When writing a social media post, you may not feel the need to use proper accented characters, likely resorting to similar-looking alternatives. However, when Word processing, you require correctly formatted characters. Here’s how to achieve this.

Let me start with a quick example to illustrate. Take the uppercase accented E. Do you know how to write it correctly? On social media, you might use a regular E followed by an apostrophe. However, there is an actual uppercase È with a grave accent. You might not know how to type it—understandably, since the Italian keyboard doesn’t natively support it.

Visually, which looks better: E' or È? Regardless of preference, the correct form is the latter. A plain E with an apostrophe holds little meaning for computers (it’s even incorrect for Braille) and looks unprofessional.

Biblos is a Word processing Software that simplifies writing special characters through dedicated tools.

For Uppercase Accented Letters This issue is easily resolved. First, type the accented vowels in lowercase. Then, place the cursor over the letter and press Ctrl+Plus (the key above the Ù key). To revert to lowercase, press Ctrl+Minus (the hyphen key to the right of the period).

To uppercase multiple letters or an entire sentence, select the text and press the same shortcut.

For Special Symbols and Punctuation Every character has a numeric code. Brace yourself: Biblos gives you access to over 60,000 characters—including symbols, punctuation, and scripts from all languages (past and present).

How do I view all special characters?

In Biblos, open the character map via Format > Font.... In the Font window, scroll through the list at the bottom to explore available characters. Changing the font may reveal additional options. To use a character:

1. Select it, right-click, and choose Copy (Ctrl+C).

2. Return to your document and paste it (Ctrl+V).

Hover over a character in the list to see its code and name in the status bar.

Useful Characters and Codes

• Guillemets: Opening « (code 171), Closing » (code 187)

• English Quotes: Opening “ (code 8220), Closing ” (code 8221)

• Single Quotes: Opening ‘ (code 8216), Closing ’ (code 8217)

• Ellipsis: … (code 8230)

• Interrobang: ‽ (code 8253) – a playful mix of exclamation and question marks.

How do I insert these symbols?

There are two methods:

1. Direct Code Entry

Press Alt+1 (left Alt key) to open a dialog. Enter the code (e.g., 8230), and Biblos converts it to the corresponding character.

2. Custom Keyboard Mapping

Create personalized shortcuts via Tools/Keyboards/Customize...:

◦ Click Add... to create a new keyboard (e.g., "My Keyboard").

◦ Add a key: Assign a hotkey (e.g., Ctrl+E) and input the code prefixed with ^ (e.g., ^8230). Use Shift+ì to type ^.

◦ Confirm with OK and activate your keyboard under Tools > Keyboards.

Now, pressing your assigned hotkey inserts the symbol instantly.

This ensures precise, efficient writing for professional or multilingual documents.

For further support you can subscribe the Biblos Group on Facebook.