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Reference

The Reference feature allows you to enter a set of characters to display around the grid, helping you observe the visual effect of the current editing glyph in different contexts.

Table of Contents

Opening the Reference

There are two ways to open the Reference:

  1. Toolbar button: Click the button in the toolbar
  2. Context menu: Right-click inside the grid and select "Show Reference Panel"

Once open, the panel displays a text input area where you can enter reference characters.

Input Formats

The Reference supports multiple input formats:

Direct Character Input

Enter characters directly; all characters will be parsed individually:

永東國酬鷹

To specify a glyph name, use / prefix (see below).

Glyph Name Format

Use a forward slash / prefix to specify glyph names:

/adieresis /Agrave /uni6C38

Unicode Format

Multiple Unicode input methods are supported:

Format Example Description
/uniXXXX /uni6C38 4-digit hexadecimal (official format)
/uXXXXX /u06C38 5-digit hexadecimal
/XXXX /6C38 Pure 4-5 digit number (shorthand)

Mixed Input

You can mix different formats:

永 /adieresis 東 /uni0041 國

Operations

Save Reference Glyphs

After entering glyphs, click the "Save" button to save to Presets.

Random Arrangement

Click inside the grid area (without any modifier keys) to randomly rearrange the reference glyphs.

Note

The center cell (position 4) always displays the current editing glyph and will not be replaced by reference glyphs.

Context Menu

Right-click in the Reference input area to open the context menu:

Item Description
Glyph Picker… Open glyph picker for multi-selection
Insert at Cursor Insert reference text at cursor in Glyphs edit view
Open in New Tab Open reference text in a new tab

Drag and Drop

Basic Drag

Drag a glyph from inside the grid to another location:

Action Effect
Normal drag Swap positions
Option + drag Copy reference glyph (source preserved)

Drag to Glyphs Edit View

Drag a glyph from the grid to Glyphs' edit view:

Action Effect
Normal drag Insert character at cursor position
Option + drag Open the glyph in a new tab

Drag to Reference

Drag a glyph from the grid to the input area to quickly add reference characters:

  • Accepts glyphs from any position in the grid
  • Characters are inserted at the cursor position
  • Spaces are automatically added around the insertion

Tip

For more drag operations (Cmd mode, Shift mode), see Advanced Features.

Usage Tips

Quick Test Groups

  1. Enter commonly used test glyphs (e.g., "永東國酬")
  2. Click "Save" to save to Presets
  3. Quickly load from Presets later

Check Spacing

To observe the arrangement of identical characters, simply enter a single character:

國今

The system will automatically repeat that character in each grid position, making it easy to observe spacing and visual balance.