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Hyphenating words


    The autohyphenation feature automatically hyphenates words where appropriate at the ends of lines. You can set the hyphenation parameters in the Paragraph palette. When you select the autohyphenation option, you can specify the minimum number of letters allowed at the beginning or end of a hyphenated word. You can also limit the number of consecutive hyphenated lines.

    You can enter a discretionary hyphen to hyphenate a word manually. Illustrator always breaks a word at a discretionary hyphen, regardless of the autohyphenation setting.

    You can also specify the hyphenation for a specific word or exclude a word from being hyphenated by using the Hyphenation Options command. In addition, you can select the language in which the hyphenation exception takes place.

To enter a discretionary hyphen:

  1. Select a type tool, and click where you want to enter the hyphen.
  2. Press Shift+Ctrl+hyphen (Windows) or Shift+Command+hyphen (Mac OS).

To set the autohyphenation feature:

  1. In the Paragraph palette, click Auto Hyphenate. If the option is not visible, choose Show Options from the palette menu.
  2. Choose Hyphenation from the Paragraph palette menu.
  3. In the Hyphenate text boxes, enter the minimum number of letters allowed from the beginning and end of a hyphenated word.
  4. If desired, enter the maximum number of consecutive hyphenated lines in the Limit Consecutive Hyphens To text box.
  5. Click OK.

To set hyphenation options:

  1. Choose Edit > Preferences > Hyphenation (Windows and Mac OS 9) or Illustrator > Preferences > Hyphenation (Mac OS X).
  2. If desired, choose the language in which the hyphenation rules apply (to new text typed) from the Languages pop-up menu. When you select a different language, the rules for hyphenating words change to match that language's rules.
  3. You can also change the hyphenation language for just the selected text by using the Languages pop-up menu in the Character palette. (If the pop-up menu isn't visible, choose Show Multilingual from the Character palette menu.) Doing so is useful for hyphenating multilingual projects easily, such as a brochure with instructions in several languages.

  4. Enter the word for which you want to specify hyphenation characteristics. If you enter the word with no hyphens inserted, Illustrator never hyphenates the word. If you enter the word with one or more hyphens inserted, Illustrator hyphenates the word only at those places.
  5. Click Add.
  6. To remove a word from the hyphenation list, click the word to select it, and press Backspace or Del (Windows) or Delete (Mac OS).
  7. Note: Hyphenation information is saved with the application, and not with the file. For example, if you use the file on a different computer that has different hyphenation exceptions, your text may hyphenate differently.