Does Photoshop support unicode characters? (Windows)

[KAAVIYA__THE_QUEEN_]

I am trying to type Tamil text in Photoshop CS3. I typed Tamil text using Google Transliteration (http://www.google.com/transliterate/indic/Tamil) then pasted in Photoshop, but it is not working. As Google Transliteration uses Unicode, it must work in photoshop as well (if Photoshop supports Unicode).

Does photoshop support Unicode? If so what am I missing?

If photoshop does not support Unicode, how can I type Tamil text in photoshop?

[Guest · Accepted solution]

I don't think its so much PS as the font you are using. If the font doesn't have the Tamil characters in it, then it can't support its representation.

If you have a Tamil font, I'm not sure entering the Unicode number directly (at the cursor) will work.

In ASCII you can enter the ASCII number by pressing and holding the alt key while typing in the 3 digit code (numbers from 000 - 255) on the numberic key pad and if the Font supports the number you have entered (not all fonts support the full ASCII range) the character will appear at the cursor. If you have a Tamil font and an ASCII map into it try entering the codes as above.

How you type in a Unicode without having your keyboard mapped to the specific language and the fonts to go with it, I don't know.

If you are getting the actual Tamil characters you want from Google then copy the screen into the Clipboard by pressing PrtScn. Open a new document and paste the Clipboard into it, then cut and paste to get message in the format you need.

Here are a couple of links that may be of help:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode#Mapping_and_encodings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_script

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

Mike

[KazVorpal]

^This is wrong.

Dunno if it was partially correct in 2009, but it probably was not, and it's definitely wrong now. The problem is definitely Photoshop. 

For example, I'm wanting to use this Unicode character, the Angzarr: 

⍼

You can see it just fine, here, using (checks style sheet) Adobe Clean Serif.

But  I try to use it in Photoshop, pasting it in just as I did above, and I get an [X] symbol, in Adobe Clean Serif and every other of the hundreds of fonts I have installed. 

I go to https://wordmark.it — a website that shows text in all fonts on your system. I check there: Most of my fonts show ⍼ just fine. 

But the EXACT same font, in Photoshop, gives me the square X placeholder.

Either Photoshop ITSELF cannot show it, or in order to show it I can't simply paste it in the way I'm doing here in Chrome, and elsewhere, but must go through some needlessly obscure special effort that I'm unaware of.

I can't use the Glyphs panel, because it only provides a subset of glyphs that some genius bureaucrat at Adobe decided were the only ones I'll ever need.

And what I need is ⍼

[Jeff Arola]

Three fonts that we have on a windows 10 system with photoshop 2022 (ps ver 23.5.1) support the angzarr unicode character. Cambria, STIX Two Math and Segoe UI Symbol.

On the Mac side STIX Two Math and Apple Symbols.

[KazVorpal]

Why do other programs seem to be able to render  ⍼ regardless of font? Including, for example, whatever browser you're using to read this right now.

[Guest]

Here's another link that tells you how to enter Unicode characters, this may be more useful than the others.

http://www.fileformat.info/tip/microsoft/enter_unicode.htm

Note that you still need a Tamil Font in order to accomplish the task.

Mike

[KAAVIYA__THE_QUEEN_]

Web browsers understand (Unicode) Tamil text without any fonts. Why Photoshop still needs a font?

[Guest]

I'm not sure that it does, but short of having direct access to your computer, I can't really find out. Pehaps your browser has a private cache of fonts.

Perhaps you have a Tamil Font on your system. To find out, open a PS document,  select the Type Tool, on the Property Bar at the left end is a drop down menu click on it and you will find a listing of the fonts available to PS on your system. Beside each font name is an example of the text you will get if you use that font. Scroll through it to see if you can find a Tamil Font.

If you find a Tamil font then make it the active one by clicking on it. Then use the methods descibed above to input your message.

Otherwise we may have to search for the Tamil Font your browser is using.

Mike

[rogleale]

Not all the installed fonts will be listed in the CS drop down listing.  I don't know why!

Using Windows 7, if I hit 'Start' and type 'Font' in the search box, it takes me to the installed font store, and there are fonts there which are not available to CS.  eg. Vani, Vijaya, Vrinda; all of which are from the sub-continent.  Is one of these a Tamil script?  If so it would explain how the browser manages it.

