Using Auto-Correct and Spell as you Type

PagePlus includes two powerful support tools to nip possible spelling errors in the bud. The Auto-Correct feature overcomes common typing errors and lets you build a custom list of letter combinations and substitutions to be applied automatically as you type. You can also underline spelling mistakes as you type to mark possible problem words in your story text with red underline. Both features apply to frame text, table text, and artistic text.

If you prefer to address spelling issues in larger doses at the same time, you can run the Spell Checker anytime.

Auto-Correct

To set options for automatic text correction:

  1. Choose Options… from the Tools menu and select the Text>Auto-Correct>Options page.

  2. Check your desired Auto-Correct options as required.

  3. Correct two initial, consecutive capitals

  4. Capitalize the first letter of sentences

  5. Capitalize the names of days

  6. Capitalize accidental usage of the Caps Lock key

  7. Change straight quotes to typographic (“smart”) quotes

  8. Use tab key to alter paragraph indentation instead of inserting a tab. [Tab at the start of a paragraph creates a 1st line indent. For 1st line indented paragraphs, the whole paragraph is indented to the next tab stop; Shift-tab (or Backspace) removes the 1st line indent (or jumps to previous tab stop) where possible.]

For any checked options, auto-correction will be enabled. Additionally, a pre-defined correction list for automatic text replacement can be used; the list, populated by commonly typed misspellings and their correct equivalents, can also be added to for custom corrections.

To use a correction list:

  1. Choose Options… from the Tools menu and select the Text>Auto-Correct>Replacements page.

  2. Check Replace text while typing to turn on Auto-Correct. The pre-defined text replacements will be applied when you type the misspelt words.

    PagePlus correction list Using Auto Correct and Spell as you Type

To add custom misspellings to the correction list:

  1.  In the Replace field, type a name for the Auto-Correct entry. This is the abbreviation or word to be replaced automatically as you type. For example, if you frequently mistype “product” as “prodcut,” type “prodcut” in the Replace box.

  2. In the With field, type the text to be automatically inserted in place of the abbreviation or word in the Replace field.

  • If you select some text before displaying the Auto-Correct screen, the selected text appears in the With field, formatted just as it appears on the page. Choose either:
    ·     Plain text to insert only the With characters into instances of the Replace text.
    ·     Formatted text to also update the formatting of the Replace text to match that of the With text. For example, using this option E=mc2 can be automatically replaced with E=mc2.

    Note: The Formatted text option will replace the text to match all of the formatting used at the time the entry was created, including any fonts, font sizes, bold etc.

  1. Click the Add button to add the new entry to the list.

  2. To modify an entry in the correction list, select it in the list, then edit it in the Replace and With field above. Click the Replace button below.

  3. To remove an entry, select it and click Delete.

Spell as you Type

Use this feature to firstly indicate possible problem words in your text using red underline, and secondly to offer (via right-click) a range of alternative correct spellings to replace the problem words.

To check spelling as you type:

  • Ensure the Underline spelling mistakes as you type feature is turned on (from Tools>Options>Text>Proofreading).

In your document, words with spelling problems are indicated with a red squiggly underline. You can review these by eye, with the option of replacing the words with suggested alternatives.

  • To replace a marked word, place an insertion point in a marked word then right-click to choose an alternative spelling from the context menu.

  • To tell PagePlus to ignore (leave unmarked) all instances of the marked word in the publication, choose Ignore All (or just Ignore for this instance only).

  • To add the marked word (as spelled) to your personal dictionary, choose Add to Dictionary from the right-click menu. This means PagePlus will subsequently ignore the word in any publication.

  • Select Check Spelling to run the Spell Checker described above.

Using Auto-Correct and Spell as you Type