Fix RTL for Arabic, Persian and Hebrew languages

[amirgelman]

Hello everybody!

I’m happy to announce the release of our Right-to-Left writing solution for Affinity Designer, Photo and Publisher. The app could help fix RTL writing in other software which has a similar issue as Affinity’s apps do.

Get RTL Fixer now while it’s on sale:

https://www.artwayz.com/en/buy-rtl-fixer

Watch our app in action:

 

[Sam Neil]

Hopefully when you have the Arabic/Farsi 100%, I will be in touch...

[weby]

Can somebody verify if this app safe?

[Sam Neil]

6 minutes ago, weby said:

Can somebody verify if this app safe?

You are best ask your question from Amir from his website: https://www.artwayz.com/en/buy-rtl-fixer | https://www.artwayz.com/en/rtl-fixer-installation/

[weby]

I asked him, and he say its safe. but how can i be sure its really safe? (I'm not a technician or so...)

[amirgelman]

19 minutes ago, weby said:

I asked him, and he say its safe. but how can i be sure its really safe? (I'm not a technician or so...)

Hey,

It’s a tricky question you’re asking here.

Basically the app is the first one we ever developed under our name and we haven’t yet bought Microsoft’s trusted program.

I’m saying it’s tricky because how could I answer that?

However, if anyone here bought the app - they can answer this. But there’s a chance there isn’t one here to answer this yet... so you might find yourself waiting, who knows how long.

You can see a video on our app’s purchase page that shows the app works. Not sure how much further than that I can show you it’s a trusted app. Sorry.

[thomaso]

18 minutes ago, Sam Neil said:

best ask your question from Amir

How do you mean? Would making him to "promise" safety, indeed mean to be safe? If yes, wouldn't just everybody simply proclaim safety for their app offers?

Possibly there are tests to run and certificates to get ...
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/win_cert/windows-certification-portal
https://developer.apple.com/macos/distribution/

[Sam Neil]

25 minutes ago, thomaso said:

How do you mean? Would making him to "promise" safety, indeed mean to be safe? If yes, wouldn't just everybody simply proclaim safety for their app offers?

Possibly there are tests to run and certificates to get ...
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/win_cert/windows-certification-portal
https://developer.apple.com/macos/distribution/

It has nothing to do with that. The fact that Amir & Co. are the developer of this software, are the best person to answer that. It is like me buying a product from Adobe and ask the question about its safety from Serif! At first instance it is down to Amir to provide the safety and certificate so such questions should not arise. Furthermore if the person has purchased the software from this vendor, it is a bit none-sensical to ask the question after the purchase wether it is safe to run. One should contact the vendor to ask these question prior to committing themselves.

[MikeW]

Anecdotal. I purchased a license and installed it. My computer hasn't blown up yet...

I did run my virus software on it. Reported no nasty bits.

A Trusted certificate would be nice.

[weby]

17 minutes ago, MikeW said:

Anecdotal. I purchased a license and installed it. My computer hasn't blown up yet...

I did run my virus software on it. Reported no nasty bits.

A Trusted certificate would be nice.

Thanks. will install it right now.

[MizManFryingP]

Why should we have to purchase a third party plug in that costs as much as the program itself? Does that make any sense to you? I'll just use Photoshop and Illustrator. Unbelievable.

[amirgelman]

14 minutes ago, MizManFryingP said:

Why should we have to purchase a third party plug in that costs as much as the program itself? Does that make any sense to you? I'll just use Photoshop and Illustrator. Unbelievable.

Hey,

Thank you for your question.

As everything else being sold to us in life - the price is never right for absolutely everybody.

In the end - it’s the price we feel is suitable and fitting to the hard work we’ve put and continue to put every day the perfect it.

You are welcome to try out our demo which is free. See for yourself how you like it and hopefully you’ll decide to join us.

All in all - best of luck to you.

[Weekend]

in iran we had somethings like that for a long time it seems... (never noticed till now) There is Roya writer, Maryam writer and etc...

Roya I think is free.

Maryam costs less then 3 usd in here.

And there is some more I didn't bother to check.

 

Here is Roya writer (نگارنده رویا) in Affinity photo and blender

 

Roya writer is not perfect but the outcome 100% works.

Edit: Roya writer is 22 years old HOLLY MOTHER OF LIFE!

