Professional typography in one pass
Text typed on a keyboard is full of typewriter substitutes. Typesetters replace them with the proper characters:
| You type | Becomes | Rule |
|---|---|---|
"quotes", it's |
“quotes”, it’s | curly quotes and apostrophes |
-- or - between words |
— (or – ) | sentence dash |
2010-2015 |
2010–2015 | en dash for number ranges |
... |
… | ellipsis character |
(c) (tm) (r) |
© ™ ® | symbols |
1920 x 1080 |
1920 × 1080 | multiplication sign |
->, <-, => |
→, ←, ⇒ | arrows |
1/2 (optional) |
½ | fractions |
| double spaces | single | spacing |
Dash style
Style guides disagree about sentence dashes. US guides (Chicago, AP) use a closed em dash (word—word); many UK publishers use a spaced en dash (word – word). Choose the one your house style requires.
The fixer is careful about what it changes: dates like 2025-03-14 and phone numbers like 555-0182 keep their hyphens; only ranges of up to four digits on each side become en dashes. Every rule can be switched off individually.
Worked example
Here is what the Typography Fixer returns for its built-in example. Settings used: Curly quotes: on; Dashes: on; Sentence dash: Em dash, closed (word—word). Click Try an example in the tool above to load it, then change it as you like.
"Typography matters" -- it really does... The years 2010-2015 saw a 1920 x 1080 trend -> (c) 2025 Textkiln(tm). Call 555-0182 on 2025-03-14. Done.“Typography matters”—it really does… The years 2010–2015 saw a 1920×1080 trend → © 2025 Textkiln™. Call 555-0182 on 2025-03-14. Done.Questions
How do I type an em dash?
Type two hyphens between words (word--word) and the fixer converts them, or copy — from the Special Characters tool.
When should I use an en dash?
For ranges, such as 2010–2015 or pages 45–67, and in some styles as a spaced sentence dash.
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