I’m arranging a song that has some Spanish lyrics. In the picture the highlighted syllable needs an accent mark. How to I do this?
Thanks!
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Mac? If so, option-e, then letter a
Windows? Ctrl + ' then a (I think)
Also, depending on what operating system you are running and what the system settings are, you might be able to choose from a pop-up list of accented characters by holding down the “a” key for a second or two.
Windows does not have a built in way to get these characters directly. You’d need to copy them from Character Map, or use a third-party utility that lets you input them directly.
I like Compose Keys, because it’s very lightweight. Microsoft PowerToys also provides this function. (And there are others as well.)
If you are using Windows, install the International language pack (in my case US International). You can switch between it and your default or other language packs by pressing Ctrl-Shift. I find this much faster than copy/paste from charmap or a word processor. A search will find a full list of how to enter the various diacritics. For the á you need, press the apostrophe then the a key.
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The answer is “the same way that you add accents to any text on your computer”.
On the Mac, just hold down the a key, and you get a popup with options.
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On Windows I simply type first the accent button followed by the letter a in this case.
On a german keyboard this is here, I don’t know where they are on other language keyboards, but the way of adding the accent should be the same.
My apologies - I should have noted that I’m on Windows.
On Windows, holding down the “a” key just gives me a bunch of letter “a”s
I have an English keyboard, and the accent I need isn’t on the keyboard.
That doesn’t work on Windows. Holding down the letter “a” just gives me a whole bunch of “a”s.
In Windows it’s banal to get every special character, including Spanish accents. It’s enough using International keboard together with Alt Gr:
éáíóú©ÉÅ®ö²³¤¡¼½¾…
>>A search will find a full list of how to enter the various diacritics. For the á you need, press the apostrophe then the a key.<<
Didn’t work. Apostrophe then a gave me this:
A then apostrophe gave me this:
And if you have only a US English keyboard, then what?
And before somebody suggests it – copying and pasting from Word didn’t work either.
This isn’t about the actual keyboard. You can still install the US International keyboard layout in Settings, and it will work as others have described.
Pardon the stupid question please:
Install in Windows or in Dorico? And if in Dorico, where? I don’t see it in Preferences.
In Windows, obviously. Download the US International keyboard and use it when you need it. The HW keyboard doesn’t change, obviously!
Here are my keyboards: you can choose them with WIN+Space
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In Windows. Settings > Time and language > Language and region. Under Language, click the three dot menu next to English and select Options. Under Keyboards, click Add a Keyboard and pick United States International.
You can Google instructions for switching between active layouts and using the International layout. (@Alberto_Maria also gives the instructions.)
(Personally, I still prefer Compose Keys.)
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Did you install the International Language pack and switch to it? It works for me. á
Finally, got it!
Once the international keyboard was installed, holding down apostrophe then small a did the trick.
Thank you, all, for your patience and suggestions!
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