INSERTING FOREIGN DIACRITICS

Follow the steps below to enter foreign characters that use diacritic marks in text you create in almost any application on your computer, including Smith Mail.

Windows users, note that you must first set up your computer to accommodate this method of inserting foreign characters.

Required setup for Windows XP
Required setup for Windows 7
Typing Foreign Diacritics on a Windows computer
Typing Foreign Diacritics on a Mac OS X computer

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Required Setup for Windows XP Users

Note that the setup below has to be done only once, and takes effect after you restart your computer.

1. Click on the Start menu and go to Settings /Control Panel.
   
   
2. Double-click on the Region and Language Options icon.
   
   
3. In the Region and Language Options window, click on the Language tab.
   
   
4. In the Text Services and Input Languages section, click on Details.
   
   
5. On the Settings tab of theText Services and Input Languages window, in the Installed Services section, select Keyboard and click Add.
   
   
6. On the Add Input Language window, select: Keyboard Layout/IME
   
   
7. From the Keyboard Layout/IME menu, select: United States - International
   
   
8. Click OK times to close all windows.
   
   
9. Your changes will take effect when you restart your computer.
   

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Required Setup for Windows 7 Users

Note that the setup below has to be done only once, and takes effect after you restart your computer.

1. Click on the Start menu and go to Control Panel /Region and Language.
   
   
2. On the Keyboards & Languages tab, click on the Change Keyboards button.
   
   
3. In the Keyboard Properties window, click on the Language tab.
   
   
4. In the Text Services & Input Languages window, locate the Installed Services area and select Keyboard.
   
   
5. Click the Add button and choose United States-International, then click OK.
   
   
6. Back in the Text Services & Input Languages window, if you wish to set the international layout as your default, click on the Default input language drop-down menu and select: English (United States) - United States - International
   
   
7. Click OK to close all windows.
   
   
8. Your changes will take effect when you restart your computer.
   

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Typing Foreign Diacritics on a Windows Computer

Note: Right ALT refers to the ALT key on the right side of the space bar.

Type	then	OR...	Result
`(back tick)	a, e, i, o, u		à, è, ì, ò, ù
' (apostrophe)	a, e, i, o, u	Right ALT + a	á, é, í, ó, ú
SHIFT + ~	n	Right ALT + n	ñ
SHIFT + "	a, u, o	Right ALT + q, y, p	ä, ü, ö
SHIFT + ^	a, e, i, o, u		â, ê, î, ô, û
Right ALT + ,			ç
Right ALT + SHIFT + ,			Ç
Right ALT + s			ß
Right ALT + z			æ
Right ALT + /			¿
Right ALT + 1			¡

Note: To enter any of the characters below as a regular character (not part of a diacritic), type the character followed by a space:

`(tick mark)
~ (tilde)
' (apostrophe)
" (quote)
^ (caret)

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Typing Foreign Diacritics on a Mac OS X Computer

Type	then	Result
option + `(back tick)	a, e, i, o, u	à, è, ì, ò, ù
option + e	a, e, i, o, u	á, é, í, ó, ú
option + n	n	ñ
option + u	a, u, o	ä, ü, ö
option + i	a, e, i, o, u	â, ê, î, ô, û
option + c		ç
option + SHIFT + c		Ç
option + s		ß
option + ' (apostrophe)		æ
option + SHIFT + ?		¿
option + 1		¡

 

Note: You can also use the US International keyboard, which works similarly to the Windows US International Keyboard described above. To use this method:

1. Click on the flag icon at the top right and choose Open Language & Text from the menu.
   
   
2. In the Language & Text window, on the Input Sources tab, scroll through the list and choose: US - International - PC

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