Urdu is a language that needs, rather demands, proper type-setting to get the full impact of the written word across. The desire to completely control how the text looks on paper makes LaTeX an absolutely esential tool for type-setting Urdu.
We will be using XeTeX for this purpose. XeTeX is a variant of TeX that supports unicode. This is essential since unicode greatly simplifies typing and storing Urdu characters in a digital format. We will be using the xelatex binary which couples XeTeX and LaTeX.
In this repo I demonstrate how to use XeTeX to type-set both Urdu prose and poetry, the latter revealing the elegance that is possible only with XeTeX.
You can view samples of this technique by heading over to:
I will provide the instructions for setting up Urdu type-setting using XeTeX in Ubuntu 14.04. Simply enter these commands in to a terminal to set up XeTeX for Urdu Type-setting.
sudo apt-get install texlive-xetex
sudo apt-get install xzdec
tlmgr init-usertree
tlmgr install bidi
tlmgr install iftex
- The first command installs a package that gives access to the xelatex package.
- The second command installs xzdec which is required by tlmgr (which is a program that is used to manage TexLive packages for instance bidi)
- The third command initiates tlmgr.
- The final two commands are used to install the bidi and iftex TeX packages that are required to compile tex files that use the bidi package.
To use the Urdu keyboard (I recommend the one from CRULP, now called CLE (FAST University)) navigate to Applications >> System Tools >> System Settings >> Keyboard >> Text Entry and press the + button on bottom-left and select Urdu (Pakistan, CRULP).
To change to this keyboard layout (language) one can press Super + Space or use the Keyboard Layout Gnome applet on the top bar menu.
Compilation is straight-forward. For instance, to compile the nasr.tex file and create the nasr.pdf file simply issue the following command in the terminal from inside the folder that contains the nasr.tex file:
xelatex nasr.tex
After a verbose spitting out of compilation information xelatex will create the nasr.pdf file in the same folder.
- The evince pdf-reader that comes by default in Ubuntu vertically clips the Urdu text in particular the slanting stroke of the kaaf.
- Google Chrome displays the rendered pdf correctly.
- Gedit is a useful editor for typing in Urdu. Navigate to Edit >> Preferences >> Font & Colors (Tab) to change the font to "Nafees". Choose a large font size (I prefer 18) and you can start typing.
- Successive lines will start over-lapping for which you need to increase the line-spacing. Install the line-spacing plugin from: https://natural966.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/my-linespacing-plugin-for-gedit-3/ (Note: You will have to change the loader configuration from python to python3 for the plugin to work).