Telugu

Recommended Fonts | Keyboard Layouts | Mac vs. PC vs. Linux Rendering Issues | Credits

Recommended Fonts

The SALRC recommends the following fonts for Telugu language pedagogy and Internet applications:

[Click on font names or samples for specific information and text samples for each font.]

Akshar Unicode (akshar.ttf)

Free download from Kamban Software.

Note: This font also supports Devanagari, Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhala, and Tamil.

Font Image

Code2000 (code2000.ttf)

Shareware download from James Kass's homepage. Registration enables access to updated versions.

Font Image

Gautami (gautami.ttf)

Commercial font packaged with Microsoft's Windows XP and Office XP.

Font Image

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Input Schemes and Keyboard Layouts

For typing in Telugu on Windows platforms, the SALRC recommends the following options:

  • Windows XP Keyboard Layout: Microsoft Windows XP offers a native 'Inscript' keyboard layout for Telugu (as a part of the optional mutlilingual support). These may be accessed through Control Panel > System > Languages, and are an optional installation (Click on "How to Install Fonts and Layouts" in the left navigation bar for more information). The keyboard may be viewed with the On-screen Keyboard Viewer (Start > Program Files > Utilities > Accessibility > On Screen Keyboard).
  • OpenOffice.org: A free, open-source office suite project that is Unicode-savvy, OpenType enabled, and able to run on Linux/Sparc, Mac OS X (with X11), and all modern Windows platforms, including Windows 95.

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Rendering issues: Mac vs. PC vs. Linux

The fonts recommended on this page have been tested for functionality on PCs running Windows XP/2000/2003/NT. They are unsuitable for use with Macintosh computers, because they make use of OpenType technology, developed jointly by Microsoft and Adobe, for displaying vowel signs (matras) and ligatures appropriately. While OS X also recognizes OpenType layout tables, it uses a different rendering engine (ATSUI), and these fonts are written for Microsoft's engine (called Uniscribe).

OSX currently does not offer Telugu as a part of its international language support; however, a Unicode Telugu Language Kit may be purchased from XenoType Technologies.

These fonts are compatible with most distributions of Linux running Gnome or KDE. Most major distributions also offer or include free Telugu-language packages, which include keyboards and fonts.

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Additional Resources and Credits

The content and design of this page rely largely Alan Wood's Unicode Fonts and WAZU JAPAN's Gallery of Unicode Fonts; these sites are excellent and up-to-date resources to find fonts, text editors, browsers, and other Unicode resources. The statistics and other font details appearing on this page have been used with their permission. Visit Penn State's South Asian Computing Information pages for additonal Unicode support. Malathi Nidadavolu (University of Wisconsin, Madison) and Tirumala Krishna Desikacharyulu (www.kavya-nandanam.com) have provided invaluable assistance and advice in the creation of this page.

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