Preeti vs Unicode: which Nepali typing should you learn
The difference between the Preeti font and Unicode Nepali, where each one is used, and how to decide which layout to practise first.
What each one is
Unicode is the way computers store Nepali letters themselves. A Unicode file contains क, ख and ग, and every phone, browser and office program shows them correctly. Preeti is a font from the 1990s. A Preeti file contains English letters, and the font draws them as Nepali glyphs. Remove the font and the text shows as English letters again.
Where each one is still used
Unicode runs the web, email, social media, Google Docs and every government website. Preeti survives in printed government documents, older office templates, newspapers that never migrated, and the Lok Sewa typing test, which is given on the Preeti layout.
- Learn Preeti if you are preparing for a Lok Sewa typing test or joining an office that prints in Preeti.
- Learn a Unicode layout if you write for the web, for email, or for documents that others open on their own devices.
- Learn both if you work in a government office. Preeti for the exam and the templates, Unicode for everything else.
How the layouts differ
Preeti maps each key to one glyph and some letters take two keys: फ is प followed by the m key, ो is ा followed by े. The ि sign is pressed before the consonant it belongs to, because the font draws it on the left. The Unicode traditional layout types everything in reading order, and InScript puts vowel signs on the left hand and consonants on the right.
The practice modes on NepaliType accept each layout the way its typists actually use it, including the Preeti order for ि and the reph.
Moving text between the two
A Preeti document can be converted to Unicode in one paste with the Preeti to Unicode converter, and back again when a template requires the font. Converting is quick, so the layout you type on does not lock you into one format.