We usually focus on discussing on how to actually get better doing chemistry experiments, but today, we bring you a set of resources which are very useful to anyone who usually wants to draw chemical structures in Word using ChemDraw, or how to draw chemical formulas in Word.
For learning purposes, it is better and more fun to build molecules using an organic chemistry model kit, (we also have a guide on how it can help on visualization) but sometimes you really need those drawings in your computer!
It has been a while since I published my last post on Chemistry Hall; I have been really busy, but I will try to update our website as much as possible from now on. As a compensation, I will be gifting all of you with some resources that will help you improving your performance writing chemistry-related documents in word processors, like Microsoft Word. At the end, a final really useful ChemDraw bonus can also be found.
Table of Contents hide
1 Using a chemistry spell-check dictionary:
1.1 You may consider using LaTeX for editing documents and drawing chemical structures
2 Writing Chemical Symbols in Word: The Equilibrium Arrow
3 Chemical Symbols Using Alt Codes
4 How to Draw Chemical Structures in Word using ChemDraw
Using a chemistry spell-check dictionary:
Apart from learning how to draw chemical structures in Word, we’ll look at some other tricks. As I write this document, or any other that has at least a bit something to do with chemistry, a fact comes true: I will be using the functions “add to the dictionary”, “ignore once” and “ignore all” all the time… Well, this time-consuming activity seems to be over with this package!
Someone called Adam M. Azman created a chemistry spell-check dictionary for Word Processors. This free downloadable spell-checker add-on checks the spelling (in American English) of more than 100,000 technical chemistry words. These words are not found in the user’s native dictionary: chemical compounds, systematic nomenclature fragments, laboratory techniques, and chemical descriptors are included. The spell-check file supplements, but does not overwrite, any native or custom dictionaries already functioning on the user’s computer.
This is his publication
You can also download directly the package by clicking HERE
It should work in any word processor not just in MS Word. I happen to only have tested it out there and it works just perfectly! Following the author’s instructions, it is compatible with Microsoft Word, iWork, and OpenOffice.org Writer and works on PC, Macintosh, or Linux systems. An installation file is included in the downloadable zip. It was compiled by an organic chemist, but will be useful for chemists of all disciplines.
Of course, this is not all for today. Now we will be discussing an useful trick to increase your performance writing this kind of word documents we have been talking about.
You may consider using LaTeX for editing documents and drawing chemical structures
First of all, I would not be able to stop listing the advantages of using a LaTeX based text processor, it is just perfect to type any scientific or technical text, but there are many times that you cannot or just do not want to use it and you have to stick to a standard word processor like MS word. For example, I recommend these more visual processors for short documents. Less than 10 pages, I stick to MS Word. In general, I will not consider LaTeX for writing less than20 pages. Also, many scientific journals will require you to write your paper in MS Word following their template. On other cases, like writing a thesis, when you need to include many references, diagrams, images, equations, LaTeX will be really handy.
Well, but our job here is improving our efficiency writing chemistry related stuff in a “classical” word processor, like MS Word, here it is how:
Writing Chemical Symbols in Word: The Equilibrium Arrow
I don’t know how many times somebody asked me how to write the equilibrium arrow in Word. Or how to draw chemical formulas in word. Open your Word processor. Type 21cc, then press ALT and X together (no space after 21cc). You got some nice equilibrium arrows! ⇌ The years of writing just some bad-looking “arrows” are over (note that for some recent versions of MS Word, the combination that works is ALT + C instead of ALT + X). There are many symbols that might be useful for you
There are many more, you can easily find all of them on a Google search, just look for “alt+X word codes” and you will be done.But now you might be asking… Well, do I have to remember all of these codes? I have good news, you do not need to remember them.
You can easily make use of the autocorrect function of your word processor to automatically substitute any given text combination for the symbol you want! For example, so you know what I mean: You write <-> and then your autocorrect function will just substitute it for ⇌.
Probably the way to configure this is different for each word processor, you just need to search on Google “autocorrect list [your Word processor name]” and it will be easily explained.
This is the one for MS Word
You will have to find some window like this (old) one:
And well, it is pretty straightforward; you put the symbol or character combination you will memorize and then the symbol you want it to substitute the input for.
Chemical Symbols Using Alt Codes
So how to type chemical symbols in Word? Of course, apart from the CODE, Alt+X technique, it is worth talking about the alt codes: You keep Alt pressed and then type a number in your numerical keyboard. Then one symbol appears.
There are a few ones that are worth memorizing, (or just have this Compendium of Chemical Resources) but you can just check again any of the available ones doing a quick Google search (alt codes word).
For example:
- Alt + 0176 is the degree symbol (this one saves the planet…) °
- Alt + 156 is the pound sign £
- Alt + 1 yields a smiling face of questionable utility ☺
Again, for these symbols you can just set your autocorrect function to substitute (*) for ° or anything that you could even imagine. (Some symbols may not be displayed using certain fonts).
