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Right to Left Support for Hebrew and Arabic


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To add to this discussion, it's not just RTL support, but also support for complex scripts that's currently missing.

If I paste Hindi into Affinity Publisher, the letters don't appear in the correct order, notably in the word Hindi (हिंदी) itself!

If I type Devanagari k-virama-r, the virama remains visible and the 'k' and 'r' don't combine as they should

However, there is some contextual shape-changing already present: if I type in Arabic bab (باب) = door, the first 'b' correctly changes shape, but incorrecly stays at the left end of the word.

 

I appreciate there's more work to be done, but as mentioned above, surely it's better to build in support for non-Latin scripts early rather than nail it on later (InDesign) or not at all (Quark).

Good luck

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On ‎9‎/‎17‎/‎2018 at 3:56 PM, Chris Thompson said:

To add to this discussion, it's not just RTL support, but also support for complex scripts that's currently missing.

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I appreciate there's more work to be done, but as mentioned above, surely it's better to build in support for non-Latin scripts early rather than nail it on later (InDesign) or not at all (Quark).

This is absolutely true. There is not only a big need for complex scripts and non-Latin typesetting at the document level, but also at the paragraph and word level as well. It really needs to be considered from the beginning, not as an add-on down the road.

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On 9/18/2018 at 10:47 PM, Rancher said:

This is absolutely true. There is not only a big need for complex scripts and non-Latin typesetting at the document level, but also at the paragraph and word level as well. It really needs to be considered from the beginning, not as an add-on down the road.

Add to that the need to support RTL page and section order.

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  • 2 weeks later...

They've made it painfully clear that this way down the road map. 

As in waaaaaay down.


Which is disappointing, to be honest.

Us designers are supposed to communicate a MESSAGE in what we design and not having the ability to properly use languages is just utterly crippling.

It took Adobe years before they finally brought in. Serif does NOT have to do the same.

I made a thread on this ages ago:
 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Would it be possible to get an official response on this issue? Serif's vision for a professional grade suite of apps can't be taken seriously if a large part of the population can't use it. Even more infuriating is the fact that even the beta version of Publisher, a desktop PUBLISHING app, doesn't yet support RTL languages. Inkscape, GIMP and photopea and Scribus all have better native RTL support, and are all available for free. How is this even possible? And how has an alternate solution not been presented yet? Even a simple 'flip text' button would do the trick until further support is implemented. 

The lack of support is surprising enough, but the vague responses are downright insulting, and disastrous from a PR perspective. Saying RTL support isn't considered a top priority is surprising, to say the least. I am aware that we are a minority, but we are also paying customers and I believe we are entitled to more than a generic response. 

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Thank you for the welcome. Your reply doesn't address my points. I believe the fact you've replied to this question 'a few' times' only stresses its importance. I also couldn't find any discussions on this issue. Just requests for implementation and vague responses about ever growing time frames. I believe this is a 'feature' that has been requested since 2015. Why is this not yet considered a top priority? 

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  • Staff

Hi TalSh,
It 's important as are several other features requested/planned for future updates but the dev teams can't do all at once. If you take a look around you will see that other users have their own features they think are top priorities too - RTL support however will only be implemented much later - we already have roadmaps defined and we are trying to follow them as closely as possible. Maybe @Dave Harris can be more specific about the reasons for this.

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I have a suggestion, unfortunately I am not a script writer otherwise I would do this.  I installed a RTL script into my adobe creative suite some  years ago.  It works an absolute treat, one simply writes left to right and then presses a shortcut key and it switches to RTL.  Maybe someone could write a quick script    -   this would solve a short term need surely?.  By the way if anyone wants the script I will happily upload it here.

Microsoft - Like entering your home and opening the stainless steel kitchen door, with a Popup: 'Do you really want to open this door'? Then looking for the dishwasher and finding it stored in the living room where you have to download a water supply from the app store, then you have to buy microsoft compliant soap, remove the carpet only to be told that it is glued to the floor.. Don't forget to make multiple copies of your front door key and post them to all who demand access to all the doors inside your home including the windows and outside shed.

Apple - Like entering your home and opening the oak framed Kitchen door and finding the dishwasher right in front you ready to be switched on, soap supplied, and water that comes through a water softener.  Ah the front door key is yours and it only needs to open the front door.

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I don't think there's much more to say. We have our own code to compose and render text, and this does not support r2l languages. Adding that support will be a huge job. We're choosing to focus on other areas first. We're aware that will leave many potential international customers unable to use our products, and we're sorry. All we can do is be as upfront as we can about the likely time scales, so you aren't misled into thinking it will be available sooner than it will.

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On 11/22/2018 at 3:06 PM, Dave Harris said:

We have our own code to compose and render text, and this does not support r2l languages. Adding that support will be a huge job. We're choosing to focus on other areas first.

But what about to allow scripts, sooner or later? Such an interface could satisfy particular user needs – from tiny to big markets – without making you any trouble once the interface is available.

macOS 10.14.6 | MacBookPro Retina 15" | Eizo 27" | Affinity V1

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11 hours ago, thomaso said:

But what about to allow scripts, sooner or later? Such an interface could satisfy particular user needs – from tiny to big markets – without making you any trouble once the interface is available.

I think we'll have some kind of scripting, but I've no idea what or when.

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12 minutes ago, Dave Harris said:

I think we'll have some kind of scripting, but I've no idea what or when.

The indications are that it’s likely to be JavaScript (rather than, say, Python) but there have been no hints about the timescale for implementation.

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