On Mon, 09 Jan 2006 16:18:54 -0700, Hans Hagen wrote:

John R. Culleton wrote:

...

First I ask the question: is Context the right tool for rtl typesetting of e.g, Farsi? Second I would like a reference to the pertinent Context manual or module for such typesetting. Finally I would like to know if there is a typescript extant for Farsi (Persian) wich I believe uses the Arabic alphabet with some modifications. well, idris is using context for professional publications so rlt is possible ...

In a recent thread with Mojca I give instructions to do basic utf-8 or Latin-transcription Arabic, Farsi, and Urdu typesetting in ConTeXt using Aleph and the basic unicode fonts that came with Omega. The font is very basic, though. Much more advanced stuff is possible as well, using better fonts, and I am working on an advanced Arabic-script typesetting system which, while still experimental, produces some of the nicest Arabic script available-) (I can send you samples if you like off-list) No manuals, but go here to get a flavor of things: http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/~d97ost/omega-example.html tex/context/base/m-gamma.tex tex/context/base/type-omg.tex You can use whatever font your client prefers, particularly if it does not involve a lot of ligatures or vowels (most fonts used in Persian typesetting are pretty basic in this regard, with the very important exception of Nastaliq, which TeX/Aleph cannot do quite yet...) As soon as Giuseppe and Hans get in sync on the future direction of things in the internals of aleph and pdftex-) we should soon have Arabic-script typesetting approaching a par with the Latin. Hopefully the two projects will merge soon, and there has already been some movement in that direction. In particular, the microtypography features of pdftex may hopefully be extended to include, e.g., glyph substitution to get optimal paragraph justification (since Arabic script does not have hyphenation, etc....) Best Idris -- Professor Idris Samawi Hamid Department of Philosophy Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO 80523 -- Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/

On Tuesday 10 January 2006 10:25 am, Idris Samawi Hamid wrote:

On Mon, 09 Jan 2006 16:18:54 -0700, Hans Hagen wrote:

...

John R. Culleton wrote:

...

First I ask the question: is Context the right tool for rtl typesetting of e.g, Farsi? Second I would like a reference to the pertinent Context manual or module for such typesetting. Finally I would like to know if there is a typescript extant for Farsi (Persian) wich I believe uses the Arabic alphabet with some modifications.

well, idris is using context for professional publications so rlt is possible ...

In a recent thread with Mojca I give instructions to do basic utf-8 or Latin-transcription Arabic, Farsi, and Urdu typesetting in ConTeXt using Aleph and the basic unicode fonts that came with Omega. The font is very basic, though. Much more advanced stuff is possible as well, using better fonts, and I am working on an advanced Arabic-script typesetting system which, while still experimental, produces some of the nicest Arabic script available-) (I can send you samples if you like off-list)

No manuals, but go here to get a flavor of things:

http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/~d97ost/omega-example.html tex/context/base/m-gamma.tex tex/context/base/type-omg.tex

You can use whatever font your client prefers, particularly if it does not involve a lot of ligatures or vowels (most fonts used in Persian typesetting are pretty basic in this regard, with the very important exception of Nastaliq, which TeX/Aleph cannot do quite yet...)

As soon as Giuseppe and Hans get in sync on the future direction of things in the internals of aleph and pdftex-) we should soon have Arabic-script typesetting approaching a par with the Latin. Hopefully the two projects will merge soon, and there has already been some movement in that direction. In particular, the microtypography features of pdftex may hopefully be extended to include, e.g., glyph substitution to get optimal paragraph justification (since Arabic script does not have hyphenation, etc....)

Best Idris

Thanks very much. The OP is not a client but another eager TeX novice. I relayed the information to him and he is busily acquainting himself with the tools you mentioned. -- John Culleton Books with answers to marketing and publishing questions: http://wexfordpress.com/tex/shortlist.pdf Book coaches, consultants and packagers: http://wexfordpress.com/tex/packagers.pdf