How to Draw Chemical Structures in Word using ChemDraw
Finally, I want to end with a ChemDraw bonus. You really need to watch the following youtube videos about your favorite molecule-drawing software. I thought I knew how to use ChemDraw, but after I saw these series of videos (not much it is just half an hour of runtime) everything changed. It takes me about half time or lessto draw structures (and I draw a lot of stuff with this tool, believe me), using all of these quick access commands and shortcuts, and of course, configurating them as I please.
I could keep writing all day but I could not explain as well as it is done in these videos by the French chemist Pierre Morieux, who starts his first and brilliant video drawing Viagra molecule in less than 20 seconds:
Do you think you can do that yourself? Well, I certainly could not before this series of videos and neither all the people I have send the videos could not.
This is the first one, where in less than 15 minutes, he explains how he does it and many more tricks and shortcuts for ChemDraw
In the next video, he continues with his tips and tricks about ChemDraw:
And finally, in the last one of the series, he explains in 5 minutes how to draw nice catalytic cycles on ChemDraw:
Well, this comes to an end. I think is a very good amount of content that will certainly help you –or at least I hope so. These tricks always will come handy to a chemist, even from its first steps as a student with a basic textbook, especially if you are learning organic chemistry up until you are doing profesional research. Knowing how to draw chemical structures in word is pretty much a requirement anywhere!
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FAQs
If you want to paste the structures/objects into a Word document, copy/paste from ChemDraw to PowerPoint, then copy/paste from PowerPoint to Word.
Can you draw chemical structures in Word? ›
Simply select the word, right-click, select “Convert to Chemistry Zone” and then click on its name. Now you can see the chemical form in the sidebar if you click the Chemistry Navigator button, and can choose to insert the diagram into the document.
Why ChemDraw is not pasting in Word? ›
Usually this is because the disk or floppy disk is too small for the file or is full, RAM memory is low, or there is a permission problem with the drive the file is being saved to. If the amount of disk space for a paging file is low, save the file to another drive. If the RAM memory is low, increase available RAM.
How do I copy and paste from ChemDraw to Word? ›
Double click on the CS ChemDraw Pro icon. (Alternatively, if the ChemDraw icon is present in the dock, you may simply select that.) To insert structures or reactions into another document such as Word, select the structures or reactions as described below, then copy and paste into the document.
How do you write a chemical structural formula in Word? ›
Select Insert > Equation or press Alt + =. Select the equation you need. See the ribbon for more Structures and Convert options.
Can ChemDraw draw structure from name? ›
In ChemDraw Ultra, you can draw a structure automatically from a chemical name, by using the Convert Name to Structure (Name=Struct) feature, a name interpreter. ChemDraw Ultra Name=Struct recognizes most organic nomenclature.
Which software is used for chemical drawing? ›
ACD/ChemSketch Freeware is a drawing package that allows you to draw chemical structures including organics, organometallics, polymers, and Markush structures.
Is there a free ChemDraw? ›
The best free alternative to ChemDraw is Chemaxon Marvin. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 10 alternatives to ChemDraw and 11 is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to ChemDraw are BKchem, XDrawChem, Gnome Chemistry Utils and JChemPaint.
What are 3 ways to show chemical structures? ›
The three different ways to draw organic molecules include Kekulé Formulas, Condensed Formulas, and Skeletal structures (also called line-bond structures or line formulas). During this course, you will view molecules written in all three forms.
How can I copy from ChemDraw online to Word? ›
One option is to learn to get a ChemDraw object into Word or PowerPoint differently: Step one has not changed: Copy (⌘+C) from ChemDraw. Step two has changed: Paste as PDF (⌘+Control+V), instead of drag and drop or a simple Paste, into an Office 2016 document.
In Word, you must be in Print layout to draw with ink. If the Draw tab is grayed out so that you can't select a pen, go the View tab and select Print Layout. ; then you can select a pen to draw with.
How do I import a drawing into Word? ›
Click in your document where you want to create the drawing. On the Insert tab, in the Illustrations group, click Shapes. When you find the shape you want to insert, double-click to insert it automatically, or click and drag to draw it in your document.
How do I insert ChemDraw into Excel? ›
On Excel's "Tools" menu, select "Add-ins" and turn on ChemOffice or ChemDraw. In Excel, chemically-intelligent spreadsheets include a menu item like "ChemOffice11" right next to the "Window" menu. To create chemical spreadsheets, use menu item "New ChemOffice Worksheet" instead of "File > New > Worksheet".
How do you save ChemDraw as an image? ›
Once you make the image you are interested in, use the select tool to highlight the image. Once the image is highlighted, move the cursor to the File button at the top of the screen. Click on the File button and move down to the Save As button. Click on the Save As button.
How do I paste a drawing in Word? ›
CTRL-C to copy whatever part of the drawing that you need. In Word you can now use either Paste Special from the pull down menu for an embedded object, or CTRL-V to paste.
How do I convert my name into a structure in ChemDraw? ›
Select the drawing for which you want to insert a name. 2. From the Structure menu, choose Convert Structure to Name. The name of the structure appears as a caption under your drawing.
