special characters

[coalitionguy]

I've been doing the Apple thing for about a year, but still have yet to come across a keybooard shortcut to add special characters to a document. In Windows, you can use Alt => 148, for example, to get a German "o" with the umlaut over it. Is there any such method or keyboard shortcut in OS X?

[iWhat]

It's a lot easier in the mac than Windows, plus more easier to remember!

Alt + u= ¨, then press the desired letter you would like to have the umlaut over, like äüö. And for the sharp-s or ß press, Alt + s.

If you have Tiger, I would recommend this widget:

http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashb...racterpal.html

Here are a couple more special characters, if you are typing more than German umlauts:
http://www.omniglot.com/mlcomputing/

[coalitionguy]

****! That was fast and easy. This is why I love this forum. Thanks for the quick and thorough response iWhat.

UPDATE: I didn't realize the censors of this forum were so stringent. I wouldn't have thought a 4-letter word that started with "d" and ended with "n" would be grounds for censorship. Oh well, I still love this forum.

[cradom]

This might help:

Key Commands for Special Characters

¡    Option    1
™    Option    2
£    Option    3
¢    Option    4
∞    Option    5
§    Option    6
¶    Option    7
•    Option    8
ª    Option    9
º    Option    0
å    Option    a
∫    Option    b
ç    Option    c
∂    Option    d
á    Option    e    then    a
é    Option    e    then    e
í    Option    e    then    i
ó    Option    e    then    o
ú    Option    e    then    u
ƒ    Option    f
©    Option    g
˙    Option    h
â    Option    i    then    a
ê    Option    i    then    e
î    Option    i    then    i
ô    Option    i    then    o
û    Option    i    then    u
∆    Option    j
˚    Option    k
¬    Option    l
µ    Option    m
ã    Option    n    then    a
ñ    Option    n    then    n
õ    Option    n    then    o
ø    Option    o
π    Option    p
œ    Option    q
®    Option    r
ß    Option    s
†    Option    t
ä    Option    u    then    a
ë    Option    u    then    e
ï    Option    u    then    i
ö    Option    u    then    o
ü    Option    u    then    u
√    Option    v
∑    Option    w
≈    Option    x
¥    Option    y
Ω    Option    z
à    Option    `    then    a
è    Option    `    then    e
ì    Option    `    then    i
ò    Option    `    then    o
ù    Option    `    then    u
–    Option    -
≠    Option    =
“    Option    [
‘    Option    ]
«    Option    \
…    Option    ;
æ    Option    '
≤    Option    ,
≥    Option    .
÷    Option    /
⁄    Option    Shift    1
€    Option    Shift    2
‹    Option    Shift    3
›    Option    Shift    4
fi    Option    Shift    5
fl    Option    Shift    6
‡    Option    Shift    7
°    Option    Shift    8
·    Option    Shift    9
‚    Option    Shift    0
Å    Option    Shift    a
ı    Option    Shift    b
Ç    Option    Shift    c
Î    Option    Shift    d
´    Option    Shift    e
Ï    Option    Shift    f
˝    Option    Shift    g
Ó    Option    Shift    h
ˆ    Option    Shift    i
Ô    Option    Shift    j
    Option    Shift    k
Ò    Option    Shift    l
    Option    Shift    m
˜    Option    Shift    n
Ø    Option    Shift    o
∏    Option    Shift    p
Π   Option    Shift    q
‰    Option    Shift    r
Í    Option    Shift    s
ˇ    Option    Shift    t
¨    Option    Shift    u
◊    Option    Shift    v
„    Option    Shift    w
˛    Option    Shift    x
Á    Option    Shift    y
¸    Option    Shift    z
`    Option    Shift    `
—    Option    Shift    -
±    Option    Shift    =
”    Option    Shift    [
’    Option    Shift    ]
»    Option    Shift    \
Ú    Option    Shift    ;
Æ    Option    Shift    '
¯    Option    Shift    ,
˘    Option    Shift    .
¿    Option    Shift    /

[torchy]

You could just put the Character Palette & Keyboard viewer on the Menu bar.
System Preferences > International > Input menu. at the bottom tick 'Show input menu in menu bar.
Easy access for all characters and the keyboard viewer will show which character you will get with each key. Press option / shift etc. The green button on the keyboard viewer will make it big enough to see easily :-)
Best.