Unicode

This page covers some topics of special relevance to Accordance users who are exporting Greek and Hebrew. It is still under development. Please be sure to download the latest upgrade to take full advantage of these options. The Accordance Fonts PDF has updated information on the fonts and the different export options.

Introduction to Unicode

Unicode fonts are definitely the way of the future. Simply put, these fonts use a standard system which has enough room to assign a specific position to each character in each language. Unlike the fonts we have used until now, there is no need to put the Greek alpha or the Hebrew aleph instead of "a" or "A," rather each character has its own fixed position. This allows us to use the special characters from different languages in papers, emails, webpages, etc., without worrying whether or not the reader on a different platform or program has access to our specific fonts.

Unicode is supported on Mac OS X and Windows 2000 and above.

For an excellent introduction to Unicode, and an on-going series of articles on the subject, see Joe Weaks' Biblioblog.

Unicode Fonts

Fonts for Unicode are widely available, and many are free. Some "large" fonts like Cardo, Lucida Grande for Mac, and Times New Roman on Windows, include most of the characters you are likely to need. Other like True Athena, SBL Hebrew and SIL Ezra just contain a specific set for one language. However, if a character is missing from the chosen font, it will be substituted from another font so the text is still readable.

Accordance and Unicode

Accordance does not use Unicode fonts, nor can it convert or display text in Unicode. Accordance 6.2 and above does allow you to export Greek, Hebrew, and transliteration as Unicode. This means that the characters are remapped to the correct Unicode characters. This feature is supported in Mac OS X for copy and paste (and drag and drop) as well as Save as Text File (RTF), but on the emulator and other older Mac systems, it is only supported for Save as Text.

Exporting to Unicode

To export Greek or Hebrew in Unicode:

1. Select Preferences from the Application or Edit menu and click Greek & Hebrew in the list.
2. Check the Unicode checkbox to convert the text to Unicode. You will want to to strip the cantillation marks in Hebrew, if you find that your word processor and chosen font do not display them correctly. Please see the documentation for details of all the settings.
3. Now export your text by any method if you are in OS X, and by saving as an RTF Text file if you have an older system.

Copy As Transliteration converts the text to Rosetta transliteration. If the Preferences are set to export to Unicode, this allows you to convert Greek and Hebrew to Unicode Transliteration in one operation, but this option works only for Copy-and-Paste and only in OS X. It is not supported on older systems, nor for Drag-and-Drop, nor Save as Text File.

To export Greek or Hebrew as Transliteration in Unicode:

1. Set Greek & Hebrew Preferences to export text as Unicode.
2. Select the text and choose Copy as Transliteration. (Edit menu>Copy As submenu)
3. Paste the text temporarily into a User Tool or Note Edit window (or the description box of a Construct or Reference List window).
4. Save the text as an RTF Text file.

Word Processors

The converted text can be used in any word processor that supports Unicode including, on Mac OS X: TextEdit, Mellel, Nisus Writer Express, and NeoOffice. Word for Windows 2000 and above supports unicode. See the tips for using Unicode with the emulator, and the Emulator Manual.

Word for Mac 2004 and 2008 do not fully support right-to-left, and does not allow editing of the text. You can paste Hebrew Unicode words into Word by:

1. Selecting a Unicode font such as Cardo or Lucida Grande, first
2. Then selecting Paste Special from the Edit menu, and then Unformatted Text (not Styled Text).

On Mac OS X we recommend the Mellel word processor for Hebrew and many other languages. In general you will need to select the font, and set the text direction and justification for mainly Hebrew text, but all the characters in mixed text should be correct. Each program is responsible for adjusting the spaces between the characters, and it tends to do so differently for each font.

To use the characters from another language when typing in OS X:

1. Open System Preferences>International>Input Menu
2. Select the Character palette and /or Keyboard viewer as desired, and the languages you wish to be able to enter. Check the Show input menu in menu bar.
3. Select the language from the Input menu (flag) when a Unicode application is in front, and
4. Type, or select the desired character from the palette or keyboard viewer.