between the text window and the menus. How and when to type en and em dashes on a mac did you know that that there are three different types of dashes. Mathmagic pro edition for adobe indesign is an equation editor mainly for use with adobe indesign software in editing any mathematical expressions and symbols with wysiwyg interface and various powerful features. Adobe indesign keyboard shortcuts excerpted from the keyboard shortcuts poster z command apple. Many tasks you can select with the mouse are also available from the keyboard.
When using ms word, select file, then symbol and select your correct dash rather than lazily hitting the hyphen keep on your keyboard. Indesign tips i wish id known when starting out smashing. Near the bottom of the type menu, youll find the option insert white space. There are keyboard shortcuts for many special characters. Create elegant and engaging pages for print, tablets, and other screens. Shrink frame to fit doesnt work with one line of text if the line ends with an em dash, en dash, or hyphen. As you work in indesign, youll probably need to create, save, join, and output files and graphics. You want to use an en dash instead of a normal dash or a hyphen when youre talking about a range of numbers or dates. I read on a grammar blog recently that the em dash is named after its length its. Text rendering in software like web browsers and word processors is gradually catching up to the tradition. Ms word usually incorporates this feature automatically as you type. There are lots of other special characters hiding in there, too. Hyphens, em dashes, en dasheseverything you need to know.
As soon as i click that, indesign types the character for me. How to use the hyphen, en dash and em dash ndash mdash, n. Indesign cc 2018 keyboard shortcuts printable cheat sheet. So lets have a look at the use of an en dash, first of all.
If youre working in adobe indesign, on mac you can use the. Using em dashes, en dashes and hyphens indesign tutorial. Scroll through the display of characters until you see the glyph you want to insert. Xtags is designed for picturebased data publishing complex book building classified ads building code conversion, and much more. For multipage documents, its the most flexible and complete application out there. Yet i remember how counterintuitive some things were when i was learning it for the first time. Same sequence but search for endash on the other character. Go to any software where you can insert these special spaces em, en, thin, etc. Adobe indesign cs6 software is a versatile desktop publishing application that gives you pixelperfect control over design and typography. Most people use the hyphen for everything, but the en and em dashes. The \m tag is now an em space was an em dash, and the \f tag is now a flex space was an en space which is converted to a regular space in indesign. Adoview for indesign allows you to view indesign cs4 to cs6, incopy, quarkxpress 6x to 8x, illustrator, ase, eps, postscript, idml and icml documents without opening them.
Specify the range of your search from the search menu, and click icons to include locked layers, master pages, footnotes, and other items in the search. You can do the same for en dash or other symbols and characters included in your font. Hello, im trying to fix links on an indesign cover file for a book cover someone else created so i dont have the original source photos, and the issue is a printer is waiting on the indesign file to do an emergency last minute print run of this book, and i cannot seem to just get rid of the linksfile errors. If youre using two continuous hypens in your writing, you probably meant to key in em dash but has no idea how to. Some people use setopen hyphens on ascii in place of dashes, which is actually probably the best thing in a monospace presentation but ugly in proportional fonts. On a standard english keyboard the hyphen can be found to the right of the zero.
In indesign cs2, the nonbreaking space is a fixed width. Microsoft word em dash keyboard shortcut freeware downloads. How to type an em dash on a mac adam parker writing. On a mac, you can type an emdash with shiftoptionhyphen. Most people use the hyphen for everything, but the en and em dashes should be used in many cases instead of a. If youre working in adobe indesign, on mac you can use the shortcuts listed above, and on any version of indesign you should also be familiar with the typeinsert special charactershyphens and dashes because youll get a whole list of characters you can use as well as your em and en dashes. On some mac keyboards, the option key is called alt. Use adaptive design tools to easily repurpose layouts to look great on a variety of pages sizes, orientations, or devices. This software for mac os x is a product of adobe systems inc. You can even assign your own hotkeys or change the default set to resemble the old quark set, if you are used to using that program. Sketch 3 is an excellent alternative to illustrator.
To create the em dash, select each hyphen individually, then go to the type menu, scroll down to insert special character, then go to hyphens and dashes and choose em dash. Using em dashes, en dashes and hyphens within indesign. So you want to use a dashed line, and you want to specify exactly how long the dash should be and how long the gap should be. The design, length and spacing of hyphens, en and em dashes can vary. In step with indesign dont dis the dash, em and en. Apr 17, 2014 adobes switch to software as a service has sent budgetminded creative professionals looking for alternatives to the creative cloud apps that dont cost them a monthly fee. Remove the default shortcut and assign whatever you like. Modern browsers and wen site software do a much better job with special characters today. The em dash is used to indicate a break or interruption in thought or to separate a sentence from a bullet point. Now a perfectly acceptable alternative to the em dash is an en dash with a space at each end like this. Adobes indesign product does a great job of all this. Most people use the hyphen for everything, but the en and em dashes should be used in many cases instead of a hyphen. To search for metacharacters such as em dashes or bullet characters. So the result is that space is added before and after the dash.
Indesign typography explores the numerous type options, typerelated features, and typespecific preferences of adobe indesign. Thank you for choosing mathmagic, the ultimate equation editor on the planet. Whilst reading novels, you will see the longer em dash used. Ill show you how to be productive despite the software. Use the glyphs panel to insert glyphs and special characters. Change the language of your files without having to fix the layout again.
If you selected an opentype font, you can display a pop. To assign a different shortcut for em dash, choose the insert symbol option of the words menu, find the em dash and press the shortcut key button. Adobe indesign cs6 free version download for mac os x. Jun 28, 2012 the \m tag is now an em space was an em dash, and the \f tag is now a flex space was an en space which is converted to a regular space in indesign. Indesign will hyphenate your body copy automatically if the. Pixelmator serves many users needs for a photoshop replacement. Indesign has a couple of features that makes inserting special characters a breeze. These shortcuts can help you keep your mouse pointing at your work while you do the dreary drudgework. So, for example, lets say i dont know how to type this en dash. The most popular version among the application users is 8. Having a magazine publisher before pagemakerquarkindesign came.