Bulleted list using checkmarks

[NinaBR]

Please, someone help me. I have tried to follow instructions in a couple of other posts for creating a bulleted list that uses checkmarks instead of bullets, and nothing has worked so far. I tried using u2713 for a "checkmark" style the paragraph designer, but the "bullet" shows up as a question mark, no matter what font use. I also tried setting up a character style that uses Wingdings but that didn't work either.

It's possible (okay, probable) that there are some simple instructions out there, and I'm just not finding them. If someone can post a link, that would be immensely helpful. I've spent about 30 minutes on this already and am getting nowhere. Thanks!

[Winfried Reng]

Hi ennar,

A questionmark indicates that your font does not have this character.

When you enter this character in regular text, then you see whether it's there.

You can also check e.g. the available characters in the Windows character map or in BabelMap.

Or you can insert characters with Insert | Character | Character Palette.

Or you can create a new variable and enter \u2713 as definition. Then insert this variable.

Then you will see, whether your font supports this character.

Best regards

Winfried

[LinSims]

If they want this to be part of a paragraph format to create a bulleted list, I don't think using a variable will work. I could be wrong, but I don't think you can use a variable in the Format field.

[Winfried Reng]

Hi Lin,

Yes. This is just for checking, if the specific character exists in this font.

Best regards

Winfried

[NinaBR]

Hi! Thanks for your response. I tried using a variable but couldn't get it to work as a bullet.

I can't find a checkmark in the character palette. There is one in wingdings but it turns into a "P" if I try to insert it, probably because my current paragraph style is Arial not Wingdings. I'm not sure how to have the bullet be in one font and the rest of my text in another.

[Bob_Niland]

Since an older discussion of this seems to have vanished from the forum, here's a short summary for future reference. Most web browsers, and many word processing apps do “font fallback”. FM does not. Here's a neat article on the concept: When fonts fall

In FM, the current Paragraph or Character Format specifies a font. If you use a codepoint for a character not populated in that font, you see a single question mark (?) for it instead.

For example, if you are working on a Creative Commons license document, and need a
⊜ U+229C CIRCLED EQUALS
for the colophon page, and your Body font doesn't have it, you get
?
The correct codepoint (byte string) is still present there in the FM file, but FM can't render the intended glyph to screen or other output.

The quick workaround for this is to create a Character Format and Variable for it, perhaps:
ƒStyle: Glyphs
Family: Segoe UI Symbol
Attributes: ■ all As-Is
Variable Name: U+229C CIRCLED EQUALS
Definition: <Glyphs>\u229c

On the other hand, if you need most of the other native Unicode CC characters, you are presently out of luck in FM, as they are all codepoints above U+FFFF, which FM can't yet do (FRMAKER-10976). You'll have to use a legacy overlay font or import an EPS object.

Rina J: …in wingdings but it turns into a "P" if I try to insert it…
And that's the problem with using the legacy overlay fonts scheme. Ditto when people try to copy it back out of the PDF.

[LinSims]

This is what worked for me:

Open Microsofts character map, select the font you want to use, and search for check

Select and copy the check mark you want

Open Paragraph Designer and click the Numbering tab

On the Numbering tab, in the format field, paste the checkmark.

Click Update Style

This is what your Numbering tab should look like:

 And this is the result in FrameMaker:

[NinaBR]

What font are you using? I've tried a couple dozen fonts with this and keep getting the question mark.

[LinSims]

That one happend to be Source Sans Pro.

What you need is a font that supports the Dingbats range of characters (U+2700 – U+27BF). This page lists a lot of them (but by no means all, he gave up keeping things up to date because there are a lot of fonts out there): http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/dingbats.html

You can also use this page to list all the glyphs in the fonts you have available (font by font): http://torinak.com/font/lsfont.html

Most unicode fonts support the Dingbats range, so I'm surprised you're having issues. If all else fails, there's always Arial Unicode MS which has every glyph known to man. Most of the Adobe fonts have it, as do most of the Microsoft fonts, including Calibri.

[NinaBR]

Thanks for the links. When I try pasting the checkmark into the Paragraph Designer, it just shows up as a bullet:

 

In my document, that shows up as the question mark. I'll look at getting some of the fonts listed in the links. I don't have any of them on my machine. Thanks!

[Lynne A. Price]

One other detail is that the checkmark in the autonumber does not need to be in the same font as the rest of the paragraph. For example, if you decide to use a checkmark in a special character font, you can define a character format that applies that font. Then specify that character format at the bottom of the Numbering tab in the Paragraph Designer.

    --Lynne

[NinaBR · Accepted solution]

Ding ding ding! Lynne, that did the trick! I also tried the Segoe UI Emoji font, and that gave me the checkmark I needed. So many thanks to everyone who contributed. Y'all have been a huge help!

[Marcos26457305waa6]

For those working on a Mac, the Apple Symbols font does the trick. There are a couple of checkmars near the end of the list.

[Barb Binder]

In FrameMaker? 

~Barb

[SSL-ADT]

Hi Marcos and everyone else,

I have a Mac, thank God. But, once I paste the copied check mark onto a text layer in photoshop, I get a small rectangle with an X in it. It won't display the chosen check mark. What gives?

Regards,

-Ron

[Winfried Reng]

Hi,

This is a FrameMaker forum and not an Photoshop forum. And this thread is about a specific FrameMaker numbering question. I recommend to turn to the correct Photoshop forum and post your question there.

When you copied a check mark character and paste it in Photoshop and you get an x, then I assume that your font does not have the checkmark character.

You could select the x character and change the font.

I do not have Photoshop, but I would guess that Photoshop has a selection of special characters to insert. Also checkmark.

Best regards, Winfried