Private Character Editor lets you add as many as 6,400 new characters to your fonts. You can use it to extend your fonts' character sets with new typographical designs, symbols, logos, or anything else that you're able to create with a simple black-and-white drawing program. You can add new characters to particular fonts or all fonts, and then access those characters with Character Map.
Windows 2000 doesn't automatically create a menu entry for Private Character Editor. To run the utility, choose Run from the Start menu and specify eudcedit.
Private Character Editor opens with the Select Code dialog box, as shown in Figure 13-8. The range of codes available for your characters extends from hexadecimal E000 to F8FF. Choose the code you want to use, and then click OK. To return to the Select Code dialog box later (for example, to create a new character with a different code), choose Select Code from the Edit menu (or press Ctrl+O).
Figure 13-8. Private Character Editor uses the code range E000 to F8FF. Use this dialog box to select a code for your new character.
TIP
If you change your mind about a character's code assignment after you've drawn the character, choose Save As, not Save, from the Edit menu. Save As lets you assign the character to a different code.
Once you've selected a code for your new character, you'll find yourself in the Edit window, shown in Figure 13-9. In the grid, each square represents one pixel. Along the left side of the grid is an array of drawing tools:
Draws one pixel at a time | |
Draws four pixels at a time | |
Draws a straight line one pixel wide | |
Draws a one-pixel rectangular frame | |
Draws a filled rectangle | |
Draws a one-pixel elliptical frame | |
Draws a filled ellipse | |
Creates a rectangular selection | |
Creates a free-form selection | |
Erases one pixel at a time |
The tools work much like their counterparts in Paint, except that they're less powerful. You can't constrain a rectangle to square dimensions by holding down the Shift key, for example, as you can in Paint. Draw carefully, avail yourself of the eraser tool, and if you need to start over, choose Select Code from the Edit menu and answer No to the save prompt.
Figure 13-9. Private Character Editor's drawing tools work much like those in Microsoft Paint.
You can use an existing character and modify it or use it as a reference point.
To copy an existing character into the Edit window and modify it:
To choose a character from a specific font, click the Font button.
To use an existing character as a model:
Figure 13-10 shows the Reference window with a character taken from Wingdings. You can copy parts of the character from the Reference window to your Edit window or you can use it as a visual reference while you work in the Edit window.
Figure 13-10. The Reference window lets you use one character as a model for another.
You can use the rectangular selection tool and freeform selection tool to copy portions (or all) of a character from the Reference window to the Edit window. Make your selection, choose Copy from the Edit menu, and then choose Paste from the Edit menu. The copied character appears initially in the upper left corner of the Edit window. Use your mouse to drag it into position. When it's in position, click outside the selection box to place it in your drawing.
Eliminating the gridlines from the Edit window can facilitate a final inspection of your character. So too can drawing an outline around the character. The outline lets you see the character as it will appear in use, without the jagged edges that are inevitable in a pixel editor. You'll find the Grid command and the Show Outline command on the View menu.
To save your custom character, choose Save Character from the Edit menu. The character will be saved to the code shown on Private Character Editor's guide bar, directly below the menu bar. If that's not the code you want to use, choose Save Character As, instead of Save Character, from the Edit menu and select another available code number.
By default, your character becomes available in all fonts. To link the character to a specific font only:
To use a custom character in a document:
Private Character Editor doesn't provide a straightforward way to remove custom characters. You can get rid of a character you no longer want, however, by creating a blank character in the unwanted character's code slot.