How to compile Unicode characters in LaTex? - unicode

Question

I'm trying to write a little piece of text with LaTex in overleaf. All works right until I use Unicode characters.
I want for example insert this Devanagri symbol: ऄ and make it visible after LaTex compiles it.
This is an example of my document:
\documentclass[a4paper,12pt,openright,notitlepage,twoside]{book}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\begin{document}
symbol: ऄ
\end{document}
Whether I compile with LaTex, the symbol doesn't appear and I get this error:
Package inputenc Error: Unicode character ऄ (U+0904) (inputenc)not set up for use with LaTeX.
Whether I compile with LuaLaTex or XeLaTex, the character still does not appear but the error message disappears.
I tried all the methods described in this post: https://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/34604/entering-unicode-characters-in-latex but no one work for me.
does anyone have a solution to figure out this problem?

Answer 1

If you compile with xelatex or lualatex, you'll need to select a font which contains this glyph.
If you work locally on your computer, you can run the command albatross ऄ from the command line to find out which of your fonts has it:
__ __ __
.---.-.| | |--.---.-.| |_.----.-----.-----.-----.
| _ || | _ | _ || _| _| _ |__ --|__ --|
|___._||__|_____|___._||____|__| |_____|_____|_____|
Unicode code point [904] mapping to ऄ
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Font name │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ .LastResort │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Devanagari Sangam MN,देवनागरी संगम एम॰एन॰ │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ITF Devanagari Marathi,आई॰टी॰एफ़॰ देवनागरी मराठी │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ITF Devanagari,आई॰टी॰एफ़॰ देवनागरी │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Kohinoor Devanagari,कोहिनूर देवनागरी │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Lohit Devanagari │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Lohit Hindi │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Shobhika,Shobhika Regular │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Shree Devanagari 714,श्री देवनागरी ७१४ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Or if you are using overleaf, consult this list of installed fonts https://www.overleaf.com/latex/examples/fontspec-all-the-fonts/hjrpnxhrrtxc
So in my case, I can take e.g. the Shobhika font:
% !TeX TS-program = xelatex
\documentclass[a4paper,12pt,openright,notitlepage,twoside]{book}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{Shobhika}
\begin{document}
symbol: ऄ
\end{document}