Unicode to Kantipur ConverterBeta

About the Unicode to Kantipur Converter

This page converts Nepali Unicode text to Kantipur. Kantipur is a legacy 8-bit Nepali font used by newspapers, government offices and older desktop-publishing workflows, the same world as Preeti, but a different encoding. Text typed in Unicode (Mangal, Kalimati, Nirmala UI or any other Unicode font) cannot be pasted into a Kantipur document as-is. It has to be mapped to the ASCII bytes the Kantipur font draws as Nepali shapes. This converter does exactly that, in your browser, as you type.

Self-formatting means you never have to fix the output by hand: the syllable-level engine automatically reorders i-matra, reph and conjuncts into Kantipur visual order as you type. The Cleanup tools below the panes tidy tabs, spacing before । ? !, math spacing, and repeated spaces. The conversion is verified by automated round-trip checks: every sample converts to Kantipur and back to the exact Unicode it started from.

Copy the result, paste it into your document, and set the font to Kantipur. If the pasted text still looks like English letters, Kantipur is not installed on that computer. For Preeti output instead, use the Unicode to Preeti converter. For Nepali typed in English letters, use theRoman to Preeti converter.

Where Kantipur and Preeti differ

These are the bytes where the two fonts disagree. Everything not listed here is identical between Kantipur and Preeti, which is why a Preeti converter fed Kantipur text (or vice versa) silently mistranslates exactly these bytes.

Beta caveat: % , = , ; , : , ° and the nukta ़ have no glyph in the Kantipur font. So they pass through unchanged and render as other glyphs (= as a dot, % as ५, ; as स, : as स्). Check those symbols by hand.

Frequently asked questions

How to convert Unicode to Kantipur?

Type or paste Nepali Unicode text into the left pane. The Kantipur-encoded output appears instantly in the right pane as you type. Click "Copy result", paste it into your document, then select the pasted text and set the font to Kantipur. The whole conversion takes a few seconds and works with any amount of text.

How to convert Nepali to Kantipur font?

Converting Nepali to Kantipur works the same way: paste your Nepali text into the left pane of the converter above and the Kantipur output appears instantly on the right. Copy it into your document and apply the Kantipur font. Every Nepali character is handled, including conjuncts, reph and the i-matra.

Why is this converter labelled Beta?

The Kantipur encoding is complete for Nepali text. But a few symbols have no glyph in the Kantipur font at all: the percent sign %, equals sign =, semicolon ;, colon : and degree sign °, plus the nukta ़. Those characters pass through unchanged and will render as other glyphs in the Kantipur font (= renders as a dot, % as ५, ; as स, : as स्). Check those symbols by hand before trusting a whole document. Everything else converts exactly.

Is Kantipur the same as Preeti?

Almost, but not identical. Both are legacy 8-bit Nepali fonts with the same typing layout for most letters, yet a handful of bytes mean different things. In Kantipur, F is the aa-matra (Preeti F is chandrabindu), and X is the हृ ligature (Preeti X is half ha). The rest differ too: ‹ is ङ्ग (Preeti ‹ is ङ्घ), › is the avagraha ऽ (Preeti › is द्र), and Î is half pha (Preeti Î is ङ्ख). Kantipur also has bytes Preeti lacks († for !, “ for ँ, Œ for त्त्, œ for त्र्, Ô for क्ष). It lacks bytes Preeti has (Å, Û, Ü, Ý, ˆ). This converter uses the Kantipur assignments, not the Preeti ones.

Can I convert Mangal or Kalimati text to Kantipur?

Yes. Mangal and Kalimati are Unicode fonts, and this converter takes any Nepali Unicode text, whatever font it is displayed in. Paste your Mangal or Kalimati text into the left pane and the Kantipur output appears instantly on the right. Copy it, paste it into your document, and set the font to Kantipur.

Unicode to Kantipur or Unicode to Preeti — which one do I need?

It depends on which font your document uses. If the document is set in the Kantipur font, use this page; if it is set in Preeti, use the Unicode to Preeti converter. The two encodings share most letters, but a handful of bytes differ: F, X, ‹, › and Î. So converting with the wrong one silently mistranslates exactly those bytes.

What happened to the Kantipur to Preeti converter?

It was replaced by this page. Most people need the other direction: type in Unicode and get Kantipur out for newspapers, government offices and legacy documents that still use the Kantipur font. So Unicode to Kantipur took its place. The old /kantipur-to-preeti address redirects here.

Why does the Kantipur output show English letters?

That is what Kantipur text is: the font maps Nepali shapes onto English codepoints. Paste the output into your document, select it, and set the font to Kantipur. The Nepali shapes appear then. If they do not, Kantipur is not installed on that computer.

Is my text sent to a server?

No. Conversion happens entirely in your browser and nothing you type is uploaded, stored or logged. The page even keeps working offline once it has loaded, and the source code is open for anyone to inspect.