Roger

[the_wine_snob]

Adobe program are very strict, when fonts are concerned. Some much more so, than others. There are millions of fonts out there, and many are poorly written. Adobe programs need correctly written and implemented fonts to work. Even when most aspects are correct, there can still be display issues. It depends on the font.

Probably the most strict of all Adobe programs, regarding fonts, is the Titler in Premiere Pro. I have several fonts that work fine in PS, AI and InDesign, but bring Titler to its knees.

If PS is having issues with any particular font, Tamil, or otherwise, the best course of action is to locate another version of that font, or find one, which is similar and use that.

The reason that PS (and many other Adobe programs) needs fonts, is that it keeps these as Vector Shapes, until they are rasterized. Some applications just display rasterized graphic representations of the fonts.

There are many font foundries out there. The products can range from poorly written and defined garbage to beautifully created works of art. If the free font that you downloaded does not work in PS, it is not a reflection on the program, but one of that free font.

Going back many years, Corel had hundreds of fonts, that programs like AI, PageMaker and Quark just could not handle. The pre-press/printing industry practically issued a ban on the use of all Corel fonts. I knew of no designer working with them, and they got the word out to all of their suppliers. I do not know if Corel has corrected those old issues, but those fonts were relegated to only display work in CorelDraw, and were not for use in anything going to a printer.

Good luck,

Hunt

[Guest]

Hi Roger

If you open the Control Panel and click on Fonts, you will get a listing of the fonts installed on your system and information on what they were designed to be used with. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide an example of the actual font. And as pointed out, may or may not work with PS, using the Type Tool gives you a pretty good idea of what will work in PS.

I think the questionable Corel Fonts were non-Unicode, so should not be an issue.

It is possible for a website to download a font onto your system and use it to construct pages, or to compose web pages on a server and upload them to your browser, so that your System does not have access to the font itself.

Mike

[Guest]

emagine_Miker wrote:

If you open the Control Panel and click on Fonts, you will get a listing of the fonts installed on your system and information on what they were designed to be used with. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide an example of the actual font.

Oh yes it does! 

You just have to double-click on the font file name. It also gives a lot more information about the font.

Have a look.

[rogleale]

Unfortunately, it doesn't John.

For instance, if I go to Traditional Arabic there is a sample of three letters on the icon.  Double clicking on the icon shows how many type faces are available, but double clicking on the font name only produces a 'Quick Brown Fox . . . ' in some Western font.

Roger

[Chris Cox]

Photoshop does support Unicode (and has for a long time, we spend quite a bit of effort to keep up with Unicode changes).

If a font isn't looking right, then there is probably a problem with that font.

[Guest]

I think you'll find that Fonts are managed by the operating system, not directly by an application like PS.

It appears that some older fonts (e.g. Japanese Generic) still function and their characters are intact, perhaps because they pre-date Unicode so Windows doesn't know a lot about them so can't really Manage them. They will output from the keyboard or by entering an ASCII code through the keypad. And in the PS drowdown font list you can see an example of their type of script.

Others like Latha (not new) show up as a latin text despite being designated by the Font manager as "Designed for" Tamil. If you enter the ASCCII code for "A" (i.e. alt - keypad 65) you get "A", etc.

Even the new Windows 7 fonts (see http://www.microsoft.com/typography/Fonts/windows7.htm ) like Meiryo, "Designed for" Japanese and clearly shown on the Windows 7 website as a script also shows up as a latin script in the Font Manager Preview but doesn't show up at all in PS. It seems clear that Windows 7 is Managing them somehow. I have been unable to find any way to "turn them on" or the management off. Or for that matter even a discussion of the problem. I guess it's only a problem if you treat them as art objects rather than typing scripts.

With the exception of the older fonts, all of the non-latin based fonts that I have checked like Meiryo, show up as a latin script in the Font Manager Preview, and do not show up at all in the font dropdown list in PS. Likely, this is as a result of a call from PS to the Operating System.

Looking for input in sorting this out.

Mike

[Guest]

There is a font Manger called MainType which handles Unicode fonts and displays the character sets found within them, if you are interested you can obtain a free 30 day evaluation copy at http://www.high-logic.com/ It will allow you to see all the characters found in any Font Unicode or otherwise.

An interesting feature of the software is that if you select one of the characters it can be copied onto the clipboard as a character or as an image.

To go back to the Original Question it appears that Photoshop does not support Unicode Fonts, at least in this case.

