How to Use Tamil Fonts in MS Word

Microsoft Word provides full support for the Tamil language. For quick viewing support, the Universal Font option is built in as part of Microsoft Office’s International Support. In order to have access to a wider variety of fonts and enable typing support, a Language Interface Pack must be installed. Mac OX users should keep in mind that Tamil has been supported since version 10.4 and no additional steps are required to enable it in Microsoft Word 2004/2008.

Check to see what languages are installed. Click the Start Menu, followed by All Programs, Microsoft Office, then Microsoft Office Tools followed by Microsoft Office 2007 Language Settings. Microsoft Office 2003 users may follow the same procedure. In the dialog box that appears, search for Tamil in the list. If it is present, continue to step 3 to enable it and set it as the default editing language. If not, follow step 2.

Download and install the Tamil Language Interface Pack for Microsoft Office 2003 or 2007. From the Language Interface Pack page, select the appropriate version of the Tamil Pack for your version of Office. In the download page, click Download and then Install. Once this is complete, click Run to begin the installation process after downloading the file. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation procedure.

Configure the Tamil Language Interface Pack. Click the Start Menu, All Programs, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Tools and then Microsoft Office 2007 Language Settings. In the Editing tab of the dialog box that appears, scroll through the available list of languages and select Tamil. Click the add button to enable it. To set it as your primary editing language, click Tamil after adding it to the list. Changes will take effect the next time an Office application is run.

Enable the Tamil Keyboard layout. Click the Start Menu and click Control Panel. In the Control Panel, Windows XP users should click Date, Time, Language and Regional Options. Windows Vista users should click “or other input methods” under the Clock, Language and Region option. In the dialog box that appears, Windows XP users should select the Language tab and click the two check boxes to install the additional files required. Windows XP users then click the Details button in the same tab to add the Tamil keyboard layout. Windows Vista users can select Tamil from the list in the General tab, or click Add if it does not appear on the list.

Test the new setup. To test the new font and keyboard layout, open Microsoft Word by clicking on the Start Menu, All Programs, Microsoft Office and the Microsoft Word 2003/2007. If you set Tamil as your default input language, begin typing to verify that all steps were successful. If Tamil is not the default language, first ensure that the Tamil keyboard layout is enabled by clicking the small keyboard icon on the task bar at the lower right corner of the screen and selecting Tamil. Then begin typing to verify that Tamil support is working.