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ioscar
Known Participant
July 19, 2011
Answered

Help: having some trouble dublicating a character

  • July 19, 2011
  • 1 reply
  • 679 views

to me its an asterisk. But i just cant get it to look right. im using unstructured frame 10. ive tried several character designs but nothing seems to look right. i have microsoft office installed so i have a ton of fonts. i dont care how its done just as its 90% similar when printed. Help please.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Bob_Niland

    Let's suppose that Zapf Dingbats \x6b is what we want.
    This is how I'd do it:

    1. Create a Character Format named "Dingbats".
      Set all fields of the dialog to As-Is or blank except:
      Family: ZapfDingbats
    2. Special > Variable [Create Variable]
      Name: char.symbol.asterisk-full
      Definition: <Dingbats>\x6b<Default ¶ Font>
    3. Anywhere you need this:
      Special > Variable
      {select char.symbol.asterisk-full from list}
      [Insert]

    You might need to play with the point size in the Chr Fmt.

    Yes, you can hand type this as a local override, using some special keyboard sequence.

    Doing it as a variable has numerous advantages: It avoids having the next character be a Dingbat too, if not also the wrong size. You don't need to memorize or look up the key sequence, font name, etc. every time you need it. You get global control over all instances, in case you find a glyph you like better in some other typeface. If used in a heading, it will appear as an "*" instead of a "k". Spell check won't hassle you about the "k".

    1 reply

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 19, 2011

    Look like you want a full cell asterisk. The normal one is inherently superscripted (and may only have five arms in some typefaces).

    You might want to try Dingbats (Zapf, I don't know if WingDings are identical here).

    Hex codes \xb5 ... \x5d, \x67 ... \x6a

    Or just copy and paste from MS Character Map.

    _____

    Hack: If the normal one has the desired shape, subscript it and increase the point size.

    I
    ioscarAuthor
    Known Participant
    July 19, 2011

    color me a newbie. how do i use hex codes?

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Bob_NilandCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    July 19, 2011

    Let's suppose that Zapf Dingbats \x6b is what we want.
    This is how I'd do it:

    1. Create a Character Format named "Dingbats".
      Set all fields of the dialog to As-Is or blank except:
      Family: ZapfDingbats
    2. Special > Variable [Create Variable]
      Name: char.symbol.asterisk-full
      Definition: <Dingbats>\x6b<Default ¶ Font>
    3. Anywhere you need this:
      Special > Variable
      {select char.symbol.asterisk-full from list}
      [Insert]

    You might need to play with the point size in the Chr Fmt.

    Yes, you can hand type this as a local override, using some special keyboard sequence.

    Doing it as a variable has numerous advantages: It avoids having the next character be a Dingbat too, if not also the wrong size. You don't need to memorize or look up the key sequence, font name, etc. every time you need it. You get global control over all instances, in case you find a glyph you like better in some other typeface. If used in a heading, it will appear as an "*" instead of a "k". Spell check won't hassle you about the "k".

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