# How do I type special characters in Cuttle?

Need to add a letter with an accent, a decorative character, or a non-English script to your Cuttle project? This guide shows you **how to add special text characters** even if they’re not visible on your keyboard.

## 🔤 When Do You Need Special Characters?

You might want to insert special characters in Cuttle when:

1.  **Adding Accented Letters**
    
    Use diacritics for names and words in many languages:
    
    -   ñ, ã (tilde)
    -   é, á, í (acute accent)
    -   è, à (grave accent)
    -   ä, ö, ü (umlaut)
2.  **Adding decorative flourishes**
    
    Certain fonts have decorative characters like swashes and flourishes.
    
3.  **Using Non-English Scripts**
    
    Cuttle supports many fonts in non-Roman scripts, including Arabic, Japanese, Greek, etc.
    

## ✅ Methods for Entering Special Characters

### 1\. **Copy and Paste**

The easiest method.

Just copy the character (from an email, Google, or elsewhere) and paste it directly into your Cuttle text field. This will work on any device and OS.

⚠ **Note: Not all fonts include all characters!**

If a character doesn’t show up in your design, try switching fonts.

### 2\. **Long-Press Keys (Mac)**

Hold down a key to see alternate versions.

For example:

-   Press and hold `e` → a pop-up shows é, è, ê, ë, etc.
-   Type the number or click the version you want.

### 3\. **Use Dead Key Shortcuts**

On mechanical typewriters, accent characters were typed using special keys called **"dead keys"**—they didn’t advance the typewriter's carriage, allowing you to type the accent first and then the letter beneath it.

Here are some examples of dead key combinations with the `Option` key on a Mac.

💡

-   **é (Acute): Option + e, then e**
-   **è (Grave): Option + \`, then e**
-   **ñ (Tilde): Option + n, then n**

🔗 [See this guide on how to find a full list of dead keys on a Mac](https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/pages/tanec2c2fdfd/mac).

Here are some keyboard shortcuts with the `Ctrl` and `Shift` keys on Windows.

💡

-   **é (Acute): Ctrl + ‘, e**
-   **è (Grave): Ctrl + \`, e**
-   **ñ (Tilde): Ctrl + Shift + ~, n**

🔗 [See this guide on how to find a full list of dead keys on Windows](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/keyboard-shortcuts-for-international-characters-108fa0c1-fb8e-4aae-9db1-d60407d13c35#officeversion=classic_outlook).

### 4\. **Use Character Map (Windows)**

Search and copy characters from the **Character Map** tool:

1.  Open **Start Menu** → search “Character Map”
2.  Choose your font, then find and select your character
3.  Click **Copy**, then paste into Cuttle

### 5\. **Use Fonts that Support Your Language**

Cuttle includes many fonts tagged with **World** that support non-English scripts.

To find one:

-   Go to the font menu in Cuttle
-   Search “Greek”, “Japanese”, “Hindi”, etc.
-   Choose a font that supports the characters you need

You can also upload your own fonts to make sure you have the characters you need.

## 🛠 Troubleshooting Tips

-   If a character **doesn’t show up**:
    -   Make sure your selected font supports it.
    -   Try pasting it into a different text editor (like Google Docs) to verify it copied correctly.
-   If a non-Roman script **looks glitchy or displays boxes**, try changing to a font with full language support (e.g. IBM Plex Sans JP for Japanese).