What is a Glyph? {DIY Ideas and Information}

In trying to find unique ways to set your DIY project apart from others it is best to try and be as creative as possible. By using different glyphs or special characters in your invitation, programs, or other stationery you can create different designs not found anywhere else.



In information technology, a glyph (pronounced GLIHF ; from a Greek word meaning carving) is a graphic symbol that provides the appearance or form for a character . A glyph can be an alphabetic or numeric font or some other symbol that pictures an encoded character. Many people don't realize how easy it is to insert these special characters. The best way to do this in Word is to use The Symbol dialog by Suzanne S. Barnhill.

When in Word, If you choose Symbol on the Insert menu, you will bring up the Symbol dialog shown below. In some older versions, if you have a slow system and/or one with many fonts installed, you may find that this dialog takes longer to appear the first time you use it in a Word session, but after that it should pop up instantly.

                In Word 2007/2010, open this dialog using Insert | Symbol | More Symbols

To insert a character, double-click on it, press Enter, or click the Insert button. The dialog stays open so that you can insert more than one character, and you can “step out” of the dialog to move the insertion point before choosing another character and inserting it. There are also many shortcut keys you can use as well. Check them out and read the whole article on inserting special characters on Suzanne's FAQ.

Note: In recent versions of Word, the Symbol dialog is resizable: drag the handle in the bottom right corner to stretch it or double-click the title bar to maximize (and restore) it. This gives you a view of many more symbols without scrolling.

There are also many free fonts out there that are in the shapes of glyphs or special characters that you can download. We've already given you a few great sites to check out for fonts here.