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Hoping someone can help! I am working with Arabic text and need it to read from right to left. I have read this article but do not see the RTL text direction icon in my Paragraph panel.
I am working with InDesign 2022 on a Macbook Pro (Big Sur). I have the following character settings and also changed to "Adobe World-Ready Paragraph Composer":
But as you can see below, I do not have the text direction icon in my Paragraph Panel (unless I'm overlooking something):
The Adobe article makes it look like there should be an easy option for changing text direction:
Can anyone help????
I got it! Was finally able to install the proper version and now have all the RTL tools accessible. Thanks to all for your help!
One question: Can I use this MENA version for all regular English projects, or might I encounter any issues? I would still like to have two separate versions installed (one in N American English, one in English-Arabic) but can't seem to find a way to do that.
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Hi @kg01915 ,
Thanks for reaching out. Please try the suggestions shared here https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/changing-text-from-ltr-to-rtl/m-p/12824356/threa... and let us know if this helps or if you need any further assistance.
Regards
Rishabh
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Rishabh - Following the instructions you sent, I decided to change language to English Arabic preferences in my Creative Cloud app settings and then install the Middle Eastern version. However, when I go to install it, I get a message saying it will replace any existing version of InDesign.
I was hoping to install an ADDITIONAL version, not replace the existing one. Is this no longer possible?
 
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If you have installed any other language version you can install additional RTL versions. But you should install the latest versions. I have done this way.
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In the past, I have addressed this issue by adding a word to the my existing InDesign app folder, for example "Adobe InDesign 2022 - English." Then, when downloading the ME version, it doesn't replace it. The ME version is the current version. If I want to switch back to English, I add "ME" to the app folder name of that version and remove "English" from my version. You have to watch things like double-clicking a file to open, etc, but it worked fine.
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Thanks all for the feedback. I'm having trouble finding the MENA version. I followed these steps to change my install language preferences to English-Arabic, but did not see any MENA option appear. I tried simply installing a new version of InDesign as is, but that didn't work.
I keep seeing references to this paragraph direction tool, but I do not have this option in my Paragraph panel. Wish I knew how to get it!
 
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Preferences > Applicatins > Scroll down to Install > Installation Language > English with Arabic or Hebrew Support
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I got it! Was finally able to install the proper version and now have all the RTL tools accessible. Thanks to all for your help!
One question: Can I use this MENA version for all regular English projects, or might I encounter any issues? I would still like to have two separate versions installed (one in N American English, one in English-Arabic) but can't seem to find a way to do that.
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Yes, choose the correct lanuage and composer in Paragraph Styles.
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See my reply earlier in this thread for how to have both versions on your machine simulataneously. The ME version has a host of preferences you need to change for working in Roman languages. It can be done, of course, but easier to keep two versions, I think, if much of your work is not in ME languages.
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Thank you, Diane. I think that worked!
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That's great. I do remember some kind of prompt every time you open the other version (after changing the folder name back to the default name), something about preferences have been moved, so you want to use those? I think I always said no. Sorry, it's been awhile since I employed this little trick. Glad it seems to be working out.
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Did you install the ME version?
You write yu changed the composer in character settings. But it should be done in the Paragraph Style.