How Gurmukhi letters sit on the line

Most Gurmukhi letters hang from a horizontal line at the top, called the shirorekha. Vowel signs and other marks sit above and below that line as well as beside it. This matters in a layout, because text that is packed too tightly can make marks from one line touch letters on the next. Give Gurmukhi more line spacing than you would for English at the same size, and check that nothing collides before you print.

Choosing a heading font and a body font

A clear hierarchy helps readers. Use one font for the heading and a calmer one for the supporting text, and keep to two fonts per design. This page works well for that: set the same line in a few ANMOL variants for the heading and in a plain choti or karmic variant for the body, then compare. Fonts from one family, such as the numbered choti set, pair naturally because their letter shapes agree.

Mixing Gurmukhi and English

Legacy Gurmukhi fonts rarely include good English letters, so designers usually set Punjabi in one font and English in a separate Latin font. Match the visual size rather than the point size. Gurmukhi often looks smaller than English at the same number, so test both side by side and adjust until the lines feel balanced.

How to shortlist quickly

  • Start with a group. Use the table above to find the family that suits your project.
  • Use your real words. Replace the sample line with your actual text, because fonts can look different on different words.
  • Check the final size. Move the size slider to the size you will print or post.
  • Test your colours. Use the colour pickers, then export an HD PNG or a transparent PNG.
  • Download only what you keep. Get the TTF for your shortlist and install it where you design.

If your text shows odd letters or boxes

Odd English letters mean the matching font is not installed on that device. Install the same TTF, or export the design as a PDF with fonts embedded or as an image. Empty boxes usually mean you pasted real Unicode Gurmukhi into a legacy font. Legacy fonts only understand their own key mapping, so convert the text first with the Punjabi font converter, or copy the ASCII code shown under each preview.

Installing a font

On Windows, right-click the downloaded TTF and choose Install. On a Mac, double-click it and press Install Font. Restart your design program, then choose the font by the name on its preview card, for example ANMOL_B or karmic_7.