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Participating Frequently
May 13, 2022
Answered

How may I create Arabian bullets with InDesign (with the bullet symbol aligned to the right)?

  • May 13, 2022
  • 3 replies
  • 4709 views

Hello,

I need to create a document but it is in Arabian and as you all may know, Arabian is written from left to right, so the bullets symbols must be placed on the right side and not on the left side.

To avoid confussions, what I want is what you see in this picture:

 

I need the bullets exactly as you see in the picture. The symbol is on the right side and not on the left side.

 

How may I do this?

 

Cheers

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Zaid Al Hilali

Just like others have suggested. You will be able to give your Arabic text RTL numbers list in the Middle Eastern version of Adobe InDesign. You may download and use ME copy from your desktop CC application.

3 replies

Zaid Al Hilali
Community Expert
Zaid Al HilaliCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
May 19, 2022

Just like others have suggested. You will be able to give your Arabic text RTL numbers list in the Middle Eastern version of Adobe InDesign. You may download and use ME copy from your desktop CC application.

Participant
January 25, 2024

I've got the ME version downloaded, but I still cannot put my bullet list on the right side. I have put the paragraph direction right to left. Is there another magic button?

Participant
January 25, 2024

Solved with a restart. Now it works...

James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
May 13, 2022

I'd suggest the setting, which perhaps should be automatic for the LTR/RTL switch, will be found in the Bullets and Numbering setting for that paragraph style., not the paragraph alignment settings. I don't know if the panel includes extra options with RTL enabled.

 

José5ECDAuthor
Participating Frequently
May 13, 2022

Hello, I tried to change the alignment in the bullets and numbering windows, but it does not work...

 

 

Any suggestion about how may I place the bullets to the right side?

Should I create new style for the paragraph? Where should I go and what should I change?

Joel Cherney
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 13, 2022

Your first screenshot clearly shows tools for manipulating RTL text, but all the rest of your screenshots show a plain-vanilla Spanish interface. So, the first screenshot is not your computer? I assumed, from your screenshot, that you have the Middle East edition of InDesign installed. Clearly, my assumption was incorrect.

 

What you need to do is to go into your Creative Cloud app preferences (not the InDesign preferences!) and choose a language that supports RTL text. E.g. English (Hebrew) or French (Arabic). I don't know if there's a choice for Spanish UI with RTL tools or not. Once you've chosen a language in the CC app that supports Arabic, then you need to reinstall InDesign from the Creative Cloud app. (You shouldn't need to uninstall first, although sometimes I do have to uninistall before reinstalling. Can't say I love the CC app, to be honest.) 

 

Once you've done that, you will have the RTL and LTR paragraph buttons: 

 

Joel Cherney
Community Expert
Community Expert
May 13, 2022

You have the Character panel open in your screenshot. If you select the Paragraph panel, you'll find that there are buttons to select LTR paragraph behavior and RTL paragraph behavior. (In the flyout menu for the Character panel, there are options ot control character direction and numerals and etc., but in order to get your bullets to right-align, you have to change the Paragraph settings.)

José5ECDAuthor
Participating Frequently
May 13, 2022

Hello, thanks for your reply but in the paragraph panel, even if I select right aligment, the bullet is always on the left side, and I need it be on the right side, as you see in the previous picture.

I did not take that picture, is just an example posted by someone in Internet.

My paragraph panel is in Spanish, but if you tell me exactly in English what buttons should I press or what should I do, I'll follow your instructions.

I have pressed the buttons for the right alignment (in the paragraph Window) and I always get the bullet on the left side. The language is set up to Arabian, so this cannot be a bad settings problem.

Please, take a look to the following screenshot:

 

Please, could you explain me, step by step, what should I do, telling me exactly what buttons should I press or what options should I configure, so I can get the bullets aligned to the right side?

Cheers

José5ECDAuthor
Participating Frequently
May 13, 2022

I am attaching an additional screenshot, so you will see better the problems and the buttons I am pressing. Even if I press the right alignment buttons for the paragraph, even if I have set up the lagunguage as Arabian (Arabe in Spanish), despite all this, I continue with the bullets on the left side and I need them on the right side.