Symbols in PDFLib

Modified on Thu, Feb 15, 2018 at 9:30 AM

Use the following two commands to insert a symbol within the printed text. Make sure that the font used contains this symbol:

charref and textlen

charref (or charref=true) enables character references (required by PDFLib)

textlen specifies the number of characters that make up the symbol.

To insert a bullet character:

To make sure that a proper font is used, add the font attributes as follows:

resetfont is used after the symbol to change the font back to the last used before changing it for the symbol.

The value of 6 for textlen comes from the number of characters in •

The code can either be named like • or Numbered like • when using the latter textlen should be 7. The number 8226 is the decimal representation of the bullet character. Hex notification can also be used for numbered codes. While the decimal number does not use a prefix, the hex is prefixed by the letter x. The bullet in hex is • and textlen for that is 8. No space character should be placed before or after the code, if any exists then textlen should include their number. The letter x or the letters A to F used in hex can be in capital or small letters.

&	start character
#	Numbered code
x	Hex Number
;	termination character

Multiple codes can be placed together, textlen should be the total number of characters used. For example

The above code will print a bullet followed by greater than character >

Markup-related Symbols

Named	Numbered	Symbol	Description
	– /		standard punctuation/unused
"	"	"	quotation mark
&	&	&	ampersand
	0 – 9		numbers
	: – ?		more standard punctuation
<	<	<	less-than sign
>	>	>	greater-than sign
	@	@	commercial at sign
	&#65 – Z		uppercase standard letters
	[ – `		yet more standard punctuation
	a – z		lowercase standard letters
	{ –		punctuation/unused
			non-breaking space

Standard Letter Variations

Named	Numbered	Symbol	Description
À	À	À	latin capital letter A with grave
Á	Á	Á	latin capital letter A with acute
Â	Â	Â	latin capital letter A with circumflex
Ã	Ã	Ã	latin capital letter A with tilde
Ä	Ä	Ä	latin capital letter A with diaeresis
Å	Å	Å	latin capital letter A with ring above
Æ	Æ	Æ	latin capital letter AE
Ç	Ç	Ç	latin capital letter C with cedilla
È	È	È	latin capital letter E with grave
É	É	É	latin capital letter E with acute
Ê	Ê	Ê	latin capital letter E with circumflex
Ë	Ë	Ë	latin capital letter E with diaeresis
Ì	Ì	Ì	latin capital letter I with grave
Í	Í	Í	latin capital letter I with acute
Î	Î	Î	latin capital letter I with circumflex
Ï	Ï	Ï	latin capital letter I with diaeresis
Ð	Ð	Ð	latin capital letter ETH
Ñ	Ñ	Ñ	latin capital letter N with tilde
Ò	Ò	Ò	latin capital letter O with grave
Ó	Ó	Ó	latin capital letter O with acute
Ô	Ô	Ô	latin capital letter O with circumflex
Õ	Õ	Õ	latin capital letter O with tilde
Ö	Ö	Ö	latin capital letter O with diaeresis
×	×	×	multiplication sign
Ø	Ø	Ø	latin capital letter O with stroke
Ù	Ù	Ù	latin capital letter U with grave
Ú	Ú	Ú	latin capital letter U with acute
Û	Û	Û	latin capital letter U with circumflex
Ü	Ü	Ü	latin capital letter U with diaeresis
Ý	Ý	Ý	latin capital letter Y with acute
Þ	Þ	Þ	latin capital letter THORN
ß	ß	ß	latin small letter sharp s
à	à	à	latin small letter a with grave
á	á	á	latin small letter a with acute
â	â	â	latin small letter a with circumflex
ã	ã	ã	latin small letter a with tilde
ä	ä	ä	latin small letter a with diaeresis
å	å	å	latin small letter a with ring above
æ	æ	æ	latin small letter ae
ç	ç	ç	latin small letter c with cedilla
è	è	è	latin small letter e with grave
é	é	é	latin small letter e with acute
ê	ê	ê	latin small letter e with circumflex
ë	ë	ë	latin small letter e with diaeresis
ì	ì	ì	latin small letter i with grave
í	í	í	latin small letter i with acute
î	î	î	latin small letter i with circumflex
ï	ï	ï	latin small letter i with diaeresis
ð	ð	ð	latin small letter eth
ñ	ñ	ñ	latin small letter n with tilde
ò	ò	ò	latin small letter o with grave
ó	ó	ó	latin small letter o with acute
ô	ô	ô	latin small letter o with circumflex
õ	õ	õ	latin small letter o with tilde
ö	ö	ö	latin small letter o with diaeresis
÷	÷	÷	division sign
ø	ø	ø	latin small letter o with stroke
ù	ù	ù	latin small letter u with grave
ú	ú	ú	latin small letter u with acute
û	û	û	latin small letter u with circumflex
ü	ü	ü	latin small letter u with diaeresis
ý	ý	ý	latin small letter y with acute
þ	þ	þ	latin small letter thorn
ÿ	ÿ	ÿ	latin small letter y with diaeresis
&OElig;	Œ	Œ	latin capital ligature OE
&oelig;	œ	œ	latin small ligature oe
&Scaron;	Š	Š	latin capital letter S with caron
&scaron;	š	š	latin small letter s with caron
&Yuml;	Ÿ	Ÿ	latin capital letter Y with diaeresis
&fnof;	ƒ	ƒ	latin small f with hook
&circ;	ˆ	ˆ	modifier letter circumflex accent
&tilde;	˜	˜	small tilde

