Filed under: Software, Tips and tricks, Universal Binary
PopChar X 3.0
There are a few applications that increase my productivity to the point where, after awhile, I can't work without them. Quicksilver is one. Another is FinderPop. But when it comes to working on a desktop publishing project for days on end, nothing increases my productivity more than Ergonis' PopChar X. This amazing little application places a tiny letter "P" in the top left corner of your screen next to your Apple menu that gives you quick and easy access to the character sets in your fonts. So if you can't remember the keyboard shortcut for making an umlaut or the copyright symbol, PopChar can quickly help you find these characters and insert them into your document.Version 3.0 of PopChar X sports a completely redesigned and streamlined interface for browsing your installed fonts and their character sets. It has full support for Unicode character sets and can even do HTML character insertion into your code. PopChar is a universal binary and costs $30.00. You can download PopChar and use it in demo mode with some characters being disabled until you register for the full version. If you haven't ever tried PopChar, I encourage to do so now. For me, it's truly one of the great applications for Mac users.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
andy said 12:23PM on 6-29-2006
i tried quicksilver but to be honest im not really much more productive with it, so i reverted back to a combination of i-mote and spotlight (and knowledge of keyboard shortcuts) - i-mote is much quicker for itunes use.
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John said 12:44PM on 6-29-2006
I remember this utility from the days of OS 9. I'm glad to see it's still around, but the price seems WAY too high, even for such a useful utility.
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mroach said 1:24PM on 6-29-2006
I just press option+u to make an umlaut and option+g to make a copyright symbol. If I ever need an option+key shortcut, I just use the OS X keyboard map viewer or look here: http://applepedia.com/Apple_keyboard
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Jonathan Neil said 2:59PM on 6-29-2006
Or, if you would like to save $30, you can simply enable "Character Palette" under the input menu section of your International system prefs. This places a little flag in the menu bar, top right. Anytime you need a character map, you can click on the flag and select "Show Character Palette."
I'm not sure why anyone would pay $30 for something that is free in the OS. PopChar may be a bit prettier to look at, but not $30 prettier.
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jason mark said 3:08PM on 6-29-2006
this is built into OSX:
1) go to Preferences>International
2) go to "Input Menu" tab
3) turn on "Character Palette" (checkbox at top of scrolling list of options)
4) check of "Show Input Menu in menu bar" (Checkbox on bottom of page)
NOTE: you now have a butt ugly US flag in the upper right of your menu-bar
5) go to ugly flag and select "Show Character Palette"
RESULT: you can now select any character you want easily.
ALSO NOTE: if you also turn on the "Keyboard Viewer" from International Preferences, then you get the old-school, preOSX keyboard that shows you what each key is when you press option, command, etc. So you can actually LEARN that the degree symbol ° is shift-option-8 while copyright © is option-g for some reason.
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Damien said 3:13PM on 6-29-2006
Have some of you even tried PopChar?
Yes, the built-in Input Menu menubar item gives similar functionality. However, it takes up space in the coveted menubar item real estate. PopChar does not; it uses the unused space left of the Apple Menu.
Also, PopChar is infinitely more customizable and offers far more features than the built-in Input Menu menulet.
And I don't think $30 is so much money--not for something that dramatically increases my productivity during a project.
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Jason said 5:38PM on 6-29-2006
I use pickChar.
It's practically the same and a lot cheaper.
http://www.shawnware.de/pickchara.html
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Joe Clark said 6:04PM on 6-29-2006
This seems to be the latest in a series of posts on different sites broadly implying that it is so difficult to type “special” characters that you need a separate application to do it. I’ve been touch-typing such characters for 20 years. Really, it’s rather simple.
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