How to use Asian, Middle Eastern, Punjabi, etc Fonts

[Rosger]

I've been trying to use these fonts in InDesign only to see that somehow it just doesnt like what I'm entering. I set the font to, say, Baghdad...youll see it in your font library if you have InDesign on a Mac.
All I get are squares with all of these. How do I use these fonts? Or how are they used by the people that speak the languages?
If your wondering why I'm asking, its because I'll be doing some stuff for a translation company and I want to write the word "Thanks" in different languages....not that its possible to begin with without knowing the language in the first place, but I'd like to learn how it works.

Thanks!

[Jonski3000]

Afraid you'll have to get a copy of InDesignME (Middle Eastern) to use Arabic typefaces in InDesign.

It's available from a company called Winsoft International (http://www.winsoft-international.com/en/products/adobe-indesign.html) (bargain at €1,134.00 [CA$1,718.79] :eek: ). Despite the name they do both Mac and Windows versions.

There might be a free (or cheaper) alternative but I am not aware of one.

[garricks]

Hey, Rosger! :)

In the menu bar, choose Type > Glyphs. That will get you a table of the characters that are in the typeface. You can choose the face to show at the bottom left. If you don't know the language, and don't have digital copy, match the characters/glyphs to the table and doubleclick to place in the document. Simple enough for "Thanks," but a real pain for a longer document.

Also, for languages that read right-to-left like Hebrew, Farsi, Arabic, etc., you need InDesign ME (Middle East) in order to set text properly, right-to-left with correct line breaks.

For typesetting one word, in many languages, in the same document, you might do better in Illustrator. In either case you'll want to convert type to outlines after it's been proofed and before going to press.

Be very careful, and have each language proofed by someone that speaks/reads the language. "Prospero Año" means "Happy New Year" in Spanish. "Prospero Ano" means something completely different having nothing to do with New Year's. And it's nasty. ;)

Good luck!

Edit: Jonski beat me to the punch! Thanks for adding the Winsoft link...I blanked out!

[Jonski3000]

Thanks for adding the Winsoft link...I blanked out!

No problem. We should also mention the keyboard issue, too.

If you don't have an actual Arabic keyboard you'll have to set your keyboard to the specific language. Easy enough to do, but you'll have to know the keyboard mapping, i.e. where each character is placed.

[garricks]

D'oh! Methinks I need more coffee, or some grog. Where's that wench at!?

Apple menu > System Preferences > International > click the Input Menu tab to activate different language keyboard layouts. Click "Show input menu in menu bar" and you'll see (assuming you have your primary language set correctly) a little Canadian flag in the upper right, near the date and time. That's how you switch between keyboard layouts.

[Jonski3000]

No problem. We should also mention the keyboard issue, too.


Actually, I've just thought of a way around this. As he's on a Mac, he could set his keyboard to Arabic (or Persian etc.) as you just described, and then certain fonts will work (System Times, Helvetica, Gill Sans...) .

Trouble is it's still going to be going left-to-right.

آيكفاةةت

[garricks]

Right. He'll have to set the type "backwards" from left to right. But as it's one phrase that shouldn't be too bad.
I set some Hebrew type that way once. I don't recommend it for a full page of copy!

[Jonski3000]

Right. He'll have to set the type "backwards" from left to right. But as it's one phrase that shouldn't be too bad.
I set some Hebrew type that way once. I don't recommend it for a full page of copy!

Ahhh, what a minefield. Your mention of Hebrew just reminded me of something else!

Yes, that method WILL work in Hebrew because of its structure. BUT, it WON'T work at all in Arabic because of the same reason.

In Arabic each letter can take three different forms - it changes if it appears at the beginning, middle or end of a word. All that method does is give you the lead (beginning) form so it's going to be pretty much unintelligible!

Sigh!! back to the drawing board!

Also, it seems that InDesign is (purposely) crippled in what fonts it can use for this.

[Rosger]

Fortunately, being the "Graphic Guy" I can get the translators to type certain things out for me if I need them. I guess since they know how to do all of this already it gives me more time to focus on what theyre not good at...
The reason I want to learn the basics is so I can study the fonts and how they work with the overall look of the projects. The only thing I have to go by right now is the "Sample" font in the font list.
The good news is that they have shelves and shelves of software for all of this and it wouldnt surprise me if they had a copy of that Middle Eastern InDesign. Thanks for the reference, I'll look for it!
Thanks for all the tips here, I'll tag this thread for future frustrations :)

Fun Client!


No problem. We should also mention the keyboard issue, too.

If you don't have an actual Arabic keyboard you'll have to set your keyboard to the specific language. Easy enough to do, but you'll have to know the keyboard mapping, i.e. where each character is placed.

[garricks]

Jonski, good catch. I've never typeset any of the Arabic languages (I insisted we send them out), but now I remember reading an article on typeface development, and how difficult it was (ten years ago) to program a typeface for the three forms.

Rosger, one last bit of warning: You cannot have InDesign and InDesign ME installed on the same machine. You have to have one or the other.

Oh, and languages that are read right-to-left are bound on the right side as you look at the cover.