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Participating Frequently
November 10, 2017
Question

English/Arabic InDesign CC 2018 version 13.0, Arabic txt reverse order in paragraph

  • November 10, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 3906 views

I am using adobe English/Arabic InDesign CC 2018 version 13.0, and text imported from MsWord, which contains both English and Arabic makes the arabic words into reverse order, Everything else in settings/language/adobe world ready single line/paragraph composer has been set correctly.

Anyone know what's going on and how to fix it?

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    3 replies

    Zaid Al Hilali
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    January 11, 2022

    Dear Mohammad, I didn't see any screenshot from you so I'm not sure what to suggest as solution. Having said that, these are the common steps you ought to take when inserting Arabic from MS. Word:

    • Don't Copy/Paste from MS. Word, instead, open InDesign, go to the File menu and choose place and navigate to the MS. Word document.
    • (Optional) In the Place window, click on the "Show Import Options" then click Open, in the Options window, you may choose to "Remove" or "Preserve" formatting from the bottom section, then click OK.
    • Once the text is placed in the page, hightlight all to apply an Arabic/Farsi font to the text
    • From the Paragraph Panel, make sure you select "Right-to-Left Paragraph Direction" 
    • From the Paragraph Panel fly-out menu choose an Adobe World Ready Composer
    • From the Character Panel fly-out menu access Keyboard Direction and choose "Default" if possible as it may be dimmed
    • From the Character Panel fly-out menu access Character Direction and choose "Default"

    Diane Burns
    Inspiring
    January 9, 2022

    Not sure exactly what's going on here, but if it helps, you can install these RTL scripts and change direction for individual characters, paragraphs, etc. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dzvkg4iv1vsg6tq/AAC_FlxT4qr55lwNrA0QKd5da?dl=0

    Bill Silbert
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    November 10, 2017

    Have you checked your InDesign Character Panel to make sure that the proper language is selected from the pull-down menu at the bottom? Also check the Advanced Character options in any Paragraph or Character Styles that may exist in your documents to make sure that the correct language is chosen. Any text that doesn't have a character or paragraph style applied may also have to be selected and checked in the Character Panel for the correct language.

    Participating Frequently
    November 10, 2017

    Dear Bill,

    Thanks for the quick attention to this.

    But I have checked everything, including dumping preferences.

    The only thing that fixes the reverse order of words is if I change the binding to right to left, but of course that’s no good for my purpose.

    To explain further, what seems to be happening is that words written in arabic or Persian are reversed on the line so, for example, Jack Frost reads from right to left on the line Frost Jack.

    If I go into character direction and change it from default or right to left to, left to right, then the letters become gibberish.

    Yours

    Mohammad