The Ultimate Guide to Kannada Fonts: ASCII vs. Unicode
A deep dive into why legacy fonts like Nudi exist, why they show up as English gibberish on modern devices, and why Unicode is the global standard.
Convert Nudi to Unicode for InDesign
Convert Kannada text from Nudi or Baraha ASCII encoding to Unicode instantly — or reverse it from Unicode back to Nudi ASCII. The fastest unicode converter kannada tool available online.
- Free
- No Signup
- Nudi + Baraha
Last updated:
How it works
Paste your text
Drop your Nudi or Baraha ASCII text into the input box. It usually looks like jumbled Latin letters and symbols until the right font is applied.
Pick encoding and direction
Choose whether the source is Nudi or Baraha, and set the direction — Nudi → Unicode for modern apps, or Unicode → Nudi for legacy DTP files.
Copy or download the output
Read the Unicode Kannada in the output box, then copy it or download a .txt file — ready for the web, Wikipedia, WhatsApp, Google Docs and Word.
Worked examples
| Scenario | Calculation | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Document A — newspaper copy | Nudi ASCII article → Nudi → Unicode | Searchable, indexable nudi unicode that renders on any browser without needing to download a special font. |
| Document B — government DTP file | PageMaker Nudi text → Nudi → Unicode | Clean Unicode you can paste into Word or export to a PDF. It acts like a perfect tunga to nudi converter alternative. |
| User C — Wikipedia editor | Legacy Kannada content → Nudi → Unicode | Standards-compliant Unicode ready to paste into Wikipedia. A much smoother workflow than relying solely on older aravindavk sanka tools from the past. |
| Document D — Baraha typing | Baraha ASCII notes → Baraha → Unicode | Unicode Kannada with long-vowel matras (aa, ee, oo) resolved to ಾ, ೀ, ೂ. Easily convert to nudi again if needed. |
| User E — legacy print workflow | Unicode Kannada → Unicode → Nudi | ASCII Nudi text you can pour back into PageMaker or InDesign templates that expect the nudi converter to unicode formats. |
Conversion reference
| Nudi Key | Unicode Char | Unicode Point | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ಅ | U+0C85 | Vowel a (short) |
| B | ಆ | U+0C86 | Vowel aa (long) |
| E | ಇ | U+0C87 | Vowel i (short) |
| F | ಈ | U+0C88 | Vowel ii (long) |
| U | ಉ | U+0C89 | Vowel u (short) |
| k | ಕ | U+0C95 | Consonant ka |
| g | ಗ | U+0C97 | Consonant ga |
| c | ಚ | U+0C9A | Consonant cha |
| t | ತ | U+0CA4 | Consonant ta |
| d | ದ | U+0CA6 | Consonant da |
| n | ನ | U+0CA8 | Consonant na |
| p | ಪ | U+0CAA | Consonant pa |
| b | ಬ | U+0CAC | Consonant ba |
| m | ಮ | U+0CAE | Consonant ma |
| s | ಸ | U+0CB8 | Consonant sa |
| h | ಹ | U+0CB9 | Consonant ha |
| ¸ | ್ | U+0CCD | Halant / virama — joins consonants into conjuncts |
| ~ | ಂ | U+0C82 | Anusvara — nasal sound |
| : | ಃ | U+0C83 | Visarga |
| | | । | U+0964 | Danda — full stop |
Quick facts
- The Kannada Unicode block (U+0C80–U+0CFF) holds 128 code points covering every letter, sign and digit for seamless nudi to unicode conversion.
- Nudi is the standard Kannada software issued by the Government of Karnataka. Our nudi 4 to nudi 6 converter logic ensures total compatibility.
- Kannada is the official language of Karnataka. Millions of users rely on an aravind converter or similar tools like sanka in kannada to manage text.
- Nudi ASCII is a font hack. Convert your ascii to unicode kannada format to make it instantly readable everywhere.
- Unicode text is searchable and indexable; legacy ASCII Nudi is not. Tools by aravinda vk, like the sanka unicode project, highlighted this need.
- Kannada uses its own digits ೦–೯ (U+0CE6–U+0CEF). Unlike traditional unicode ascii converter software, our online tool correctly maps these.
From the blog
View all →Frequently asked questions
Nudi is a legacy Kannada typing software and font encoding system widely used in Karnataka. It maps Kannada characters to English ASCII keys, which is why the text looks like gibberish when the specific Nudi font is missing.
This happens when the text is written using ASCII encoding (like Nudi or Baraha) instead of Unicode. Without the specific font installed on your device, the system defaults to English characters. Converting it to Unicode solves this issue permanently.
Yes, for modern computing. Unicode is a universal standard natively supported by Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, and all web browsers. Nudi fonts are only useful for older software or specific desktop publishing tasks.