You might wonder: Why use a legacy font layout when Unicode is universal? There are three compelling reasons:
The Kal 001 Tamil font keyboard layout is a specialized input method designed for typing classical and modern Tamil using a standard QWERTY-based keyboard. Unlike Unicode-based Tamil layouts (e.g., Tamil 99, InScript), Kal 001 is primarily a non-UNICODE, ASCII-based font layout where each key corresponds to a specific glyph in a proprietary Tamil font. This paper details the structural logic, key mappings, shift-state behaviors, advantages, limitations, and practical applications of the Kal 001 layout, particularly in legacy desktop publishing (DTP) environments.
| Key | Tamil Output | Key | Tamil Output |
|-----|--------------|-----|--------------|
| a | அ (vowel) | s | ஸ் |
| d | ல் | f | ள் |
| g | ழ் | h | வ் |
| j | ஶ் | k | ஷ் |
| l | ஸ்ரீ | ; | ஹ் | kal 001 tamil font keyboard layout
These are the base consonants without any vowel modifier (sounding like 'ah').
| Key | Tamil Letter | Sound | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | k | க | Ka | | c | ச | Sa/Cha | | t | ட | Ta (Hard T) | | w | ண | Na (Hard N - as in 'Van') | | y | ய | Ya | | r | ர | Ra | | l | ல | La | | v | ழ | Zha | | L (Shift+L) | ள | Lla (Hard L) | | z | ன | Na (Soft N - as in pen) | | n | ந | Na (Dental N) | | m | ம | Ma | | x | ந | Na (Sometimes used interchangeably depending on font version) | | j | ஜ | Ja (Grantram) | | s | ஸ | Sa (Grantram) | | h | ஹ | Ha (Grantram) | | S (Shift+s) | ஷ | Sha (Grantram) | You might wonder: Why use a legacy font
Yes, if:
No, if:
Since the world is moving to Unicode, you will eventually need to convert your legacy Kal 001 documents. Use these tools:
Warning: Always keep a backup of your original Kal 001 file. Conversion may break complex ligatures. | Key | Tamil Output | Key |