How to Type Indian Languages in Photoshop and Illustrator
A practical guide to typing Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, and other Indian languages in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator — covering text engine settings, font choices, and common rendering issues.
I spent an embarrassing amount of time early in my design career staring at broken Hindi text in Photoshop. Characters jumbled, matras floating in the wrong place, conjuncts refusing to form. Turns out the fix was a single checkbox buried in preferences that I didn't know existed.
If you work with Indian language text in Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator — for posters, social media graphics, packaging, wedding invitations, whatever — this guide will save you from that same headache.
The Most Important Setting You Probably Haven't Changed
Both Photoshop and Illustrator have two text engines: a basic Latin-focused one (the default), and a more advanced one that handles complex scripts like Devanagari, Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati, and other Indian writing systems.
In Photoshop:- Go to Edit → Preferences → Type (Windows) or Photoshop → Settings → Type (Mac)
- Under "Choose Text Engine Options," select Middle Eastern and South Asian
- Click OK and restart Photoshop — this is mandatory, the change doesn't apply until you relaunch
- Go to Edit → Preferences → Type (Windows) or Illustrator → Settings → Type (Mac)
- Enable Show Indic Options under the Language Options section
- Restart Illustrator
Getting Indian Language Input on Your System
You need your operating system configured for Hindi or whichever language you're working with before Photoshop can accept that input.
Windows 10/11:- Settings → Time & Language → Language & Region → Add a Language
- Install Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, or whatever you need
- Switch input using Win + Spacebar
- System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → Add
- Search for "Hindi" or the language you want
- Switch using Ctrl + Spacebar or the menu bar icon
If you'd rather not install anything system-wide, you can type your text at transliterate.in, get the proper Unicode output, and paste it directly into Photoshop. This works perfectly for short text like headings and captions that you'd typically use in design work.
Fonts That Actually Work
Not every font on your system can render Indian scripts correctly. Here are reliable options grouped by language:
Hindi / Devanagari
- Noto Sans Devanagari — clean, modern, multiple weights available. My go-to for digital design.
- Tiro Devanagari Hindi — elegant serif option, great for formal or editorial projects
- Mangal — comes with Windows, works everywhere but looks dated
- Nirmala UI — Windows system font, handles mixed Hindi-English text well
- Poppins — the Devanagari version of this popular font exists and looks stunning in headers
Tamil
- Noto Sans Tamil — best all-around choice
- Latha — Windows default, serviceable but basic
Bengali
- Noto Sans Bengali — consistent with the Noto family
- Vrinda — Windows default
Gujarati
- Noto Sans Gujarati — reliable
- Shruti — Windows system font
Typing Hindi Text in Photoshop — Step by Step
Once you've enabled the South Asian text engine and restarted:
- Select the Type Tool (press T)
- Click on your canvas or draw a text box
- In the Character panel (Window → Character), select a Devanagari-compatible font
- Switch your system input to Hindi (Win + Spacebar on Windows)
- Start typing — you should see properly formed Devanagari text
Paragraph Text vs Point Text
For longer Hindi passages, always use paragraph text (click and drag to create a text box) rather than point text (single click). Devanagari text in point mode doesn't wrap and just extends infinitely in one direction.
With paragraph text, you also get access to paragraph direction settings. In the Paragraph panel, you'll see alignment options — Hindi text is written left-to-right, so the default alignment works fine. But if you're mixing Hindi with Urdu (right-to-left), you'll need to manage paragraph direction carefully.
The Character Panel Matters
Open the Character panel (Window → Character) and check these settings:
- Font size: Devanagari glyphs need slightly larger sizes than Latin text to be equally legible. If your English text is 24pt, try 26-28pt for Hindi.
- Leading (line spacing): Devanagari has more vertical extent because of vowel marks above and below the headline. Increase leading by 20-30% compared to what you'd use for English. So if 30pt leading works for English at 24pt, try 36-40pt for Hindi.
- Tracking: Keep at 0 for body text. Increasing tracking breaks the shirorekha (headline connecting bar) in Devanagari, which looks terrible.
- Kerning: Set to "Metrics" — optical kerning doesn't work well with Devanagari conjuncts.
