Create Greek-Symbol Characters with your Number-pad
Let’s say you are formatting a document written by a scientist who’s at a long-standing position in a research institute. Let’s say they prefer Arial, by default. Chances are, they have been adding symbols to their Word document in the time honored tradition of switching to the symbol font, typing a letter, then switching back to Arial. This works fine right up until you it’s time to submit a document to an organization that doesn’t like Arial. They like Times. So you select all, change the font, and then you’re done.
Except you aren’t done, because every instance where they switched to the Symbol font has changed to a “box” instead since the font was changed throughout the document. Now you have to either tediously comb through the document or execute a number of Find-and-Replace routines to fix the damage. What if you could use a better method?
The Objective: Rather than changing to the symbol font or accessing the character map, simply hit a button and insert the character you need.
Steps to take:
- Download and install Autohotkey.
- Download and save this script to your computer. You will likely need to make alterations to the script to take into account your character-insertion needs. My thread at the Autohotkey forums may be helpful.
- Mark-up your keys. You can use a sharpie if you want the quick and dirty approach.
- Execute the script.
The extra mile: Given how frequently I need to insert these characters, drawing with a sharpie just won’t cut it. I’ve opted to do the following instead.
- Purchase these clear user defined key-labels from DataCal Enterprises.
- Modify and export replacement key-fronts using this PNG file.
- Insert the exported images onto any label type you happen to have handy.
- Use scissors or an Xacto knife to cut the images from the labels.
- Peel the backing off and place the replacement images onto the appropriate keys.
- Place the clear key-labels on top of the images. This will ensure that the keyfronts have a bit more permanence.
Potential Problems: But I use my number pad to type numbers.
I’ve got you covered there, too. Simply use this script instead, which requires that a CTRL key be used when striking the appropriate key. If you opt for this option, then download this PNG file, which retains the image of the numpad numbers along with the symbols).
Closing Thoughts
About six months after beginning this project, I have found it to be very successful. My boss, who is not comfortable opening up a CharMap window or even double-clicking to open a special characters menu, uses this without thinking now. Reformatting his documents as needed by publishers or granting institutions is much easier. While it requires a little up-front work, the payoff has been well worth it.
Thanks to Lifehacker and the wonderful community at the Autohotkey forums for making this possible.
[...] | Among the many little programs I use to save time is Autohotkey, previously explored in this post. On that page, I looked at how you could use a script to turn the number pad into a greek-character [...]
[...] the many little programs I use to save time is Autohotkey, previously explored in this post. On that page, I looked at how you could use a script to turn the number pad into a greek-character [...]