[ohregny]

5 hours ago, MizManFryingP said:

Why should we have to purchase a third party plug in that costs as much as the program itself? Does that make any sense to you? I'll just use Photoshop and Illustrator. Unbelievable.

Photoshop and Illustrator costs 20 bucks a month, RTL fixer is a one time payment of 50 USD.

I hope is that Affinity will implement RTL in version .2, not in .3 or .4.

[amirgelman]

2 hours ago, ohregny said:

Photoshop and Illustrator costs 20 bucks a month, RTL fixer is a one time payment of 50 USD.

I hope is that Affinity will implement RTL in version .2, not in .3 or .4.

Hey,

Please check the price again.

its 29.90 USD.

We did try to work with Serif about implementing RTL Fixer as part of their software but they did not reply.

All the best.

[weby]

Sorry, but nobody needs your fixer to be implemented into Affinity, it's not the way a development works. We need native RightToLeft support.

[omaralwashmy]

8 hours ago, weby said:

Sorry, but nobody needs your fixer to be implemented into Affinity, it's not the way a development works. We need native RightToLeft support.

no, I think will to buy this to save my time it's one time to purchase it , and if you look adobe subs you have to pay until the die, so i think this a great choice

 

thanks Mr. amirgelman and your team for your software by end the month i will pay it inshaa allah

[weby]

5 hours ago, omaralwashmy said:

no, I think will to buy this to save my time it's one time to purchase it , and if you look adobe subs you have to pay until the die, so i think this a great choice

 

thanks Mr. amirgelman and your team for your software by end the month i will pay it inshaa allah

Don't get me wrong. the RTL-FIXER is a greet app.

 

On 8/19/2020 at 10:25 PM, amirgelman said:

We did try to work with Serif about implementing RTL Fixer as part of their software but they did not reply.

 

14 hours ago, weby said:

Sorry, but nobody needs your fixer to be implemented into Affinity, it's not the way a development works. We need native RightToLeft support.

 

[greedy013]

I've just run into this problem recently. Very annoying. 

Another solution for people who don't need RTL support regularly enough to pay $30 for another app is to use Inkscape to create your text.

Copy and paste your text into there and make a copy of it. Select the text, go up to the path menu and select "Object to Path."

Save as SVG, open in Affinity and you can then copy and paste the curves into your file. 

It's not the most elegant solution - if you need to edit your text you have to go back to Inscape, edit, convert to path again, etc, but it works in a pinch.

[LondonSquirrel]

I hope that others don't mind me chiming in here. I have had mixed results with importing Persian text as graphics into Affinity apps. I'm a cheapskate so usually stick to free or cheap(er) software. 

SVG output from some apps does not sit well with AD (or indeed with other apps such as Chrome). However, EPS or PS does seem to work rather well. I typed the snippet in the attached JPG into each app and then selected it and exported it. It's hardly a complicated text - just one verse of RTL text. I tested OO and LO separately as although I prefer OO, LO may be different.

OpenOffice and LibreOffice Draw to EPS to AD: Good. Though I cannot get certain fonts to appear as they should. This imports as 42 objects into AD.

OpenOffice and LibreOffice Draw to SVG to AD: Bad. Graphics broken, shows LTR, letters not joined.

EazyDraw to EPS  to AD: Good. This imports as 42 objects into AD. Same font problem as OO/LO.

EazyDraw to SVG to AD: Bad. Much like OpenOffice Draw result.

leoMoon ParsiNegar to PS then to AD: Good. This imports as a group of 42 objects in AD.

leoMoon ParsiNegar to SVG to AD: good (but opens as a full page rather than a snippet). This imports as 42 objects in AD.

OpenStreetMap to SVG to AD: Good, even though one example had 6,000 objects/layers.

RTL languages require special fonts, a special text engine, and the apps need to be able to able to use both. If you want all the diacritics to work, with kashida justification, etc... And knowing how particular/pedantic it is to be with Persian/Arabic, these will be needed sooner rather than later. This is still, in 2020, a tall order. Who does this? Apparently Microsoft does with Word. I have seen this and it appears to work. Mellel works, with kashida justification using tables. So apparently does Nisus. Apple Pages works but without kashidas (as far as I can see). Of course, these are word processors rather than DTP apps. Then there is Adobe InDesign which seems to work too if you wish to be extorted each month.

