Character Viewer

With time, the word processors have been equipped with an extensive font database to add a touch of personality to each document you compose, along with various styles and colors. However, it takes a lot of time to view each one, as the editors load slower, due to their multitude of functions.

A faster and simpler solution may be Character Viewer that comes bundled with a rich font collection, along with a character database, to help you examine each type, and decide which one suits you the best. The app doesn't need any installation, coming with all the core files in a single directory, and which can be used without prior setup on any computer.

Once the download is complete, you can take the tool for a spin. It provides an approachable and clean interface divided into two distinct tabs, fonts and char set, along with the entire map in the middle, and a text preview at the bottom of the window. On the left, you can find a larger version of the selected symbol, and the corresponding values for decimal, hexa, octal, and binary modes.

From the drop-down menus, Character Viewer lets you select the font type, and enable both bold and italic styles, as well as pick the char set (e.g. Baltic, ANSI, Greek, Russian, East Europe). The map updates accordingly to the chosen item. Every symbol and letter may be copied to the clipboard and used in different documents. It would have been more efficient if the app offered an option to export the whole list, instead of each character at a time.

Taking everything into account, Character Viewer is a useful and intuitive application created to provide a simple and less time-consuming method to preview various font types and characters quick and easy, and copy them to the clipboard for further use. Since it's portable, it doesn't take much space, nor generates entries in the registry.