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Text Processing

Em-dash & Typographic Purifier

· Last updated：2026-06-24

Convert AI-typical plain ASCII into proper typography: -- and --- become en/em dashes, straight quotes become curly/smart quotes (locale-aware), ... becomes a single ellipsis …, spaced dashes are tightened, and repeated spaces collapse — while fenced ``` code blocks and `inline` code are left untouched.

Details

What this tool helps you do

Paste any text and the purifier fixes the typography that AI-generated and hastily-typed prose gets wrong:

  1. Dashes — --- becomes an em dash (—), -- becomes an en dash (–), and number ranges like 1990-1992 become 1990–1992. Spaced — is tightened so the dash hugs the words.
  2. Smart quotes — straight " " and ' ' become curly, locale-aware guillemets/quotes. Apostrophes in contractions are handled.
  3. Ellipsis — ... and . . . collapse into a single ellipsis character (…).
  4. Whitespace — runs of spaces/tabs collapse to one (newlines preserved).
  5. Code-safe — fenced code blocks and inline code spans are detected and never modified.

Runs fully offline and deterministically.

Execution

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Samples

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Written by the Elysia Tools team
Text311
Text Processing185
AI63

Tool usage guide

Learn when to use this tool, what it supports, and how real users apply it.

Key facts

Category
Text Processing
Input types
textarea, select, checkbox
Output type
html
Sample coverage
4
API ready
Yes

Overview

The Em-dash & Typographic Purifier cleans up raw ASCII text and AI-generated copy by converting straight quotes to locale-aware curly quotes, hyphens to proper en/em dashes, and triple dots to single ellipsis characters, all while keeping code blocks and inline code untouched.

When to use

  • When preparing AI-generated drafts or raw transcripts for professional publication or typesetting.
  • When you need to convert straight quotes to locale-specific curly quotes or guillemets automatically.
  • When cleaning up double hyphens, spaced dashes, and multiple consecutive spaces in markdown files without breaking code syntax.

How it works

  1. 1Paste your raw text into the input area and select your target language locale to determine the correct quotation style.
  2. 2Choose whether to apply all conversions or restrict the purification to dashes, quotes, or ellipses only.
  3. 3Toggle options to collapse multiple spaces, tighten spaced dashes, or preserve code blocks and inline code.
  4. 4Review the instantly generated output containing proper typographic characters ready for copy-pasting.

Use cases

  • Polishing blog posts and articles generated by LLMs that use straight quotes and double hyphens.
  • Formatting localized copy for French, German, or Spanish websites using correct regional quotation marks.
  • Cleaning up copy-pasted transcripts containing messy spacing, triple-dot ellipses, and inconsistent dashes.

Examples

1. Polishing AI-Generated English Copy

Content Editor

Background

An editor receives a draft from an AI writer containing straight quotes, double hyphens for dashes, and triple periods for ellipses.

Problem

The draft looks unprofessional and violates the company's style guide for typography.

How to use

Paste the draft into the text area, select the English locale, choose 'All' conversions, and keep the code preservation option enabled.

Locale: en, Conversions: all, Fix Spaced Dash: true, Fix Spaces: true, Preserve Code: true

Outcome

Straight quotes become curly, double hyphens become em-dashes, and triple periods become a single ellipsis character, while inline code remains intact.

2. Formatting French Localization Strings

Localization Specialist

Background

A localization specialist has translated UI strings into French, but the text contains straight quotes instead of proper French guillemets.

Problem

French typography requires guillemets with non-breaking spaces inside them, which are tedious to type manually.

How to use

FAQ

Does this tool modify code blocks?

No, if the preserve code option is enabled, fenced code blocks and inline code remain completely untouched.

Which languages are supported for smart quotes?

It supports English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Russian, and Portuguese, applying the correct local quotation marks for each.

What is the difference between en-dashes and em-dashes here?

Double hyphens (--) convert to en-dashes (–) or em-dashes (—) depending on context, and triple hyphens (---) convert to em-dashes.

Does the tool run online or offline?

It runs fully offline and deterministically in your browser, ensuring your text data remains private.

Can I choose to only fix quotes and ignore dashes?

Yes, you can set the conversions option to 'Quotes only' to bypass dash and ellipsis transformations.

Hub

Editorial Copy Review and Brand Voice

Review an existing draft for brand voice, titles, readability, typography, whitespace, and Markdown quality without flattening the author's intent.

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Paste the French text, select the French (fr) locale, and run the purifier.

Locale: fr, Conversions: all, Fix Spaced Dash: true, Fix Spaces: true, Preserve Code: true

Outcome

Straight quotes are converted to « and » with the correct narrow non-breaking spaces inserted automatically.