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Lenz
The IPA Keyboard Remapper
NEW! Lenz for Linux v2.5.2
Lenz for Windows v1.6
Download Lenz for Windows 1.6 (en_US laybout)
Bajar Lenz for Windows 1.6 (es_ES layout)
Lenz - The IPA Keyboard Remapper is free softare that allows you to type IPA symbols directly into Unicode-compatible applications, which are pretty much all of them these days. With a little practice, it's possible to type in IPA at a nice, brisk pace -- far faster than can be done with solutions that involve picking, clicking, copying and pasting individual symbols.
Lenz requires that you have one or more of SIL's Unicode fonts installed: Charis SILand/or Doulos SIL.
Lenz for Linux
17 years after the original Lenz for WIndows came out, Lenz for Linux has been born! The single download contains three Lenz versions each for the es_ES, es_LATAM, en_US and en_GB keyboard layouts. The three Lenz versions differ only in the modifier keys used to get different phonetic symbols.
Lenz for Linux comes with an extensive README.md file (which I really do recommend you read!), 12 PDF keyboard charts (one for each combination of Lenz version and keyboard layout), and a convenient script that can install and uninstall it, as well as let you test drive different layouts. Get it here.
Lenz for Windows
To use Lenz, simply download the ZIP file that corresponds to your keyboard (en_US, es_ES), uncompress it, and run the file Lenz-Eng.exe. There's no installation involved. A green icon will appear in the icon tray -- this shows that the program is running, and right clicking on it will allow you to suspend or close the program.
When Lenz is running, normal keys will produce the characters they always have. To generate IPA symbols, use the modifier keys CTRL, ALT, CTRL+ALT, CTRL+SHIFT and ALT+SHIFT along with the normal keys. The keyboard chart at the bottom of this page shows what key combination produces each symbol: for schwa [ə] use CTRL+e, for esh [ʃ] use ALT+s, for the aspirated symbol [ʰ] use ALT+SHIFT+h, and so on.
Note that the program is designed for the es_ES or en_US keyboard layouts, depending on the version you downkload. It will work on other keyboard layouts, but the keyboard map will be slightly different.
TIP: If the program doesn't work as expected under Windows, run it as administrator.
NOTE: A few anti-virus programs produce a false positive when scanning Lenz due to the compiler I use to produce it. I assure you that Lenz contains no viruses, but If you're still uneasy about the possibility (and everyone should be!) I'd suggest scanning it at a site like VirusTotal.