I would recommend using EPS/PS where possible. I'm attaching one sample of EPS output from OO as this is definitely the way I would go when I use small amounts of Persian text. A whole Persian document with, say, an index and table of contents, hyperlinks, text that is text and not a graphic is another story altogether. For that Affinity is definitely the wrong product at the moment, and is likely to be for years. 

 

J.

yeki-oo.eps

[amirgelman]

RTL Fixer 2.0 is here!

I’m happy to announce the release of our Right-to-Left writing solution for Affinity Designer, Photo and Publisher.
Even more so, I’m excited we’ve released version 2.0 which brings TONS of new features!

Just to name a few:

• App now can be shown as a tray icon and allows quick access to settings by clicking the icon.
• We give you more control over the app features with the new options menu.
• Supports copying and pasting of long texts with the option to control the number of characters in each line.
• Support “Tashkeel” for Arabic language, to enable please go to OptionsàMore Options.

Get RTL Fixer now while it’s on sale:

https://www.artwayz.com/en/buy-rtl-fixer

Watch our app in action!
*Note: Videos are shown using previous version. New videos coming soon.

RTL Fixer with Arabic:

 

RTL Fixer with Hebrew:

 

 

If anyone have any questions - send us an email:
support@artwayz.com

[ohregny]

On 8/20/2020 at 9:12 PM, weby said:

Sorry, but nobody needs your fixer to be implemented into Affinity, it's not the way a development works. We need native RightToLeft support.

 

[Arab]

I was so happy with my Affinity Designer trial that I was about to buy it, but the fact it doesn't support Arabic script is quite appalling, especially as free software like Inkscape supports RTL. I'm disappointed that I won't be able to use Affinity for my work but I'm even more disappointed that your development team is fobbing off a large chunk of the world. You aren't holding your hands up and saying "Ah, we don't have this yet, we need to fix this fundamental glaring oversight", you're saying "our internal company process will keep our software unusable by anyone using RTL or complex script for the forseeable future". Quite pathetic and I'll have to start over now finding good software to work with.

Why on Earth are people on here having to justify what language we speak?! Is it 2020 or is this some alternative global hegemeny I've walked into?

[ohregny]

On 9/25/2020 at 7:28 AM, Arab said:

I was so happy with my Affinity Designer trial that I was about to buy it, but the fact it doesn't support Arabic script is quite appalling, especially as free software like Inkscape supports RTL. I'm disappointed that I won't be able to use Affinity for my work but I'm even more disappointed that your development team is fobbing off a large chunk of the world. You aren't holding your hands up and saying "Ah, we don't have this yet, we need to fix this fundamental glaring oversight", you're saying "our internal company process will keep our software unusable by anyone using RTL or complex script for the forseeable future". Quite pathetic and I'll have to start over now finding good software to work with.

Why on Earth are people on here having to justify what language we speak?! Is it 2020 or is this some alternative global hegemeny I've walked into?

A strong point.

[LondonSquirrel]

On 9/25/2020 at 12:28 PM, Arab said:

Why on Earth are people on here having to justify what language we speak?! Is it 2020 or is this some alternative global hegemeny I've walked into?

I don't think anyone is being forced to justify their language. It is apparent that RTL support is not a priority for Affinity. RTL support is difficult. Affinity would have to write a text engine from scratch to do it. No doubt they have looked at it and decided it not a priority for them. Perhaps the market does not demand it. If the expected market is not large enough then it would not be a priority. I am not referring to the number of RTL speakers or readers, I mean the number that would actually buy the software. This is a free market principle: you have a choice, and you have not chosen Affinity.

Lack of RTL support in Affinity is a pain for me. I want/need to write Persian. So I had to find an alternative. The latest LibreOffice (version 7) has a much improved RTL text engine, it's like chalk and cheese compared with version 6 (and with OpenOffice). Kashidas are handled far better, for example.

Your choices for good RTL software for DTP or design are somewhat limited and generally expensive: InDesign/Illustrator, Corel Draw, QuarkXpress (with a hideously expensive plugin) are the main contenders. Or use LibreOffice and see how far you can get with that.

Your point about hegemony is not particularly valid as far as I can see. You cannot expect an English-speaking developer to understand the finer points of RTL text handling. You would need to either hire a specific developer, or pay consultancy fees. It so happens that most software development is in English.

J.