Pretty Punctuation

Named	Numbered	Symbol	Description
–	–	–	en dash
—	—	—	em dash
‘	‘	‘	left single quotation mark
’	’	’	right single quotation mark
&sbquo;	‚	‚	single low-9 quotation mark
“	“	“	left double quotation mark
”	”	”	right double quotation mark
&bdquo;	„	„	double low-9 quotation mark
&lsaquo;	‹	‹	single left-pointing angle quotation mark
&rsaquo;	›	›	single right-pointing angle quotation mark

Mathematical Symbols ’n’ Greek Letters

Named	Numbered	Symbol	Description
¡	¡	¡	inverted exclamation mark
¢	¢	¢	cent sign
£	£	£	pound sign
¤	¤	¤	currency sign
¥	¥	¥	yen sign
€	€	€	euro sign
¦	¦	¦	broken bar
§	§	§	section sign
¨	¨	¨	diaeresis
©	©	©	copyright sign
ª	ª	ª	feminine ordinal indicator
«	«	«	left-pointing double angle quotation mark
¬	¬	¬	not sign
			soft hyphen
®	®	®	registered sign
¯	¯	¯	macron
°	°	°	degree sign
±	±	±	plus-minus sign
²	²	²	superscript two
³	³	³	superscript three
´	´	´	acute accent
µ	µ	µ	micro sign
¶	¶	¶	pilcrow sign
·	·	·	middle dot
¸	¸	¸	cedilla
¹	¹	¹	superscript one
º	º	º	masculine ordinal indicator
»	»	»	right-pointing double angle quotation mark
¼	¼	¼	vulgar fraction one quarter
½	½	½	vulgar fraction one half
¾	¾	¾	vulgar fraction three quarters
¿	¿	¿	inverted question mark
Α	Α	Α	greek capital letter alpha
Β	Β	Β	greek capital letter beta
Γ	Γ	Γ	greek capital letter gamma
Δ	Δ	Δ	greek capital letter delta
Ε	Ε	Ε	greek capital letter epsilon
Ζ	Ζ	Ζ	greek capital letter zeta
Η	Η	Η	greek capital letter eta
Θ	Θ	Θ	greek capital letter theta
Ι	Ι	Ι	greek capital letter iota
Κ	Κ	Κ	greek capital letter kappa
Λ	Λ	Λ	greek capital letter lambda
Μ	Μ	Μ	greek capital letter mu
Ν	Ν	Ν	greek capital letter nu
Ξ	Ξ	Ξ	greek capital letter xi
Ο	Ο	Ο	greek capital letter omicron
Π	Π	Π	greek capital letter pi
Ρ	Ρ	Ρ	greek capital letter rho
Σ	Σ	Σ	greek capital letter sigma
Τ	Τ	Τ	greek capital letter tau
Υ	Υ	Υ	greek capital letter upsilon
Φ	Φ	Φ	greek capital letter phi
Χ	Χ	Χ	greek capital letter chi
Ψ	Ψ	Ψ	greek capital letter psi
Ω	Ω	Ω	greek capital letter omega
α	α	α	greek small letter alpha
β	β	β	greek small letter beta
γ	γ	γ	greek small letter gamma
δ	δ	δ	greek small letter delta
ε	ε	ε	greek small letter epsilon
ζ	ζ	ζ	greek small letter zeta
η	η	η	greek small letter eta
θ	θ	θ	greek small letter theta
ι	ι	ι	greek small letter iota
κ	κ	κ	greek small letter kappa
λ	λ	λ	greek small letter lambda
μ	μ	μ	greek small letter mu
ν	ν	ν	greek small letter nu
ξ	ξ	ξ	greek small letter xi
ο	ο	ο	greek small letter omicron
π	π	π	greek small letter pi
ρ	ρ	ρ	greek small letter rho
