Bringing Kruti Tamil text into Unicode
The Kruti name is better known from Hindi typing, so people are sometimes surprised to find Tamil documents prepared in a Kruti Tamil font. Unicode is what practically every current browser, phone and word processor expects, so this page takes text stored in Kruti Tamil and rewrites it as standard Unicode Tamil. The words stay exactly the same. Only the way they are stored changes.
Is it really Kruti Tamil?
Legacy Tamil is easy to spot once the font is gone, because the letters on screen no longer mean anything. To give you something concrete, this converter stores தமிழ் in Kruti Tamil as jkpH;, வணக்கம் as tzf;fk; and நன்றி as ed;wp. Kruti Tamil text contains invisible zero-width joiner characters between some letters. தமிழ் is jkpH; on screen, but the stored string is longer than it looks. You cannot see the extra characters, so always copy and paste rather than retyping.
Converting step by step
Paste the Kruti Tamil text into the input box, run the conversion and read the Unicode Tamil that comes out. If you are working from a big file, start with a paragraph you know well. The word and character counters under each box are handy for checking that nothing was lost on the way.
A quick review before you reuse it
Proofread the first few lines, then look at names, numbers and any punctuation. Pure consonants with the pulli, long vowels and joined letters deserve a second look. If something is off, test the problem word on its own; that usually shows whether the issue came from the source text or from a different format than the one you picked.
Where this comes up
People usually land here with a specific problem: an old school or office file that nobody can read any more, a book or magazine archive, a set of names for a database, or a family document that was typed years ago. Whatever the source, the job is the same. Get the text out as plain characters, convert it, and carry on in a modern editor.
Small habits that save time
Work from the original text whenever you can, not from a screenshot or a re-typed copy. Convert a short sample first and keep the original file untouched. If a document mixes several fonts, convert each section with its own tool. Clear both boxes before pasting something new so that old text does not sneak into the next job.
Why move to Unicode at all
With Unicode you can finally treat old Tamil as ordinary text. It can be searched, quoted, edited and shared without worrying whether the other person has Kruti Tamil. That alone is usually reason enough to convert once and move on.
Related tools
If you ever need to go the other way, try Unicode to Kruti Tamil. To write fresh Tamil with an English keyboard, use English to Tamil typing, or browse all Tamil font converters.
Kruti Tamil to Unicode: common questions
Why is my Kruti Tamil text longer than it looks?
Because of invisible joiner characters that sit between some letters. They are part of how the format works. Retyping the text by hand will leave them out and can break the conversion.
Is Kruti Tamil the same as MCL?
The two matched on the sample words we tested, joiners included. That does not make them interchangeable for every character, so use the tool named for your file.
Will bold, colours and fonts carry over?
No. The converter deals with plain text only. Fonts, sizes, colours and layout have to be reapplied in your editor afterwards.
Do I need the Kruti Tamil font installed?
To convert, no. The tool only reads the characters you paste. You would only need the font if you wanted the legacy text to look like Tamil in another program.
Can I convert a Word file or PDF directly?
This is a paste-in tool, so there is no file upload. Copy the text out of the document, paste it in, then copy or download the result. A PDF has to contain real selectable text; scanned pages need OCR first.
Will the conversion change what my text says?
No. Only the way the characters are stored changes, not the language or the wording. Even so, read names, numbers and punctuation once after converting.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion runs in your browser on this page, so the text you paste is processed on your own device. It is still sensible to avoid pasting anything confidential on a shared computer.