Arabic Fonts

1. Can I use Arabic OpenType fonts in MS Office applications?
2. Can I use Arabic OpenType fonts in Adobe applications?
3. Can I use Arabic OpenType fonts in QuarkXPress?
4. Why can’t I see Linotype’s Arabic fonts in the Arabic section in the fonts menu in InDesign?
5. How can I access the proportional numerals for Arabic, Persian, and Urdu?
6. Which operating systems support Arabic text setting with OpenType fonts?
7. Which Applications support script specific OpenType Features for Arabic?
8. Can I use the Arabic OpenType Fonts with/in Mac OS?
9. How do I reach the Arabic characters in an Opentype font?
10. I tried an Arabic OpenType font with TextEdit. It doesn’t work properly but the system’s Arabic fonts do. Why?
11. The letters don’t join when I work with Adobe InDesign on Mac OS X. The same font works fine on Office applications Windows XP. Is the font damaged?

1. Can I use Arabic OpenType fonts in MS Office applications? Yes you can do that on PC as of version Office 2000 and Windows 2000. You also need an Arabic keyboard layout for the typesetting, and you need to have turned on the support for extended language support and left-to-right function in the Windows Control Panel. Current versions of Office applications for Mac do not support Arabic OpenType fonts.


2. Can I use Arabic OpenType fonts in Adobe applications? Yes but you need the Middle Eastern versions. Please visit www.winsoft.fr for more information.


3. Can I use Arabic OpenType fonts in QuarkXpress? You can use arabic OpenType fonts with QuarkXPress 7, but you need a specific edition of the program or an according XTension.


4. Why can’t I see Linotype’s Arabic fonts in the Arabic section in the fonts menu in InDesign? Linotype’s Arabic fonts contain Basic Latin and so they will appear alongside Latin fonts. This happens only in the Mac version.


5. How can I access the proportional numerals for Arabic, Persian, and Urdu? You can only access them in Adobe products and you need to insert the default (tabular) Arabic and Persian numerals using the glyph palette, and then apply the Proportional Lining numeral feature from the OpenType menu.


6. Which operating systems support Arabic text setting with OpenType fonts? On the PC platform, the support for OpenType fonts that contain Arabic script specific features started with Windows 2000. Later systems might have an extended support for script specific features. The Mac does not support script specific features for Arabic in OpenType fonts. Nevertheless it has Unicode support, the “MacOS Arabic” Codepage therefore is supported. Applications on the Mac platform need to have their own implementation of Arabic feature support.


7. Which Applications support script specific OpenType Features for Arabic? Microsoft Office applications for PC support non-latin script systems since MS Office 2000. This support has been expanded since. Mac Office applications do not have support for Arabic script specific features in OpenType fonts, but with Mac Office 2004 Microsoft introduced Unicode support. To use Arabic OpenType Fonts with Adobe applications, you need special versions of the applications, that support Middle Eastern script systems. Please visit www.winsoft.fr for more information.


8. Can I use the Arabic OpenType Fonts with/in Mac OS? MacOS 9 as a system does not support Arabic OpenType fonts but you can use them with software like InDesign 2.0 ME.


9. How do I reach the Arabic characters in an Opentype font? You should use at least Mac OS X 10.2.2 and turn on the Arabic Keyboard in the International section in the System Preferences.


10. I tried an Arabic OpenType font with TextEdit. It doesn’t work properly but the system’s Arabic fonts do. Why? Arabic contextual OpenType features are not supported by OS X at the moment. Arabic system fonts are developed in the AAT-font format. You need to use an application that supports Arabic OpenType fonts such as InDesign ME.


11. The letters don’t join when I work with Adobe InDesign on Mac OS X. The same font works fine on Office applications Windows XP. Is the font damaged? You need to use the Middle Eastern Version of InDesign for the correct representation of the script.