Alan,
It would have helped if you had defined what you mean by a "tick mark".
CLARIFICATION...
I will assume you are referring to the following character... ' This character is the one located on the same key which has the following character... " This key is located two keys to the right of the "L".
BACKGROUND...
The tick character (the ') is used by Lotus 123 as what is called a "label prefix", more exactly a "left-aligned label prefix". This means it is used by Lotus to align characters (numbers and letters) on the LEFT side of the cell.
By default, whenever you enter a letter, Lotus 123 automatically places the left-aligned label prefix ( ' ) into the cell - and it shows to the LEFT of the letter(s) you enter. To notice the character, you will have to look at the "EDIT" line - at the top of the screen.
SOLUTION TO YOUR QUESTION...
To "make a tick mark", you only need to type TWO tick marks. The FIRST one will not show in the cell, but the SECOND tick mark will show.
EXAMPLE FOR USING A LEFT-ALIGNED LABEL PREFIX...
If you want to enter an address (for example, 456 Main Street), Lotus will NOT allow you to make such an entry UNLESS you FIRST type the LABEL PREFIX ( ' ).
The reason for Lotus 123 having a problem with the "456 Main Street" is because, WITHOUT having typed a label-prefix, Lotus 123 notices that you have started with a NUMBER (456) and therefore Lotus 123 automatically treats your entry as a NUMBER entry. However, because you then follow the NUMBER with LETTERS (Main Street), Lotus 123 prevents you from entering such an entry because a VALID "NUMBER" entry CANNOT be MIXED with "LETTERS" ...UNLESS you FIRST use the LABEL-PREFIX.
There are a total of THREE label-prefixs. The other two are the double quote ( " ) - which also tells Lotus 123 to accept the entry as "TEXT" (not a number) and to align the text on the RIGHT side of the cell.
The other label-prefix is the "hat chararacter" ( ^ ) - the one above the "6". This causes the entry to be CENTERED in the cell.
All three of these LABEL-PREFIXs can be entered MANUALLY by typing the characters. However, an alternate method of aligning data already entered into a cell is by using the icons - located to the right of the "U" icon (for underlining).
I hope this helps. Please advise.
Regards, ...Dale Watson dwatson@bsi.gov.mb.ca
or nd.watson@shaw.ca