InDesign keeps pasting as Arabic Language Dictionary

[Erik Vos - Het Lab]

I am reopening this discussing as the one by @rickburress on Apr 30, 2018 is closed. And the problem still occurs, even after re-installing InDesign (19.0) on a complete new macBook (OS 14.1.2)! See video. When I copy a textbox with Dutch text and paste it into a new document the language suddenly flips to Arabic. I do'nt have Arabic installed! Also the text alligns to right with "international adobe composer alinea"!? It seems to happen with documents made with a previous version of InDesign. Not with new made documents. But hé, I have got loads of those versions. I just want to copy texts. Saving the 'older' document to an ixml file and re-openinng them does not help.

[Olivier Beltrami]

@Erik Vos - Het Lab 

I had this problem a while back and thought that I was going crazy. The problem is due to the "right-to-left" binding option that is a sticky option when creating new documents. The binding can also be changed after a document is created using the File -> Document Setup menu sequence.

[Erik Vos - Het Lab]

Thanks @Olivier Beltrami but that is not the case. Both documents (source and destination) have the same binding options.

[Eric Dumas]

Also, check your Preferences before you open or create any file.

• Launch InDesign
• InDesign Menu
• Preferences
• Check the language, unit, left-to-right,.... any options that you want to set as default for any new file you create.

[Erik Vos - Het Lab]

Thanks @Eric Dumas, but that is the same for both documents (source and destination). They are even made with the same preferences. 

[Eric Dumas]

To remove the 'issue from the source' possibility.

Can you copy your text, paste it in NotePad (Win) or TextEdit (Mac) to remove any formatting and options.

Then copy the 'cleaned' text and paste it in InDesign. If you still get the same issue, it is located in InDesign then.

[Erik Vos - Het Lab]

@Eric Dumas Please have a closer look at the problem (and the video). The problem is when pasting between InDesign documents! Normally you want to keep the formatting intact. This issue is nog about pasting from another program or platform. Thanks.

[Eric Dumas]

Can you share a screenshot of your settings from Preferences > Clipboard Handling?

I am running out of idea, can you share you document or 2 sample files that have the same issue so I could try to reproduce the glitch?

[Erik Vos - Het Lab]

With pleasure. Please find the screenshot and documets inclosed. I am curious if the error occurs with you program as well...

[Erik Vos - Het Lab]

And? @Eric Dumas ? Do you have the same problem with this document or is it my InDesign? Thanks for testing.

[Eric Dumas]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your sample files. The error happend to me as well.

I think I git where the error might come from.

Your heading and text are controlled by 2 paragraph styles.

When I copy the text  (or the text frame) from the 'source' to the 'destination' the Paragraph Style panel shows the formatting of the text as overridden (style has a + after its name). See screenshot below. 

Click in a line of your text and Alt-Click on the correct style to reapply it fully, removing the override, showing the text correctly.

Now that's a fix. I am not sure why it happens:

• it could be because the source styles have the same name but not the same settings
• the copy-paste brings the text with different formatting than the destination expects. That's why I was asking to check your Preferences.
• 

[Erik Vos - Het Lab]

Thanks @Eric Dumas for diving in to this. The paragraph styles I used are nothing fancy, and they are not present in the standard new documents I make. One would say InDesign would copy the styles 'clean' together with the textframe. If I overrule the formatting of the text before copiing, to a new document that does not contain any of the paragraph styles, the problem still occurs: in the new document the text is pasted as Arabic with modified (+) paragraph styles. I appriciate your suggested fix, but it is a lot of extra work if you paste a lot of text boxes.

I don't see how changes made in the clip board handling can prevent this form happening?

But thanks again. Still I see this as an Adobe InDesign bug.

[Lee5E3C]

exactly the same issue as described above, does anyone please have a solution to this, have tried everything but every single time pasting into a new document when pasting from an open doc is the same - Arabic right to left and language as Arabic. 

really super frustrating... !

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Lee5E3C,

I completely understand how frustrating this issue must be, especially when you’ve tried everything! 

Could you please try two things? First, when pasting the text, use the option to "paste without formatting" (Edit > Paste Without Formatting) to see if that resolves the problem. Alternatively, create a "new paragraph style" that matches your desired text formatting (left-to-right) and apply it to the pasted text. 

If this doesn’t help, could you also share a screen recording showing the steps you’re following? It will help us get a clearer understanding of the issue.

Thanks for your patience, and we’ll figure this out together!

Best,  
Abhishek

[Joel Cherney]

I'm guessing that you don't have a Middle East/North African version of InDesign installed? If you are using a version of InDesign with RTL tools, the answer would be very different. However, if you're using a typical English install of InDesign, then I'd try resetting your preferences. In the lower-right hand corner of the General pane of the Preferences dialog, there's a "Reset Preferences on Quit" button. You might want to back those prefs up first, as this will reset all of your prefs to default, and if this doesn't resolve your issue, I imagine you'd want to restore to your old preferences.