Before the digital age, publishing newspapers, magazines, and books in languages that use the complex Nastaliq (نستعلیق) calligraphic script—such as Urdu, Persian, Pashto, and Arabic—was an extremely slow and labor-intensive process. While languages using the Latin alphabet adopted digital word processing seamlessly in the 1980s, right-to-left cursive scripts with thousands of complex ligatures proved to be a massive technological hurdle.
Enter InPage. Released in 1994, InPage revolutionized Urdu desktop publishing (DTP). It provided a simple "What You See Is What You Get" (WYSIWYG) word processor that instantly bridged traditional calligraphy with modern computer publishing.
Here is the story of how InPage was created, the technical problem it solved, and how it became an absolute industry standard across South Asia.
1. The Calligraphy Problem in early Computing (Pre-1994)
To understand why InPage was revolutionary, one must look at how Urdu newspapers were printed prior to 1994.
Unlike English (which uses a simple fixed-character alphabet) or Arabic (which is traditionally written in a flatter, linear Naskh script), Urdu relies heavily on the sloped, hanging Nastaliq style. Nastaliq requires letters to change shape and position depending on the characters before and after them, producing over 20,000 unique word combinations (ligatures).
How Publishing Worked in the 1980s and Early 1990s:
Katibs (Calligraphers): Major news outlets in Pakistan and India employed entire teams of professional calligraphers (Katibs) who manually wrote articles by hand onto layout master pages every single day.
Monotype Noori Nastaliq: In 1981, calligrapher Mirza Ahmad Jamil and Monotype Corp developed the first digital Noori Nastaliq font. However, running this software required expensive proprietary hardware systems, lacked an easy on-screen display, and still required manual calligraphic touch-ups for late-breaking news.
2. The Development of InPage (1994)
In 1994, an Indian software development company called Concept Software Pvt. Ltd. (led by developers Rarendra Singh and Vijay Gupta) collaborated with a UK company named Multilingual Solutions (led by Kamran Rouhi).
Their mission was to build a dedicated desktop publishing software specifically tailored for Pakistan and India's newspaper and book publishing industries.
What Made InPage a Game-Changer:
The Noori Nastaliq License: Concept Software licensed the Noori Nastaliq font technology from Monotype and integrated a dynamic rendering engine into the software.
WYSIWYG Interface: Inspired by early Western DTP programs like QuarkXPress and Adobe PageMaker, InPage allowed users to see authentic, flowing Nastaliq script directly on screen as they typed.
Phonetic Keyboard Layout: InPage introduced a phonetic keyboard mapping (e.g., typing 'A' produced Alif, 'B' produced Bay), making it effortless for non-calligraphers to learn Urdu typing rapidly.
Virtually overnight, publishing houses abandoned manual handwriting and adopted InPage, reducing production times from hours to minutes.
3. Version Evolution & The Unicode Shift
Over the decades, InPage evolved alongside operating system updates to meet the needs of international publishing:
InPage 2.x Series (Late 1990s - 2000s): Became the standard software installed across printing presses, newsrooms, and government offices. Files were saved under the signature
.inpfile extension.InPage 3.0 (2008): Launched at the ITCN Asia exhibition in Karachi, Version 3 marked a major overhaul. It introduced Unicode support, allowing users to copy-paste text out of InPage into web browsers, email, and social media without rendering errors.
Multilingual Expansion: Beyond Urdu, InPage expanded support for regional scripts, including Arabic, Persian, Pashto, Balochi, Sindhi, Saraiki, and Kashmiri.
InPage 4.x Series: Added backwards file compatibility, high-resolution PDF/image exports, enhanced OpenType font rendering, and macOS support.
4. InPage's Legacy and Modern Relevance
While modern operating systems (like Windows 11) now natively support OpenType Unicode Urdu fonts like Jameel Noori Nastaliq, InPage remains the gold standard tool in commercial publishing houses across South Asia.
Its advanced text-box linking, auto-kerning algorithms for Nastaliq ligatures, and precise press-printing calibration make it irreplaceable for traditional newsprint, poetry collection books, and official gazettes.
Summary Timeline of InPage
| Year | Milestone | Impact |
| 1981 | Digital Noori Nastaliq Created | Developed by Mirza Ahmad Jamil & Monotype. |
| 1994 | InPage 1.0 Launched | Concept Software & Multilingual Solutions release the first WYSIWYG Urdu DTP package. |
| 2008 | InPage 3.0 Release | Introduced full Unicode support and cross-platform compatibility. |
| 2024–Present | InPage 4.x Series | Modernized layout tools, expanded OpenType fonts, and enhanced PDF export capabilities. |