We are excited to announce the release of Picardy 2.0, the updated version of our tool for creating and editing indexes for books, manuals, reports, periodicals, and other documents, aimed at the busy writer who is too busy writing to face the time-consuming drudgery of creating an index using outdated or imperfect tools. And it’s free!

Using Picardy, you can input index information in any order, and Picardy sorts, formats, and collates it into a finished index using easily selected guidelines.

• Quickly edit your index into perfection using straightforward and easily remembered commands, whether on the fly as you index or after you’ve finished typing in the entries.
• Watch your index grow in the preview pane on the left, sorted and formatted to your specs.
• Move easily between the panes — clicking on an entry in one pane automatically synchronises it with the other.
• Configure your index for various output settings such as indented or run-in subheadings, page number style, single-volume or multi-volume page numbers, custom alphabetization options, and cross-reference formatting.
• Speed up your work with the many productivity tools such as spell-checking in seven languages; highlighting; consistency, style, and syntax validation; a character map for several scripts, including right-to-left scripts; shortcuts for recurring text; text formatting commands; and index entry manipulation commands.
• Print out drafts as and when you need them, in alphabetical, page number or as-entered order.
• Export your index as RTF for processing in Microsoft Word, InDesign, and many other word processors and publishing programs; HTML; plain text; and EPUB; as well as formats that can be read by other indexing software.
• Import existing indexes from other indexing software — or even type up your index entries in a text editor or word processor in any order and paste them into Picardy for sorting and formatting. If you’re updating an index from an earlier edition, you can (depending on the format) load it into Picardy to edit for the new edition.

Picardy is the perfect tool for “accidental indexers” — those who while not being full-time indexers nevertheless need to produce the occasional index in their line of work or recreation: self-publishing authors, academics, editors, librarians, and so forth, or those considering embarking on an indexing career but not yet ready for commercial indexing software. Of course, professional indexers can use it too, since it has all the essential features necessary to produce a back-of-book index using generally accepted formatting conventions.

Picardy is available for Microsoft Windows™ and Linux. A Macintosh™ (Intel™ CPUs only) “alpha” version is also available.

Download Picardy 2.0 from https://picardy-indexing.ca and get indexing right now. Did we mention it’s free? For more information, contact us at picardy.indexing@gmail.com