LT TAM to Unicode

LT TAM to Unicode Tamil Font

LT TAM Tamil Font

Unicode Tamil Font

LT TAM to Unicode Tamil Font Conversion

The Tamil language is one of the oldest and most widely spoken classical languages in the world. With the growth of digital communication, the demand for Tamil content on computers, websites, and mobile platforms has steadily increased. Over the past few decades, many different fonts and encodings have been developed to type in Tamil. One of the most notable among them is the LT TAM font, which belongs to the category of non-Unicode fonts. While LT TAM served its purpose in the pre-Unicode era, today the world has shifted to Unicode as the universal standard. This makes LT TAM to Unicode Tamil font conversion an essential process for publishers, institutions, businesses, and individuals who want to preserve their old Tamil content and make it compatible with modern platforms.

What is LT TAM?

LT TAM is a non-Unicode Tamil font that was widely used in the past for desktop publishing, newspapers, government circulars, and educational content. Like many legacy Tamil fonts, LT TAM does not follow the Unicode encoding scheme. Instead, it uses ASCII values or Latin alphabet positions to display Tamil glyphs. For example, when the font is installed, typing the Latin character "a" may produce the Tamil letter “அ.” If the font is not installed, however, the same content will appear as garbled English letters and symbols. This dependency on the font file makes LT TAM documents less portable and incompatible with modern systems.

Why Unicode?

Unicode is a global character encoding standard that assigns unique code points to each character across all the world’s writing systems. For Tamil, Unicode ensures that every letter, vowel sign, and ligature has a standard representation that works universally across devices, platforms, and applications. With Unicode:

  • Text can be displayed correctly on any computer or smartphone without installing special fonts.
  • Tamil content becomes fully searchable on search engines like Google and Bing.
  • Documents are preserved in a format suitable for long-term archiving.
  • Interoperability across word processors, databases, and publishing tools is ensured.
  • Text can be easily shared through email, websites, and social media platforms without distortion.

Why Convert LT TAM to Unicode?

For decades, a large number of Tamil documents were created using LT TAM. Converting them to Unicode has several practical and cultural advantages:

  • Preservation of old content: Historical documents, newspapers, and official files created with LT TAM need to be preserved in Unicode for future generations.
  • Accessibility: Unicode ensures that Tamil content is accessible to everyone, including those using modern web and mobile platforms.
  • Search engine optimization: Unicode Tamil is indexed by search engines, making online Tamil content more visible.
  • Compatibility: Unicode text works seamlessly with all modern publishing systems, including MS Word, Google Docs, and web-based editors.
  • Standardization: Unicode has been adopted by governments, educational institutions, and global technology platforms as the official standard.

Challenges in Conversion

Converting LT TAM to Unicode is not always straightforward. Some of the common challenges include:

  • Encoding mismatches: LT TAM may have multiple versions with slight variations in character mapping.
  • Complex ligatures: Tamil compound letters and vowel markers require careful handling to ensure accurate conversion.
  • Reordering of vowels: In Unicode, the logical order of characters matters, which can differ from legacy font arrangements.
  • Proofreading requirement: Automated conversion tools may introduce errors, so human verification is essential.
  • Loss of formatting: Bold, italics, and custom spacing may not transfer correctly during conversion.

Methods of Conversion

1. Online Converters

Many free online tools allow quick LT TAM to Unicode conversion. Users simply paste LT TAM text and receive Unicode output. These tools are useful for small amounts of text, but they may not handle complex ligatures perfectly.

2. Desktop Software

Specialized desktop software can handle bulk conversion of large files. This is especially useful for publishers and organizations with massive archives of LT TAM content.

3. Custom Scripts

For institutions dealing with thousands of pages, developers often build custom scripts in Python, PHP, or Java. These scripts use character mapping tables to convert LT TAM encoding into Unicode systematically.

4. Manual Typing

For high-value or sensitive documents, manual retyping in Unicode using modern Tamil keyboards (InScript, phonetic input, Google Input Tools) ensures accuracy, though it is time-consuming.

Step-by-Step Conversion Process

  1. Identify the font: Confirm that the document uses LT TAM and note the version.
  2. Backup the files: Always keep an untouched copy of the original documents.
  3. Select a conversion method: Use online tools, desktop software, or custom scripts as needed.
  4. Run a test: Convert a sample text and check accuracy.
  5. Perform bulk conversion: Process entire documents once you are confident in accuracy.
  6. Proofread: Carefully review output to ensure correctness.
  7. Save in Unicode: Store documents in Unicode-based editors like MS Word or Google Docs.
  8. Republish: Share Unicode documents across web, mobile, and print platforms.

Best Practices

  • Always keep original LT TAM files safe before conversion.
  • Use reliable tools tested by the Tamil computing community.
  • Proofread every converted document.
  • Train staff or team members in Unicode typing to avoid future reliance on non-Unicode fonts.
  • Ensure Unicode output is compatible across devices by testing on different platforms.

Conclusion

The LT TAM font played an important role in the history of Tamil typing and publishing. However, in today’s interconnected digital ecosystem, Unicode is the only viable standard for long-term accessibility, compatibility, and growth. Converting LT TAM documents into Unicode is not only a technical necessity but also a cultural responsibility. By adopting Unicode, Tamil speakers and institutions ensure that the language remains vibrant, usable, and future-proof in the digital age.