Index Card - Tips & Shortcuts
Here is a list of usability tips and keyboard short-cuts to enhance your Index Card writing. Please let us know if you are aware of a tip we haven't listed.
iPad Onscreen Keyboard
The onscreen keyboard appears automatically anytime you need to type. Use the keyboard to enter text. The keyboard corrects misspellings, predicts what you’re typing, and learns as you use it. Here is a list of editing tips when using the iPad onscreen keyboard.
- CAPS Lock: Double-tap the Shift key on the onscreen keyboard, to make all letters you type uppercase. The Shift key turns blue when caps lock is on. In iPad settings you can enable caps lock: Choose General > Keyboard and turn Enable Caps Lock on or off.
- Period space: The “.” shortcut lets you double-tap the space bar to enter a period followed by a space when you’re typing. You can turn the “.” shortcut on or off in iPad settings: Choose General > Keyboard and turn “.” Shortcut on or off. It’s initially on. Another way to quickly insert a period space is to tap the space bar with two fingers.
- Undo: Shake your iPad to bring up the undo dialog, and tap the "Undo Typing" button. If you're afraid of flinging your trusted digital sidekick off into the wild blue yonder, you can also access undo via the onscreen keyboard. Tap the ".?123" button. This brings up another set of virtual keyboard buttons, including an "undo" button.
- Redo: To redo a recent undo, shake your iPad to bring up the redo dialog, and tap the "Redo Typing" button. You can also access redo via the onscreen keyboard. Tap the ".?123" button, then the "#+=" button. This brings up another set of virtual keyboard buttons, including a "redo" button.
- Quick Punctuation: Tap and hold the ".?123" button, slide your finger to the desired punctuation, and release. The punctuation you want will be inserted and, upon release, the keyboard will automatically go back to the "ABC" option on its own and you can continue your typing.
- Text expansion (shortcuts): iOS 5 adds Shortcuts, which allows you to type an abbreviation for frequently used text, that will be automatically expanded. For example, typing "brb" would automatically expand to "be right back". Access it via Settings > General > Keyboard : Shortcuts. CNET has a step-by-step how to with screen shots.
External Keyboard
You can also use an external keyboard to type. When you use an external keyboard, the onscreen keyboard doesn’t appear. Here is a partial list of keyboard shortcuts you can use with an external keyboard.
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Undo your last action | Command-Z |
| Select all the text in the field | Command-A |
| Copy the selected text | Command-C |
| Paste the selected text | Command-V |
| Cut the selected text | Command-X |
| Go to the top of the text field | Command-Up Arrow |
| Delete the previous word | Option-Delete |
| Delete the previous line | Command-Delete |
| Delete to the end of the current line | Control-K |
| Go to the beginning of the line | Control-A |
| Go to the end of the line | Control-E |
| Got to the word to the right or left of the insertion point | Option-Right Arrow or Option-Left Arrow |
| Select the character to the right or left of the insertion point | Shift-Right Arrow or Shift-Left Arrow |
| Select the word to the right or left of the insertion point | Shift-Option-Right Arrow or Shift-Option-Left Arrow |
| Select the text from the keyboard cursor to the beginning or to the end of the line | Shift-Command-Right Arrow or Shift-Command-Left Arrow |
| Select the text from the keyboard cursor to the end of the text area | Shift-Command-Down Arrow |
| Em-dash | Option-shift-hyphen |
| En-dash | Option-hyphen |
- White on Black: Use White on Black to invert the colors on the iPad display, which may make it easier to read the screen. When White on Black is turned on, the screen looks like a photographic negative. To invert the screen's colors go to iPad Settings, choose General > Accessibility, then tap “White on Black.”
- Zoom: This feature lets you magnify the entire screen to help you see what’s on the display. Turn Zoom on or off: In Settings, choose General > Accessibility > Zoom, then tap the Zoom On/Off switch. To Zoom in or out: Double-tap the screen with three fingers. Move around the screen by dragging the screen with three fingers while zoomed in.
- Scroll to top: Tap the status bar (where time and battery life are displayed) to automatically scroll to the top of the corkboard or outline
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