HOWTO pinyin

1. Unicode
There are two different ways :
• type a letter and add the code for the tone
• In a wordprocessor (ie OpenOffice.org or MS Word) or an other unicode enable program, use 'Insert > Special Characters' or 'Insert > Symbol', the letters with second and forth tone are found in 'Latin -1', the letters with first and third tone can be found in 'Latin Extended A' (don't forget to select a unicode font for this)


2. Software


• Download NJStar (homepage) or any other FEP that supports this function.
• Use special programs for pinyin input i.e. free pinyin editor.
  
• Google released a pinyin IME. Google Pinyin is completely in Chinese and made to input simplified Chinese but it's also able to use traditional Chinese. To switch to traditional Chinese, go to the settings, dictionary and pick 'traditional Chinese'.


3. Download and install pinyin enabled fonts

Download a pinyin font. Read the install instructions and install the font.
The most common way to install fonts in Microsoft Windows by going to the Start menu, choose for Settings and then Configuration. Choose there for fonts (or click here). In the menubar choose for Install fonts and choose the directory where you have unzipped the font. Once you have installed the font go to Word or an other wordprocessor and start using the font.
An example of how a pinyin font may work : If you type ma1 you will get to se ma with the first tone on the a, if you type zho2u you will get a zhou with a second tone on the o (zhóu).
A good online resource for pinyin fonts


4. Input pinyin on the web




	Decimal	Hexadecimal
Latin-1 Supplement - Unicode U+0080 - U+00FF - (128-255)
á	á	á	á
à	à	à	à
é	é	é	é
è	è	è	è
í	í	í	í
ì	ì	ì	ì
ó	ó	ó	ó
ò	ò	ò	ò
ú	ú	ú	ó
ù	ù	ù	ù
ü	ü	ü	ü
	subtract 32 for upper case
Latin Extended-A - Unicode U+0100 - U+017F - (256-383)
ā	ā	ā
ē	ē	ē
ě	ě	ě
ī	ī	ī
ō	ō	ō
ū	ū	ū
	subtract 1 for upper case
Latin Extended-B U+0180 - U+024F (384-591)
ǎ	ǎ	ǎ
ǐ	ǐ	ǐ
ǒ	ǒ	ǒ
ǔ	ǔ	ǔ
ǖ	ǖ	ǖ
ǘ	ǘ	ǘ
ǚ	ǚ	ǚ
ǜ	ǜ	ǜ
	subtract 1 for upper case