Typing Indian Languages in Illustrator
Illustrator's approach is similar but has some extra tools that designers find useful.
Area Type for Long Text
Use Area Type (click on a shape or drag a text frame) for any Hindi text longer than a few words. This gives you proper line wrapping and paragraph controls.
Type on a Path
Hindi text works on paths in Illustrator, but watch the baseline. Devanagari's shirorekha (that top line connecting characters) should sit above the path, not on it. Adjust the baseline offset in the Type on a Path options to get it looking right.
Outline Text for Print
When sending files to print shops that might not have your Devanagari fonts installed:
- Select your text layer
- Go to Type → Create Outlines (or Shift + Ctrl + O)
- This converts text to vector shapes — it'll print correctly everywhere
Common Problems and Fixes
Characters Appear as Boxes or Question Marks
This means the selected font doesn't support the script you're using. Switch to a font that includes the character set — Noto Sans is the safest fallback.
Matras (Vowel Marks) in Wrong Positions
Almost always caused by not having the Middle Eastern and South Asian text engine enabled. Go back to Preferences → Type and switch it on. Yes, you need to restart.
Conjuncts Not Forming Properly
Half-letters and conjuncts (like क्ष or त्र) require the text engine to understand how characters combine. If they're appearing as separate characters with halant marks visible, the text engine isn't doing its job. Again — check that setting.
Hindi Text Looks Thin or Light
Some fonts render Devanagari at lighter weights than their Latin counterparts. If "Regular" looks too thin in Hindi, try the "Medium" weight. Noto Sans Devanagari Medium is a solid choice for body text in designs.
Copy-Pasted Text Doesn't Display Correctly
If you typed Hindi in another application and pasted into Photoshop, make sure the source text is proper Unicode (not some legacy encoding like Kruti Dev). Text from transliterate.in is always Unicode, so it pastes cleanly. Text from older Hindi typing software might use non-standard encodings that won't render in Photoshop.
Practical Workflow Tips
Template Approach
If you regularly create graphics with Hindi text — say, daily social media posts for a brand — build a template:
- Set up your text layers with the correct font, size, and leading
- Save as a PSD template
- For each new graphic, just replace the text content
Smart Objects for Multi-Language Designs
When a single design needs text in multiple Indian languages (think: a national campaign), put each language version in a Smart Object. This way you can update one language without accidentally disturbing the layout of others.
Use TranslitHub for Quick Text Generation
When I'm designing a poster or banner and need Hindi text quickly, I'll have transliterate.in open in a browser tab. Type the text phonetically in English, copy the Hindi output, switch to Photoshop, paste. The whole process takes seconds and I don't need to fiddle with input method settings on my system.
This is especially handy when a client sends content as romanized Hindi in an email — "Swagat hai aapka" — and you need to convert it to proper Devanagari (स्वागत है आपका) for the design.
Working with Multiple Indian Scripts in One Design
Some projects require text in several languages simultaneously — a product label might need Hindi, Tamil, and English, or an event poster might need Bengali and Gujarati alongside English.
Here's what works:
- Separate text layers for each language — don't mix scripts in a single text box. Each layer gets its own font settings.
- Use the Noto font family across all languages for visual consistency. Noto Sans Devanagari + Noto Sans Tamil + Noto Sans (Latin) all share design DNA and look cohesive together.
- Align baselines manually — different scripts have different vertical metrics. What looks aligned in the Character panel might not look aligned visually. Trust your eyes.
Exporting Files with Indian Language Text
For Web/Social Media (PNG, JPG)
Text is rasterized during export, so font embedding isn't an issue. What you see is what you get.For Print (PDF)
Export with Preserve Photoshop Editing Capabilities off and Embed Fonts on. In Illustrator, save as PDF with fonts embedded, or outline all text before saving.For Handoff to Other Designers
Package your fonts. In Illustrator, use File → Package to collect all linked files and fonts. In Photoshop, there's no packaging feature, so include a note listing the fonts used and where to download them.Design work in Indian languages used to be painful — legacy fonts, encoding mismatches, text engines that couldn't handle complex scripts. Modern Photoshop and Illustrator handle it remarkably well now, as long as you flip that text engine switch. Enable the South Asian text engine, pick a Unicode font, and everything else falls into place.