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DawudAlcox
Participating Frequently
June 16, 2022
Question

Pasting Arabic into InDesign and issues with diacritics

  • June 16, 2022
  • 4 replies
  • 10559 views

I am trying to create a book with InDeisign. I have a word document with 250+ pages which have English paragraphs, Arabic paragraphs and English paragraphs mixed with Arabic.

When I try to paste Arabic into a text box in InDesign, it gets all messed up. After selecting Adobe World Ready Paragraph composer, the letters are corrected but the diacritic marks are all over the place.

 

-General question- Is there a better way to import texts into Indesign other than pasting it? The format of the book is generally an Arabic paragraph then a separate English paragraph as the translation.

 

-It seems like I have to select Adobe World Ready Paragraph composer for every text box I want. Is there a way to set that in a style for my Arabic paragraphs?

 

Either way, is there a fix for it pasting the harakaat/diacritical marks all over the place? I have attached a file/image  showing what I mean.

Thank you

This topic has been closed for replies.

4 replies

Bedazzled532
Bedazzled532
Inspiring
April 11, 2023

@DawudAlcox If I am not mistaken, you are using Al Qalam Quran Majeed font ?

Zaid Al Hilali
Community Expert
Zaid Al HilaliCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 17, 2022

All that @Willi Adelberger mentioned is necessary, especially the File > Place method as an alternative to the Copy / Paste method you're following currently. See,  placing a text file will necessarily run an InDesign filter which sort of translates the incoming text into something InDesign can understand and eventually be displayed properly.

As far as diacritics are concerned. The diacritics in your screenshot aren't so bad and can be fixed quickly from the Panel Window > Type and Tables > Diacritic Positioning.

Moreover, Arabic fonts are not created equally, just like with any other Latin or Chinese fonts, you need to acquire your fonts from a reputable developer as the free ones on the net are mostly badly designed.

In any case, and regardless of the font used, the Diacritic Panel will allow you to control how loose or tight the Diacritics "harakat" are positioned around your text.

    D
    DawudAlcoxAuthor
    Participating Frequently
    June 17, 2022

    Appreciate the responses. I am not exactly sure about the ME version. I have it set to English يدعم العربية . If that isn't the ME version please advise how I can change that. 

     

    How do I create text files to place? I'm new to Indesign and really have no idea. Do I need to create separate files for each time I place something? For example, I have a Monday section of Arabic (and english translations) litanies/awraad which is set with styles in word. Do I save it as a specific file type and then file -> place? 

     

    I don't know if it matters but the Arabic font that I am using in Word turns out nearly perfect for me in Word as far as diacritics are concerned. I started playing around with the positioning tool and it seems to work decently. One issue I am having is with the alif kanjariyya/ standing fathah. I believe I inserted them as symbols so they arent moving with the diacritic positioning. Is there a similar tool to position symbols or is there a better way to type the alif kanjariyya?

     

    By the way, for this project, the font is according to the indo-pak Arabic style so the long vowels are a bit different than Naskh.

     

    Really appreicate it.

     

    Zaid Al Hilali
    Community Expert
    Zaid Al HilaliCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 17, 2022

    to get the Middle Eastern (ME) version, you need to download InDesign AFTER changing the language menu to English يدعم العربية . So, firstly let's establish if you have ME version, please check if you can see ME Type Tool in you Tools panel

    If you see this ME Type tool then you're safe : ) and you may continue to use the installed version.

    If not, then follow all steps I listed in this post.

    To place a text file in InDesign, the author of the article or story may use any word processor out there such as Microsoft Word (Mac/Windows), Note Pad on Windows, Text Edit on Mac or any other word processor that can output to .Doc/Docx/txt/rtf and many other text formats. Whether it is you or someone else, the author of the text types the story in the word processor and saves the file in any of the formats I mentioned above in order for InDesign to Place the file straight into your InDesign document and you may go ahead and thread your long story into the existing or non-existing Indesign pages as this help page explains.

    We can guide you through some of the steps especially you have a multi-lingual publication, however Dawud, your long publication will be a challenge if you don't have basic InDesign knowledge. Perhaps you need to start with these basic tutorials.

      Willi Adelberger
      Community Expert
      Willi AdelbergerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 16, 2022
      1. You need to use an ME enabled version.
      2. Get text via import: File > Place …
      3. You need for paragraph styles with RTL text one of the Adobe World Composer.
      4. Work with styles! For passages in a LTR text you need RTL character styles, but you have to avoid with any mean any RTL line break in a RTL paragraph. If that occurs you have to create different paragraphs.
        Mike Witherell
        Community Expert
        Mike WitherellCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        June 16, 2022

        Are you working in the ME version of InDesign?

        Mike Witherell
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