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LaTeX for Publications: Special Characters

Getting Started

You need to use the correct package for special characters. Most of the common characters are available within the UTF-8 character set. We can enable the UTF-8 character set by loading the inputenc package in the preamble of your document:
 
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} % Enables use of special characters (UTF-8 character set)

Adding Special Characters in LaTeX

Character Appearance You Type Notes
Ampersand & \&  
Backslash \ \textbackslash  
Circled letter \textcircled{s}  
Copyright © \copyright  
Curly bracket (left) { \{  
Curly bracket (right) } \}  
Dagger \dag  
Dollar sign $ \$  
Double dagger \ddag  
Em dash \textemdash  
Euro (currency) \euro{} Use with the eurosym package:
\usepackage[gen]{eurosym}
Exclamation point - inverted ¡ \textexclamdown Spanish
Paragraph symbol \P  
Percent sign % \%  
Pound sign ("hashtag") # \#  
Pound (currency) £ \pounds  
Question mark - inverted ¿ \textquestiondown Spanish
Registered ® \textregistered  
[Space]   ~ Non-breaking space
Tilde ~ \~{}  
Trademark \texttrademark  

Postscript ZapfDingbat Symbols

To use the Postscript ZapfDingbats symbols, you will need to enable the pifont package in the preamble of your document:
 
\usepackage{pifont} % Enables use of ZapfDingbats font

To insert a Dingbat character in your document, enter \ding{number}

Note: There are no characters for values 0-32, 127-160, 240.

Postscript ZapfDingbat Symbols for LaTeX
Postscript ZapfDingbat Symbols

Accented Characters in LaTeX

These characters can be embedded anywhere. They behave like regular letters in terms of spacing, font size, etc.

For example: Biblioth\`eque renders as: Bibliothèque
(bolding and color used for clarity in this example).

Ä    \"A ä    \"a Á    \'A á    \'a Ȧ    \.A ȧ    \.a Ā    \=A
ā    \=a     \^A â    \^a À    \`A à    \`a Ą    \k{A} ą    \k{a}
Å    \r{A} å    \r{a} Ă    \u{A} ă    \u{a} Ǎ    \v{A} ǎ    \v{a} à   \~A
ã    \~a Ć    \'C ć    \'c Ċ    \.C ċ    \.c Ĉ    \^C ĉ    \^c
Ç    \c{C} ç    \c{c} Č    \v{C} č    \v{c} Ď    \v{D} ď    \v{d} Ë    \"E
ë    \"e É    \'E é    \'e Ė    \.E ė    \.e Ē    \=E ē    \=e
Ê    \^E ê    \^e È    \`E è    \`e Ȩ    \c{E} ȩ    \c{e} Ę    \k{E}
ę    \k{e} Ĕ    \u{E} ĕ    \u{e} Ě    \v{E} ě    \v{e} Ġ    \.G ġ    \.g
Ĝ    \^G ĝ    \^g Ģ    \c{G} ģ    \c{g} Ğ    \u{G} ğ    \u{g} Ǧ    \v{G}
ǧ    \v{g} Ĥ    \^H ĥ    \^h Ȟ    \v{H} ȟ    \v{h} Ï    \"I ï    \"i
Í    \'I í    \'i İ    \.I Ī    \=I ī    \=i Π   \^I î    \^i
Ì    \`I ì    \`i Į    \k{I} į    \k{i} Ĭ    \u{I} ĭ    \u{i} Ǐ    \v{I}
ǐ    \v{i} Ĩ    \~I ĩ    \~i Ĵ    \^J ĵ    \^j Ķ    \c{K} ķ    \c{k}
Ǩ    \v{K} ǩ    \v{k} Ĺ    \'L ĺ    \'l Ļ    \c{L} ļ    \c{l} Ľ    \v{L}
ľ    \v{l} Ń    \'N ń    \'n Ņ    \c{N} ņ    \c{n} Ň    \v{N} ň    \v{n}
Ñ    \~N ñ    \~n Ö    \"O ö    \"o Ó    \'O ó    \'o Ȯ    \.O
ȯ    \.o Ō    \=O ō    \=o Ô    \^O ô    \^o Ò    \`O ò    \`o
Ő    \H{O} ő    \H{o} Ǫ    \k{O} ǫ    \k{o} Ŏ    \u{O} ŏ    \u{o} Ǒ    \v{O}
ǒ    \v{o} Õ    \~O õ    \~o Ŕ    \'R ŕ    \'r Ŗ    \c{R} ŗ    \c{r}
Ř    \v{R} ř    \v{r} Ś    \'S ś    \'s Ŝ    \^S ŝ    \^s Ş    \c{S}
ş    \c{s} Š    \v{S} š    \v{s} Ţ    \c{T} ţ    \c{t} Ť    \v{T} ť    \v{t}
Ü    \"U ü    \"u Ú    \'U ú    \'u Ū    \=U ū    \=u Û    \^U
û    \^u Ù    \`U ù    \`u Ű    \H{U} ű    \H{u} Ų    \k{U} ų    \k{u}
Ů    \r{U} ů    \r{u} Ŭ    \u{U} ŭ    \u{u} Ǔ    \v{U} ǔ    \v{u} Ũ    \~U
ũ    \~u Ŵ    \^W ŵ    \^w Ÿ    \"Y ÿ    \"y Ý    \'Y ý    \'Y
Ȳ    \=Y ȳ    \=y Ŷ    \^Y ŷ    \^y Ź    \'Z ź    \'z Ż    \.Z
ż    \.z Ž    \v{Z} ž    \v{z}        

 

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