how to customize special characters shortcuts (for phonetic symbols)

I'd like to be able to create such kind of shortcuts for phonetic symbols (such as ɔ ɤ ɯ ŋ ʔ etc),

The tool for making custom keyboard layouts is Ukelele

http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?siteid=nrsi&itemid=ukelele

But some layouts for IPA exist already

http://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?siteid=nrsi&item_id=ipa-silkeyboard

When I used to work on the old Windows computers I always used the Alt Codes which for me worked very well. I had a chart on the wall and could easily find the accents or symbols I needed.

I am now working very happily with the MacBook Pro and Snow Leopard. I am using he Character viewer and have a set of favorites that I use regularly. I live in Spain so the Spanish accents are a must for me.

To help others in the office I posted a blog on the subject:

To visit the post please go to: How to find symbols and characters on the Mac http://www.recordpc.com/how-to-find-symbols-and-characters-on-the-mac

For the free ebook on the Keyboard and Character Viewer this can be downloaded directly. Download the Keyboard and Character Viewer ebook http://www.recordpc.com/ebooks/KeyboardAndCharacterViewer.pdf

I hope you enjoy the information, and hope this helps everyone with the Characters and Symbols on the Mac.

I know where to find special characters as you folks have mentioned. But how do you make it part of the text? I am trying to put a DIAERESIS over a u in a German person's name, and have found no way to do it. It either puts it before or after the letter, as opposed to on top. This is not the first time I have wanted to do this for reports at school, but can still find no way to do it. There is no help in the help section. What good are the characters if I cannot use them the way I need to use them? I am using Pages from iWork '08, if that matters.

Hi

Welcome to the forum.

You seem to be referring to an umlaut.

Simply type option u then u again = ü

Peter

Sorry, I was going by what the character viewer called it. You are correct. I have not taken German for about 20 years. That worked. Thank you so much!

Will that work with any letter and any symbol, I take it?

This has been universal for the Mac OS dating back to the early 80's, to see how it is done look here:

http://www.freeforum101.com/iworktipsntrick/viewtopic.php?p=97&mforum=iworktipsn trick#97

P.

Will that work with any letter and any symbol, I take it?

Keyboard shortcuts are not always possible for every letter and symbol, but here is a list:

http://homepage.mac.com/thgewecke/diacritics.html

Tom there is an error on your page:

Option s = ß

not

Option b which =∫

Peter

Why are you assuming that everybody use an English keyboard ?

On mine, _alt b returns ß_ as described by Tom which knows what he write about !

Yvan KOENIG (VALLAURIS, France) mercredi 30 septembre 2009 15:54:34

Why are you always quick to jump in without actually reading the link?

The reference is to the Mac US Keyboard Dead Keys.

P.

Tom there is an error on your page:

Option s = ß

not

Option b which =∫

Thanks for catching that!

I have expounded on your page here:

http://www.freeforum101.com/iworktipsntrick/viewtopic.php?t=84&mforum=iworktipsn trick

Peter

Thanks again!