Familiarity with select, copy, paste, fonts, subscripts and superscripts, is useful but not required to simply insert a symbol.

    Use of the Symbols Box, available through the Insert Menu, permits the user to create all of the black text above that is not available on the keyboard.

    Copy-paste-and-edit and keystroke shortcuts, see below, make repeated symbol insertion easier.

    The reader should be aware that the fonts and symbols available on each computer depend on the versions of the word processing and graphic programs installed on the machine.

To insert a symbol:

1st: Place the curser at the desired position in the document.

 

2nd: Open the Insert Menu and select Symbol..., This is also the keystrokes Alt + I, then S.

 

3rd: Scroll through the chart of symbols and click on the desired symbol.

 

4th: Lastly, click the Insert button at the bottom of the Symbol box.

    Many, but not all, of the symbols in the Symbols Chart have keystroke shortcuts.

    The figures below show two different locations in which one might learn if a symbol has a keystroke short cut and what the short cut is.

    Just as keystroke may be used to select menus and options (as in Alt + I, then S yields the Symbols Chart), or complete commands (as in Ctrl + Z undoes the last command), keystrokes may be used to enter symbols (as in Alt + Ctrl + C to yield ©).

To insert a symbol:

1st: Place the curser at the desired position in the document.

 

2nd: Type the required keystrokes to yield the desired symbol.

    Often the keystroke matches the ASCII Code Symbols numbering.

    Here are a few samples of keystroke shortcuts and the symbols they produce.

    It is possible to customize keystrokes to create a symbol used often, but, this is not a topic for this page.