Inserting unicode characters on Linux

If all you want to do is insert a special character like an em dash (—) or an ellipsis (…) in Linux you don’t need any special programs like scim or kcharselect, you simply;

1. Hold down CTRL+SHIFT+U and a little underlined u will appear

2. Type the unicode hexadecimal number for the character, eg 2014 for an em dash

3. Press space and your character will magically appear!

A reference like this will help you find the corresponding hex digit for your character.

It’s amazing how such a simple and useful tool like this is so hard to find out about. I stumbled across this after hours of googling and even then it was tucked away half way through some comments :(

BTW, I did this on Debian Linux KDE4, so your mileage may vary.