Diane K. wrote: I need to type straight quotes a lot in InDesign (for measurements), but I want normal typographer’s quotes most of the time. Do I really have to go to the Preferences dialog box everytime I want to go back and forth?

You’re in luck, Diane! There are two keyboard shortcuts you should know about. (Don’t feel bad, most InDesign users don’t know these either.)

First, you can press Command-Option-Shift-’ or Ctrl+Alt+Shift-’ (that’s the quote key) to turn the preference on or off (without visiting the dialog box).

Alternately, you can press Ctrl-’ (on the Mac) or Alt-’ (in Windows) to type a straight quote at any time.

That said, I do feel obliged to mention that many designers insist that straight quotes should never be used for measurements (such as inches or feet). They usually prefer a special character that looks like a mix of an italic-straight quote and an accent.