Enter a Pinyin spelling, choose Chinese characters and copy your text. Follow examples using the actual i2Bopomo keyboard.
You do not need a special physical keyboard. Enter the Pinyin letters in the reading box, then choose the Chinese characters you want.
Start with tone-free letters. On this keyboard, that gives the widest dictionary coverage.
Open the Pinyin keyboard →Open the Pinyin keyboard and click its phonetic input box. The large editor is where the chosen Chinese text will appear. If you use the input-method menu, make sure Pinyin is selected.
Type nihao. Keep the syllables joined for this first exercise; pressing Space while typing can choose a candidate before you finish the word.
The learning spelling is nǐ hǎo, but you do not need to enter accented letters in the keyboard. Numbered aliases such as ni3hao3 are supported where the dictionary has tone data; they have different coverage from tone-free input.
Look for 你好 in the candidate row and click it. If you need more choices, use the paging arrows. Long suggestions can be opened in the expanded candidate panel.
Space selects the first available candidate. Alt + a displayed candidate number selects that visible choice. Plain number keys remain available for tone input, so they do not choose Pinyin candidates by themselves.
The selected word appears in the editor. Type another reading to add more Chinese, then copy the finished text. Use Undo if you chose the wrong word. Enter adds a line break; it is not the Pinyin candidate-selection shortcut.
For a word such as 女 (nǚ), type nv. The keyboard also accepts nü and nu:. The letter v is an input shortcut, not the usual written Pinyin spelling.
Use standard spellings after j, q, x and y: ju, qu, xu, yu. These represent the ü vowel even though the dots are omitted. In nu and lu, the plain u is a different vowel, so keep the distinction.
Dictionary coverage and ranking vary. The keyboard does not guarantee that every personal name, technical term or phrase will be available.
Reference checks: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University · Initials, Pinyin spelling rules and tone changes. Explanations, examples and diagrams here are original learning material for i2Bopomo.