Pinyin Tones
"PinyinTones" provides an installable Windows text "service" that allows you type Pinyin with tone marks into any Windows program.
After it has been installed on your computer, it creates a "keyboard" for typing Pinyin.
So, install "Pinyin Tones"! No more printing out and writing-in tones by hand, no more searching through lists of symbols, no more copying-and-pasting from composition programs.
What could be simpler?
PinyinTones is free and open-source.
Optional donations to the developer are helpful! Show your support with a few dollars!
On the Pinyin Tones web page there is a place to make a donation.
Also don't forget to install Microsoft's own tool for typing Chinese characters.
Using MS-Windows configuration screens, enable Microsoft's Chinese character input tool.
Use: "Chinese (Simplified, China) - Microsoft Pinyin"
In the context of that Microsoft tool, "Pinyin" is referring to the mechanism used to search and then display possible "characters" to select!
After these installations, it is simple to switch back and forth among three keyboards: Normal, Pinyin, and Chinese Characters.
Usage note: Tao Yue, the creator of "PinyinTones", has done a good job of working around various bugs and the strange behavior of Microsoft Word. However, Microsoft constantly changes their software, adding features; sometimes fixing bugs; sometimes introducing new bugs.
When using the pinyin keyboard, you may find that MS-Word mysteriously changes the font to something odd like "MS-Mincho". If this occurs on your PC, try this:
Open MS-Word. at the bottom of the screen is a status bar. Toward the left side you should see the current "language" displayed. Click that text and a dialog box labeled "Language" will open. "Un-check" the box labeled "Detect language automatically" (toward bottom of the dialog box). This should resolve the problem.
www.pinyintones.com