&sigmaf;	ς	ς	greek small letter final sigma
σ	σ	σ	greek small letter sigma
τ	τ	τ	greek small letter tau
υ	υ	υ	greek small letter upsilon
φ	φ	φ	greek small letter phi
χ	χ	χ	greek small letter chi
ψ	ψ	ψ	greek small letter psi
ω	ω	ω	greek small letter omega
&thetasym;	ϑ	ϑ	greek small letter theta symbol
&upsih;	ϒ	ϒ	greek upsilon with hook symbol
ϖ	ϖ	ϖ	greek pi symbol
&dagger;	†	†	dagger
&Dagger;	‡	‡	double dagger
•	•	•	bullet
…	…	…	horizontal ellipsis
&permil;	‰	‰	per mille sign
′	′	′	primeminutes
″	″	″	double prime
&oline;	‾	‾	overline
&frasl;	⁄	⁄	fraction slash
&weierp;	℘	℘	script capital P
&image;	ℑ	ℑ	blackletter capital I
&real;	ℜ	ℜ	blackletter capital R
™	™	™	trade mark sign
&alefsym;	ℵ	ℵ	alef symbol
←	←	←	leftwards arrow
↑	↑	↑	upwards arrow
→	→	→	rightwards arrow
↓	↓	↓	downwards arrow
↔	↔	↔	left right arrow
&crarr;	↵	↵	downwards arrow with corner leftwards
⇐	⇐	⇐	leftwards double arrow
&uArr;	⇑	⇑	upwards double arrow
⇒	⇒	⇒	rightwards double arrow
&dArr;	⇓	⇓	downwards double arrow
⇔	⇔	⇔	left right double arrow
∀	∀	∀	for all
∂	∂	∂	partial differential
∃	∃	∃	there exists
∅	∅	∅	empty set
∇	∇	∇	nabla
∈	∈	∈	element of
∉	∉	∉	not an element of
&ni;	∋	∋	contains as member
∏	∏	∏	n-ary product
∑	∑	∑	n-ary sumation
−	−	−	minus sign
&lowast;	∗	∗	asterisk operator
√	√	√	square root
&prop;	∝	∝	proportional to
∞	∞	∞	infinity
&ang;	∠	∠	angle
&and;	∧	∧	logical and
&or;	∨	∨	logical or
∩	∩	∩	intersection
∪	∪	∪	union
∫	∫	∫	integral
&there4;	∴	∴	therefore
&sim;	∼	∼	tilde operator
&cong;	≅	≅	approximately equal to
≈	≈	≈	almost equal to
≠	≠	≠	not equal to
&equiv;	≡	≡	identical to
≤	≤	≤	less-than or equal to
≥	≥	≥	greater-than or equal to
⊂	⊂	⊂	subset of
⊃	⊃	⊃	superset of
&nsub;	⊄	⊄	not a subset of
&sube;	⊆	⊆	subset of or equal to
&supe;	⊇	⊇	superset of or equal to
&oplus;	⊕	⊕	circled plus
&otimes;	⊗	⊗	circled times
&perp;	⊥	⊥	up tack
⋅	⋅	⋅	dot operator
&lceil;	⌈	⌈	left ceiling
&rceil;	⌉	⌉	right ceiling
&lfloor;	⌊	⌊	left floor
&rfloor;	⌋	⌋	right floor
&lang;	〈	⟨	left-pointing angle-bracket
&rang;	〉	⟩	right-pointing angle-bracket
&loz;	◊	◊	lozenge
&spades;	♠	♠	black spade suit
&clubs;	♣	♣	black club suit
&hearts;	♥	♥	black heart suit
&diams;	♦	♦	black diamond suit

Special Spaces

Named	Numbered	Symbol	Description
&ensp;			en space
&emsp;			em space
			thin space
&zwnj;	‌	‌	zero width non-joiner
&zwj;	‍	‍	zero width joiner
&lrm;	‎	‎	left-to-right mark
&rlm;	‏	‏	right-to-left mark

Please note that some fonts do not contain all the symbols above. Read the font character map or test the symbol first.