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KannadaLegacy → Unicode

Nudi to Unicode Converter

Turn Nudi / Baraha shared ASCII text that looks like “PÀ£ÀßqÀ” into real Kannada: “ಕನ್ನಡ”. Unicode text reads correctly on any phone, browser or search engine.

0 chars0 words
<1 ms
Live conversion Private
20

  • Runs on your device

    Nothing is uploaded. Works offline once loaded.

  • Both directions

    Swap to go Unicode → Nudi in one click.

  • Loss report

    Characters a font can’t show are flagged, not dropped.

  • 523 mappings

    Every one is listed in the chart below.

01 · About the font

Nudi / Baraha shared ASCII, in plain words.

Nudi is Karnataka’s Kannada typing standard, and its legacy fonts still sit in offices, newspapers and press archives.

Nudi was developed by the Kannada Ganaka Parishat and became the keyboard layout and software widely used for Kannada, including by the Government of Karnataka. The legacy Nudi fonts are ASCII fonts: Kannada is typed on an English keyboard and drawn by the font, so the file contains English letters.

Later Nudi releases moved to Unicode, and the Unicode Nudi keyboard layout is still how many people type Kannada today. What remains are decades of documents typed in the older ASCII fonts.

Baraha, a separate Kannada typing package, also produced ASCII text in a closely related layout. This converter reads the layout the two share, so documents from either usually convert with the same mapping, but it does not claim support for every version of every font.

Nudi / Baraha shared ASCII (as stored)

PÀ£ÀßqÀ

Unicode (converted by this page)

ಕನ್ನಡ

This sample is converted with the same engine as the tool above, when this page was built, and matches the expected text exactly.

Who still uses it

  • 01

    Karnataka government offices

    Orders, circulars and records typed in Nudi legacy fonts that need to be searchable and shareable.

  • 02

    Newspapers and publishers

    Page-layout files and archives set in Kannada ASCII fonts.

  • 03

    Researchers and archives

    Digitisation work where Kannada text must be machine-readable.

02 · How to

How to convert Nudi to Unicode (3 steps)

Legacy text only looks like Kannada on a computer that has Nudi / Baraha shared ASCII installed. Everywhere else (phones, WhatsApp, websites, search results) it appears as English letters like “PÀ£ÀßqÀ”. Converting to Unicode fixes that for good.

  1. Paste your Nudi text

    Check that “From” says Nudi / Baraha shared ASCII, then paste your text. Nudi text such as “PÀ£ÀßqÀ” looks like a jumble of English letters and symbols until it is converted.
    Nudi to Unicode converter with “From” set to Nudi / Baraha shared ASCII and the Nudi sample “PÀ£ÀßqÀ” pasted into the input box

  2. Check the Unicode Kannada

    The Unicode Kannada appears as you paste: “ಕನ್ನಡ”. Nothing in this Nudi sample was flagged. When something is, a “notes” button lists it.
    Output box showing the Nudi sample converted to Unicode Kannada: “ಕನ್ನಡ”

  3. Copy it or save a Word file

    Copy puts “ಕನ್ನಡ” on your clipboard, ready for WhatsApp, Gmail or Google Docs. The Word button saves a .docx already set in Nirmala UI, so you don’t need Nudi / Baraha shared ASCII to read it.
    Nudi to Unicode converter after Copy, with the green “Copied” button, the message “Copied — paste it anywhere.” and the Download Word (.docx) button labelled

Pick a Unicode font. Tunga or Nirmala UI on Windows, Noto Sans Kannada on the web and in Google Docs.

Have a whole document instead of a paragraph? The Word file converter keeps tables, bold text and layout.

03 · Output font

Set the output font in MS Word or Google Docs

Unicode text is real Kannada, so any Kannada-capable font will display it. Pick one that looks good for your document.

Microsoft Word

  1. 1Paste the converted text, then press Ctrl+A (Cmd+A on Mac) to select everything.
  2. 2On the Home tab, click the font box, type “Nirmala UI” and press Enter.
  3. 3Optional: Review → Language → Set Proofing Language → Kannada, so spell-check does not underline everything.
  4. 4If the text still shows boxes, install a Unicode font that covers the script, such as Noto Sans Kannada.

Google Docs

  1. 1Paste the converted text and select it with Ctrl+A.
  2. 2Open the font menu → More fonts, search for “Noto Sans Kannada” (or Noto Serif Kannada) and add it.
  3. 3Apply the font. Because the text is Unicode, it also copies cleanly into Gmail, Sheets and Slides.

04 · Mapping chart

Every key, and the letter it makes.

This is the actual table the converter uses, generated from the engine. Search for a key you see in garbled text, or for a letter you want to type.

523 mappings

Click a letter to copy the Unicode character. Click the key cap to copy the Nudi / Baraha shared ASCII key.

05 · Known limits

What to watch for.

  • This profile covers the common Nudi / Baraha 8-bit layout. Other Kannada ASCII fonts (Shree-Lipi, Akruti and others) use different encodings, so check the font name before converting.
  • Pre-base vowel signs and ligature glyphs are placed visually in legacy text and must be rebuilt in logical order for Unicode.
  • The converter leaves URLs, e-mail addresses, digits and common English words untouched. Uncommon English words can still be converted, so check mixed-language text.

Coverage in this converter

  • Vowel signs407
  • Consonants35
  • Conjuncts33
  • Half forms32
  • Vowels13
  • Signs3

Checked against Looped Labs’ asciikannada2unicode and unicode2asciikannada, the open-source converters this mapping was taken from: 544 of 716 test conversions matched exactly. Of the 172 differences, 162 were errors in those converters and 10 were equivalent spellings. Because the mapping comes from that project, this checks how faithfully it was carried over, not whether the original table is right. See the accuracy page for every difference.

06 · FAQ

Questions about Nudi to Unicode

Why does my Kannada text show as “PÀ£ÀßqÀ”?

Because it was typed in a Nudi or Baraha ASCII font, which stores Latin-1 characters and draws ಕನ್ನಡ only when the font is installed. Converting to Unicode stores the real Kannada characters.

Is Nudi Unicode, or a legacy font?

Both exist. The older Nudi fonts are ASCII fonts that need conversion. The Unicode Nudi keyboard produces ordinary Unicode Kannada, so text typed that way needs no conversion.

Can I convert Baraha text with this tool?

Usually, yes. This converter reads the common 8-bit layout shared by Nudi and Baraha ASCII fonts. Fonts from other families, such as Shree-Lipi, use different encodings, and no support is claimed for every font version, so check the preview.

Is my Nudi / Baraha shared ASCII text uploaded to a server?

No. The conversion runs as JavaScript in your browser, so your text never leaves your device. Once the page has loaded, it works offline too.

Which font should I use after converting Nudi / Baraha shared ASCII to Unicode?

Tunga or Nirmala UI on Windows, Noto Sans Kannada on the web and in Google Docs. Unicode text is not tied to one font, so you can switch typeface later without converting again.

How accurate is the Nudi / Baraha shared ASCII converter?

It was checked against the converter its mapping came from: 544 of 716 test conversions matched Looped Labs’ asciikannada2unicode and unicode2asciikannada exactly. Each of the other 172 was reviewed, and 162 turned out to be errors in those converters. No independent converter has confirmed the table itself yet. The sample on this page converts exactly as expected. No fluent-speaker review has been done, so read important text before you print or submit it.