HOW TO MAKE SPANISH ACCENT MARKS ON A COMPUTER
Please get in the habit of using the computer to type accent marks and do it
as you
type. This is much easier than going back over a document and adding the
marks
afterwards. All word processors are capable of doing proper accent marks in
Spanish.
Almost all printers are capable of printing them. If you have a printer that
will not
do it, writing them in may be your only solution.
Below are some instructions that might help. You will only need to do this
process
once; your word processor will remember how you have set up these special
characters. These instructions include 4 options. Choose the one that
works best for you and/or the kind of computer you have.
A. The best option is to install a Spanish Keyboard in Windows. This will
allow you to
use accent marks in ANY program on the computer, including the desktop, file
names, graphics and word processing. The layout on a Spanish Keyboard is
different (that is, many symbols are in different places than they are on the
English
Keyboard).
To install the Spanish Keyboard on Windows, click first on "Start"
then "Settings"
and then "Control Panel." Once there click on "Keyboard."
In the Keyboard Properties window that is now visible, click on the "Input
Locals"
tab, and then click on "Add." Choose a Keyboard (such as "Spanish
International
Sort). Click "OK" to get out of all of the open windows.
Now (perhaps after you restart your computer) you will see a gray square in
your
system tray (the lower right row of icons on the task bar at the bottom of
your
screen in Windows). Clicking on this gray square (or using the Ctrl and
Shift keys
at the same time) will give you the option of toggling back and forth between
any keyboards you have installed.
NOTA BENE: If you install a non-English keyboard the letters on your actual
keyboard (the hardware) will not necessarily indicate what letter is actually
typed..
Macintosh
Microsoft Word (PC)
WordPerfect (PC)
B. Macintosh (any program)
Accented characters are "hard wired" into the Macintosh Operating System. The
following instructions will always work on a Mac in any program or
application
since they always remain part of the system software.
Symbols joined by a + need to be held down at the same time;
Symbols separated by a coma need to be hit in sequence, one after the other.
�
Option + e , a
�
Option + e , e
�
Option + e , i
�
Option + e , o
�
Option + e , u
�
Option + e , Shift + e
�
Option + n , n
�
Option + n , Shift + n
�
Option + Shift + ?
�
Option + 1
�
Option + U , u (We will not use this.)
C. Microsoft Word for Windows
The default keystrokes for accented characters are as follows:
Symbols joined by a + need to be held down at the same time;
Symbols separated by a coma need to be hit in sequence, one after the other.
�
Ctrl + ' , a
�
Ctrl + ' , e
�
Ctrl + ' , i
�
Ctrl + ' , o
�
Ctrl + ' , u
�
Ctrl + ' , Shift + e
�
Ctrl + Shift + ~, n
�
Ctrl + Shift + ~, Shift + n
�
Alt + Ctrl + Shift + ?
�
Alt + Ctrl + Shift + !
�
Ctrl + Shift + : , u (We will not use this.)
If you want to change the defaults and use other keystrokes to access accent
marks, follow these instructions. You will only need to do this once and the
computer you're working on will remember the keystrokes you've set up.
However, if you move to a different machine, you'll probably have to go
through this set-up process again.
1. Go to the "Insert" menu and choose "Symbol"
2. Get "Normal text" and then highlight the character you want
3. Click on "Shortcut Key"
4. Type in the keystrokes you want for that character
(such as "alt + e" for "�")
5. Repeat this process for each special character you need
D. Word Perfect 8.0 for Windows
There are no default settings for international characters in WordPerfect.
You must set up your computer to recognize the keystrokes you want to
use (such as "alt + e" for "�"). You only need to do this once on any given
computer. The software will remember what you've taught it.
1. When in WordPerfect, click on "Tools" and select "Settings."
2. Now double-click on "Customize."Select the "Keyboards" tab.
3. Click on the keyboard you want to edit (I suggest "WPWIN 8 keyboard")
and click "Edit."
4. On the left is a list of all of the possible "shortcut" keystrokes you can
assign to accented characters. Notice that most of them are already
assigned to some function. Don't use these. Select the keystroke you
want to use (see suggestions below) and then click on the "Keystrokes"
tab.
5. Press Ctrl + W to display a list of all the possible characters.
6. Under "Set" select "Multinational."
7. Click on the character you want to assign to the keystroke you already
selected in step 5.
8. Click on "Insert and Close"
9. Click on "Assign Keystrokes ot Key"
10. Repeat this process from step 5 trough 10 until you've assigned all of
the Spanish characters.
11. Click OK.
NOTA BENE: the upside down exclamation and interrogative are under
the "Typographic Symbols" Set, see step 7.
For the easiest typing, I suggest setting up the following keystrokes.
Symbols joined by a + need to be held down at the same time;
�
Alt + a
�
Alt + e
�
Alt + i
�
Alt + o
�
Alt + u
�
Alt + Shift + e
�
Alt + n
�
Alt + Shift + n
�
Alt + Shift + ?
�
Alt + Shift + !
�
Alt + Shift + u