How to Capitalize Anything

Capitalization Tool – User Guide

A comprehensive web-based tool for automatically capitalizing text according to professional writing standards based on “How to Capitalize Anything” by Giacomo Giammatteo.

Click the link to access the app

capapp

If you want to buy the book, here is the link to all digital stores: How to Capitalize Anything

You can also buy the print book at Amazon, B&N, Half Price Books, and more.

The rules for the capitalization app are below, and access to the app is at the bottom of the page.

Overview

This tool provides two capitalization modes:

• Prose Mode: For novels, articles, and general writing

• Title Mode: For book titles, movie titles, song titles, and headlines

Features

1. Capitalize Text (Prose Mode)

Applies comprehensive capitalization rules for standard prose writing.

How to use:

1. Paste or type your text in the left text area (Input Text)

2. Click the “Capitalize Text” button

3. View the corrected text in the right text area (Output)

What it capitalizes:

• First letter of every sentence

• Titles before names (Captain Smith, Vice President Harris, General Lee)

• Proper nouns and place names (New York, Statue of Liberty, Central Park)

• Days of the week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday)

• Months (January, February, March)

• Historical documents (Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights)

• Government bodies (Congress, Senate, Supreme Court)

• Geographic regions (the Southwest, the Midwest, New England, Hill Country)

• Military branches (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard)

• Monuments and landmarks (Lincoln Memorial, Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building)

• Museums and institutions (Metropolitan Museum, Smithsonian)

• Street names (Bayard Blvd, Lancaster Ave, Sixth St)

• Animal breeds with proper nouns (German shepherd, Irish wolfhound, Afghan hound)

• Named rooms (Green Room, Oval Office, Lincoln Bedroom)

• Special places (Rodney Square, Times Square, Hotel du Pont)

What it does NOT capitalize:

• Common nouns (dog, cat, house, car)

• Directional words when not referring to regions (go north, facing east)

• Generic titles not before names (the captain said, a general arrived)

• Seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter)

• Animal breed types without proper nouns (shepherd, retriever, hound)

2. Capitalize as Title

Applies title case rules for books, movies, songs, and headlines.

How to use:

1. Enter your title in the Input Text area

2. Click the “Capitalize as Title” button

3. View the properly formatted title in the Output area

Title capitalization rules:

• Capitalizes the first word

• Capitalizes the last word

• Capitalizes all major words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs)

• Keeps articles and short prepositions lowercase (a, an, the, and, but, or, for, at, by, in, of, on, to, up)

Examples:

• “the great gatsby” becomes “The Great Gatsby”

• “to kill a mockingbird” becomes “To Kill a Mockingbird”

• “a tale of two cities” becomes “A Tale of Two Cities”

3. Add Custom Word/Phrase

Add your own words or phrases that require specific capitalization.

How to use:

1. Click the “Add Custom Word/Phrase” button

2. In the modal window:

   • First field: Enter the word or phrase in lowercase (example: “empire state building”)

   • Second field: Enter the correct capitalization (example: “Empire State Building”)

3. Click “Add”

4. The tool will automatically recapitalize your text if there is any

Important notes:

• Enter the COMPLETE phrase as one entry

• Do NOT include punctuation (commas, periods) in either field

• Custom words are saved in your browser and persist across sessions

• Custom words apply LAST and override all built-in rules

• If a custom word appears at the start of a sentence, the first letter will automatically be capitalized

Examples of when to use custom words:

Company names:

• Lowercase: “acme corporation”

• Capitalized: “ACME Corporation”

Brand names:

• Lowercase: “coca-cola”

• Capitalized: “Coca-Cola”

Special places:

• Lowercase: “the white hart inn”

• Capitalized: “The White Hart Inn”

Technical terms:

• Lowercase: “iphone”

• Capitalized: “iPhone”

Multi-word proper nouns:

• Lowercase: “the english bill of rights”

• Capitalized: “The English Bill of Rights”

Managing custom words:

• View all your custom words in the modal window

• Click “Remove” next to any entry to delete it

• Removing a word automatically recapitalizes your text

4. Copy Output

Copies the capitalized text to your clipboard.

How to use:

1. After capitalizing your text, click “Copy Output”

2. The button will briefly show “Copied!” to confirm

3. Paste the text wherever you need it (Command+V or Ctrl+V)

5. Clear All

Removes all text from both input and output areas and resets statistics.

How to use:

1. Click “Clear All”

2. Both text areas will be emptied

3. Statistics (Changes Made, Words Processed) will reset to 0

Understanding the Results

Changes Made List

Below the text areas, you’ll see a detailed list of every change made:

• Red strikethrough text: Original (incorrect) capitalization

• Green bold text: Corrected capitalization

This helps you understand exactly what was changed and why.

Statistics

Two counters show:

• Changes Made: Total number of capitalization corrections

• Words Processed: Total number of words in your text

Tips and Best Practices

For Best Results

1. Use complete sentences: The tool works best with properly punctuated text

2. One mode at a time: Use either “Capitalize Text” OR “Capitalize as Title”, not both

3. Add custom words first: If you have special terms, add them before capitalizing

4. Review the changes: Check the “Changes Made” list to verify corrections

5. Context matters: The tool makes intelligent decisions based on context (like capitalizing “Army” when referring to the military branch)

Common Scenarios

Scenario: Writing a novel

• Use “Capitalize Text” for your prose

• Add character names, place names, and special terms as custom words

• The tool will handle titles before names, proper nouns, and sentence capitalization

Scenario: Creating a bibliography

• Use “Capitalize as Title” for book titles

• Use “Capitalize Text” for author names and publication info

Scenario: Business writing

• Add your company name, product names, and industry-specific terms as custom words

• Use “Capitalize Text” for the body text

• Use “Capitalize as Title” for headlines and section headers

Troubleshooting

Problem: Custom word not capitalizing

• Check that you entered the word in lowercase in the first field

• Make sure you didn’t include punctuation

• Verify the word appears in the custom words list

• Try removing and re-adding the word

Problem: Word capitalized incorrectly at start of sentence

• This is automatic – the tool always capitalizes the first letter of sentences

• If you need a special format, you may need to manually adjust after copying

Problem: Custom words disappeared

• Custom words are stored in your browser’s localStorage

• Clearing browser data or using incognito/private mode will erase them

• Using a different browser or device will not have your custom words

Problem: Tool not responding

• Refresh the page (Command+Shift+R or Ctrl+Shift+R for hard refresh)

• Check that JavaScript is enabled in your browser

• Try a different browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge all supported)

Browser Compatibility

Works in all modern browsers:

• Chrome (recommended)

• Firefox

• Safari

• Edge

• Opera

Requires JavaScript to be enabled.

Data Privacy

• All processing happens in your browser

• No text is sent to any server

• Custom words are stored locally in your browser only

• No data is collected or transmitted

Credits

Capitalization rules based on “How to Capitalize Anything” by Giacomo Giammatteo.

Support

For issues or questions about the tool’s functionality, check the troubleshooting section above or review the changes list to understand what the tool is doing.

Version: 3.0 Last Updated: October 2025