As a test, open WordPad, find and select the font Latha (its a Tamil font) and enter on the Keypad  with the alt key depressed +2949 you should now have the Tami character displayed.

If you try the same thing in PS with the Type Tool active and Latha selected you do not get the same result, it appears that only the last 2 or 3 (if in range) decimal values are accepted.

So to KAAVIYA, the answer to your question is no, and if you would like to send a message in Tamil, type it into WordPad with Latha selected using the methods described above. PrtScn it. Open a new document, paste the clipboard into it and process it as a bitmap.

Although you may be able to just send the WordPad document by copying it into an email. I tried it and it worked for me. Maybe the characters from Google can also be transfered directly into your email, give it a try.

It appears that most of these fonts are fronted (i.e.decimal values 0 to 255) by a Latin script that the Windows 7 Font Manager uses for preview purposes. The actual scripts seem to be in the much higher 4-5 digit decimal value range.

Mike

[Guest]

Further on the Maintype software, by copying a character onto the clipboard, it (I have tried several characters) can be transfered to the PS Type Tool as a Font character.

Mike

[Guest]

You're right John, almost.

After I posted my previous comment I noticed the Preview button and the fact that I have 2 Tamil fonts on my system.

Unfortunately the Preview for these and all my lovely multi-script fonts is a latin alphabet, (even their representation in PS) - Windows 7 is helpfully preempting my not inexpensive font collection. As is the usual compaint "They worked fine under Vista". Even the new Windows 7 fonts work this way.

Even the  Unicode method only produces latin characters.

I'm trying to turn them back on or the Windows 7 Font Police off, any help would be appreciated.

Mike

[Jayanta_Nath]

Dear All,

Use the Adobe Middle  Eastern Version CS2,CS3,CS4, or coming CS5. It is support all  Indic unicode version. The distributor of this version is Winsoft  International (http://www.winsoft-international.com/).  Download the trial and check it out.It allows you to edit and work in  one or several of the following languages  at the same time: Arabic,  Azeri, Bengali, Farsi, Georgian, Greek,  Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi,  Kannada, Kazakh, Khmer/Cambodian, Lao,  Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya,  Punjabi, Tamil, Thai, Urdu, Vietnamese

[chenet0005]

I Found Solution Here...

http://www.adobeexpert.in/?p=71

How to Type Tamil in Photoshop

Posted on December 16, 2011

கம்ப்யூட்டரில் தமிழில் டைப் செய்ய தமிழின் ஒருங்கு குறி (unicode) பயன்படுத்தும் அனைவருக்கும் ஒரு பிரச்னை ஏற்படும். தாங்கள் அதிகம் விரும்பும் போடோஷோபில் ஒருங்கு குறி(Unicode font) பயன் படுத்த முடியாமல் கஷ்டபடுவார்கள்.

அவர்களின் வேதனை தீர்க்கவே இதோ வழிமுறைகள்.

1. உங்களுக்கு இது போன்றே கிடைக்கும்

2. இந்த போட்டோஷாப் பைலை டவுன்லோட் செய்யவும்

3. கிடைத்த போட்டோஷாப் பைலை டெம்ப்லேட் பைலாக கொண்டு வேறு இடத்தில் (வோர்ட் WORD அல்லது ப்ரௌசரில் BROWSER-il) நீங்கள் டைப் செய்துள்ள தமிழ் டெக்ஸ்ட்டை பேஸ்ட் (Paste) செய்யவும். (இங்கு டைப் செய்ய வேண்டாம்…) உங்களுக்கு திருத்தப்பட்ட தமிழ் வடிவம் கிடைத்திருக்கும். நீங்கள் இப்போது இந்த டெக்ஸ்ட்-ஐ நீங்கள் விரும்பிய இடத்தில காப்பி (Copy) செய்து பேஸ்ட் (paste) செய்யவும்.

4. இந்த டெம்ப்லேட் பைலில் டைப் செய்ய வேண்டாம். அது எரர் (Error) ஆகும். Dont try to Type in Photoshop file, It may hang your photoshop

[Sanjeev_Beekeeper]

You CAN type tamil or any other language inside Photoshop (Iam using Photoshop CS6, it should work in the older version too). Change your keyboard from English to Tamil from the control panel language options and make sure you have some tamil font installed in your system. Then type something and select the tamil font inside photoshop.

Some examples are Chinese, Tamil and arabic are below. Let me know if you need anything and also visit my blog for more photoshop tutorials http://www.beekeepersblog.com.