Creating New Characters

The Define Character option lets you tie one or more characters and symbols to a single keyboard character. The dimensions and position of the defined character are set using a Reference Character or by adjusting control points. Only one such character can be defined at a time, and it remains in force for the specified font and style until deleted.

To define a character:

1. Select a Text tool and click in the design area.
2. Create the text to be assigned to the defined character.
3. From the Text menu, select Define Character.

   A sizing box appears around the text you are defining.

4. In the Reference Character group:
   • Click in the Character field and press the desired keyboard character. (Up to two characters can be used.)

     This sets the dimensions of the defined character.

     The baseline and box of the defined character will be placed relative to the bounding box in the same ratio as the reference character.

     Or

   • Click and drag the control points (Character Height, Character Width, and Baseline) to define the area the character will occupy.

     When a reference character is not specified, the baseline is on the bottom of the object bounding box, and the character is scaled to fit the ascent.

5. From the dropdown lists, specify the font type and style where the character will be added.
6. In the Character group, click in the Character field and press a character on keyboard to associate it with the defined character.
7. Click Apply.

In this example, the defined character will be associated with the capital C in the Arial Regular font:

In the example below, the capital C in the Arial font is replaced with a telephone symbol. Every time you type C using the Arial Regular font, a telephone symbol will be inserted.

The special character defined here is used only by this program and will not affect or be used by other applications. Also, existing text in your document will not be affected.