Does ChemDraw generate IUPAC name? ›
ChemDraw includes Struct=Name, ChemDraw/Excel and ChemNMR. Create stereochemically correct structures from chemical names, and get accurate IUPAC names for structures.
Does ChemDraw use IUPAC name? ›
ChemDraw converts structures into systematic names and also converts IUPAC, InChI, and SMILES strings into structures, either one molecule at a time, or in batch mode.
Where can I draw chemical structures? ›
- ChemDraw.
- ChemDoodle.
- ChemSketch.
- Marvin.
- BKChem.
- JChemPaint.
If you need to use an equation, add or write it in Word. Select Insert > Equation or press Alt + =. To use a built-in formula, select Design > Equation. To create your own, select Design > Equation > Ink Equation.
Solution
- Decide which atom is the central atom in the structure. ...
- Draw a skeleton structure in which the other atoms are single-bonded to the central atom: O-S-O .
- Draw a trial structure by putting electron pairs around every atom until each gets an octet. ...
- Count the valence electrons in your trial structure (20).
Part journal, part canvas, Sketchable allows you to scribble a note, snap and edit a pic, import and augment an image, or paint a masterpiece easily sharing it all with your friends and family. Open the app, pick a tool, pick a color, and delve into a limitless world of creativity.
How much does ChemDraw cost? ›
ChemDraw is a powerful, yet easy-to use, tool for producing chemical and biological drawings. You can create your own drawings or use those provided in the library of available templates. This is a per user subscription service with an annual fee of $70.
Which is better ChemSketch or ChemDraw? ›
ChemWindow and ChemSketch are comparable in complexity. The latter is more powerful in function. ChemDraw is the most comprehensive and powerful one.
Can students get ChemDraw for free? ›
ChemDraw Professional is available free to all College account holders and can be downloaded onto College-owned and personal computers.
Is ChemDraw online free? ›
ChemDraw is an amazing structure drawing package available online for free.
Does Windows 10 have a draw program? ›
With OneNote for Windows 10, you can handwrite notes and draw or sketch things in your notebook. This works especially well on a device with a touch screen, but you can also draw with a mouse.
Can you do graphic design on Microsoft Word? ›
On the Insert menu, select SmartArt Graphic. On the SmartArt tab of the ribbon, in the Insert SmartArt Graphic group, select at the type of graphic you want (List, Process, etc.), and then select a layout. Enter your text by doing one of the following: Click [Text] in the Text pane, and then type your text.
Is Microsoft Word good for graphic design? ›
Microsoft Word's graphic tools are very limited, but if you're looking for a simple way to create graphics for your small business, it can be very helpful even with only little knowledge on graphic design.
What is the easiest way to remember chemical structures? ›
Here are some of the best (and worst) ways to memorize chemistry.
- Memorizing Chemistry Using Repetition.
- Memorizing Chemistry Using Mnemonic Devices.
- Using Memory Palaces To Memorize Chemistry.
- Using a Memory Palace To Memorize Numbers.
Copy Styles Between Templates
- Click the Home tab.
- Open the Styles pane.
- Click the Manage Styles button.
- Click Import/Export. The same Organizer window that we used to copy macro modules opens, this time to the Styles tab.
- Select a style.
- Click the Copy button. ...
- Click Close.
Position the import cursor in the drawing window, and click.
...
- Open a drawing that contains a text object.
- Click File Export.
- Choose DOC - MS Word for Windows 6/7 or RTF - Rich Text Format from the Save as type list box.
- Type a filename in the File name list box.
You have the option to choose between two types of drawing tools: pen tools (optimal for text markup) and shapes (optimal for simple drawings). In this step-by-step guide, you will learn about these two different approaches to drawing in Word.
How do I create a CAD drawing in Word? ›
You can use Copy/Paste to move AutoCAD drawing to Word (or any other Office application) including special objects (eg. AEC walls), lineweights, texts, etc. Use Edit/Copy (Ctrl-C) in AutoCAD and Edit/Paste (Ctrl-V) in Word. After pasting you can even start drawing edit session by double-clicking on the drawing object.
What is drawing with words called? ›
Word art or text art is a form of art that includes text, forming words or phrases, as its main component; it is a combination of language and visual imagery.
What is a template in ChemDraw? ›
The chemical structure drawing package ChemOffice from CambridgeSoft (www.cambridgesoft.com) allows users to draw structures in ChemDraw documents by using prepared structures from a “Template File”.
How do you copy and paste a structure in ChemDraw? ›
In ChemDraw, draw the structure and then Select All. In the ChemDraw Edit menu, go to Copy As, and then select SMILES or use the shortcut Alt+Ctrl+C. In CAS Draw, paste the SMILES string in the input box at the top right by clicking the input box and pressing Ctrl+V.
Can you use Word for graphic design? ›
Unfortunately, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, etc. are not graphic design tools or programs, so you shouldn't rely on them for graphic design. These programs convert images automatically to RGB, which is not used for print.
