Problems Reading the Special Characters

Steven S Smith

Is there any way to enlarge the special characters in indexing? The characters are small, but I can read the letter, but the small marks above them (like a German umlaut character) are very hard to see.

LarryClark43

depending on your hardware you should be able to zoom in on the chart once it is open

John Empoliti

Hi Stephen.

Related to Larry's comment. last night it occurred to me that you could set up and use the Windows magnifier to zoom in and select the character you want. I use it while indexing or reviewing to avoid zooming a whole image to decipher a particular word. It's a pretty hi-resolution zoom.

Here is a link for setting it up. I use the "floating transparent magnifying glass" option. And you can click and select the character you want while in magnifier mode. Once set up, you can turn it on by using the keyboard shortcut Windows key (the "flag" in the lower left) + Plus Sign (i.e., Win+[+]. You can turn it off by using Win+Esc.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/setting-up-and-using-magnifier-e1330ccd-8d5c-2b3c-d383-fd202808c71a

Below is a screenshot of my using the magnifier to select an ö. As you can see, you can click through the magnifier and select your required international character. The curved blue lines are the effect of taking a photo of my screen - they are not actually on my screen - you can see that they are all over the screenshot and not just on the magnifier. I have an alternative "print screen" application (Greenshot) set up to override the native "print screen" that hijacks my mouse (for me to select a snipping zone), so I can't leave the magnifier where I want to illustrate the point. I'll have to investigate how to toggle that application.

I don't know if there is an equivalent movable and focused magnifier for the Mac.

John Empoliti

UPDATE: It looks like there might be a way to get something like the above for a Mac. Mac users can check it out here:

https://www.lifewire.com/zoom-apples-built-in-screen-magnifier-198673

John Empoliti

I'm reposting a smaller version of my International Characters page. As I previously mentioned, it is not clickable, but shows them all at once and at a readable size. I think that the magnifier method I suggested above is the better way to go.

Steven S Smith

Thanks, I tried to use Windows magnifier, but since I use Firefox browser, it doesn't work. I can speak and read a little German, and I've been doing German church records (over 2,500 so far). Germans use Umlaut characters, which are two small dots above vowels. They're impossible to see clearly on the special characters pop up, especially on a laptop.

Couldn't the Indexing program developers create a provision to magnify the special characters? I can enlarge the page as a whole (special characters doesn't enlarge), and I can enlarge the records, but not the special characters... I'm almost 70 and it's hard to make out the characters.

Regards,

Steve

LarryClark43

I guess I am spoiled. With my Mac I just use two fingers on my track pad and zoom in and out as much as I need, and I do need it.

John Empoliti

Hi @Steven S Smith

Try setting it up again. It's a Windows feature that sits and works on top of everything. It does work with Firefox. I just downloaded Firefox and used it with one of my batches. Below is a screenshot showing how it looks. And, as I mentioned earlier, you can select and click through the magnifier. I did that but then deleted the character.

John Empoliti

@Steven S Smith - It also works great for "zooming in" on a specific part of an image (i.e., "locally") whose overall "zoom level" you don't want to mess with after you have all your columns fitting just right in your field of view. Say, to closely scrutinize and compare handwriting features.

@LarryClark43 . Generally, I don't care for trackpads, preferring a mouse, but they are excellent tools for zooming in and out quickly and easily.

John Empoliti

For Mac and IOS users: Below is a link to an article regarding a built-in Mac /IOS function called Zoom that seems to resemble Windows Magnifier. It might work similarly to allow you to magnify a little rectangular or circular area around the cursor - for example to choose a special character or scrutinize handwriting, without disturbing your overall image zoom level. However, I’m not sure whether you can “click through” Zoom’s window to select a special character. Initially, I would set it to 2x magnification, choose the local rather than full-screen mode, and then modify the settings as needed.

https://www.lifewire.com/zoom-apples-built-in-screen-magnifier-198673

Steven S Smith

Thanks for your responses. I use Firefox and Google as my browser... I'll have to see if it will work with them.

Regards,

Steve

John Empoliti

It should, Steve.. I’m on windows and use Chrome. It should be independent of the browser.