Tutorials

Add Symbols and Special Unicode Characters to Your Keyboard

X-keys XK-24 with: ∆ √ ≡ ≠ ≈ ° ± ≤ ≥ Ä ä Ü ü
    Insert symbols and special characters like:
  • Letters with Diaeresis, Grave, Acute, Circumflex, or Tildes
  • Greek, Hebrew, or Cyrillic letters
  • Euro, Yen, Pound, or Currency symbols
  • Degree symbol
  • Pi Symbol
  • Plus-or-minus, Not equal to, or Approximately symbol
  • Greater than or equal to and Less than or equal to symbol
  • Pilcrow, Copyright, or Registered Trademark signs
  • Arrow symbols
  • Chinese characters, both simplified and traditional
    MacroWorks 3 Software
  • Free with any X-keys
  • Full Unicode support
  • Copy any character, word, phrase, or sentence to any key on the X-keys
  • X-keys pastes the selection into any application with the touch of a key
  • Clearly labeled keys (no extended key combinations to remember)

Most fonts offer a large set of extended characters and symbols but accessing those extended characters can mean a trip through a labyrinth of sub-menus, or remembering and entering an extended Alt+number sequence, or switching in and out of another application like Character Map. X-keys offers a simple alternative that works in all applications which support Unicode. Once programmed, the key can be easily labeled and used across applications. See specific instructions in programming special characters on the X-keys below.

MacroWorks 3 supports Unicode on all X-keys products but here are two we recommend for this purpose.

X-keys XK-24

X-keys XK-24 with Unicode characters
  • Connects to the USB port just like a USB keyboard
  • Supports all Unicode characters
  • Works on Windows XP, Vista, and 7
  • Full product description
XK-24-USB-R  $129.95 Add to Cart

X-keys USB Stick

X-keys Stick with special characters mounted on a standard keyboard
  • Connects to the USB port just like a USB keyboard
  • Supports all Unicode characters
  • Works on Windows XP, Vista, and 7
  • Full product description
XKS-79-USB-R  $99.95 Add to Cart

Programming Special Unicode Characters

Paste Unicode characters into MW3
  1. Install MacroWorks 3 (MW3).
  2. Find the symbol or character to be programmed, select and copy it.
  3. Open the MW3 programming interface.
  4. Select a key for programming.
  5. Select the Text option.
  6. Paste the symbol or character into the MW3 text box.
  7. Click Save or press the key to save it.

Tip:

For best results copy the Unicode characters from the application where you will be using them before pasting them into MW3. For example, use the Insert - Symbol option in MS Word to insert the character in a Word document. You may use either Ctrl+V or a right mouse click to paste in MW3.

Sources for Special Characters and Symbols

Windows Character Map (found under Programs>Accessories>System Tools) offers a number of extended character sets. There are also a number of free applications available including BablePad ( http://www.babelstone.co.uk/Software/BabelMap.html). Alternatively, you may search for a special symbol or character on the internet. If you can find it in text format (not an image), copy it from a web page and test by pasting in into an application. If your test is successful, copy it from the application into a key in MW3.

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