Tel: +44 (0)114 272 3772 Email: 
Tel: 916 414 8714 Email: Arabic desktop publishing and typesetting services
Adelphi specialises in Arabic desktop publishing (DTP) and Arabic print translation.
As Arabic script flows from right-to-left, the document’s layout will need to be flipped so that the pagination is in order and the text reads correctly.
Arabic desktop publishing DTP service
Adelphi has its own in-house desktop publishing studio providing Arabic desktop publishing (DTP). All our Arabic desktop publishing is handled in-house and carried out by our own experienced typesetters. Adelphi Translations has been producing Arabic desktop publishing for over 20 years. We produce all kinds of Arabic desktop publishing materials including corporate brochures, packaging, business cards, posters and manuals, not just in Arabic but also in over 100 other languages. Adelphi is an Arabic Desktop publishing and translation agency that aims to provide a full localization service to our customers.
We also typeset monthly financial reports in Arabic for use in Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Lebanon.
Our Arabic DTP and typesetting services include:
- Arabic translations
- Arabic proofreading
- Arabic desktop publishing using InDesign
- DTP QA quality assurance checking of documents
- The localisation of graphics in documents
- Dedicated project manager
- Fast turnaround
- Print ready PDFs set to your specifications
- 100% work carried out In-house by our own typesetting studio
The Arabic Language
The modern written language (Modern Standard Arabic) is derived from Classical Arabic. Arabic can be spelt without vowels (common Spelling) أحب القراءة كثيرا or with vowels أُحِبُّ ٱلْقِرَاءَةَ كَثِيرًا. Modern Standard Arabic is the standardised variety of Arabic used in everyday publications whereas Classic Arabic is used in the Quran as well as in numerous literary texts.
Arabic Dialects:
As Arabic is a right to left language we use InDesign to typeset all of our Arabic. We do have a converter that can convert QuarkXpress to InDesign if needed.
Clients
We work for companies and organisations such as Disney, Vidal Sassoon, and Jaguar Land Rover, to list a few. Plus international aid agencies such as Amnesty International, Refugee Action, UNICEF and the Refugee Council as well as many translation agencies and publishing companies all over the world.
Adelphi is an Arabic Desktop publishing and translation agency that aims to provide a full DTP localisation service to our customers.
What is the difference between Desktop publishing and Typesetting
- Typesetting is also defined as: Typesetting is the process, the craft, of setting the type for a document, not to be confused with typography, which is the art of designing the type.
- Desktop publishing is also defined as The production of printed matter by means of a printer linked to a desktop computer, with special software.
Desktop publishing tips for designing English materials to be translated into other languages
In some designs the pages are simply filled with text, leaving no room for text expansion. Most languages (with some notable exceptions) run longer than English and some of them run much longer. This causes the localised versions to have to make some sort of compromise: either text becomes smaller or a condensed font is used, or some material is completely cut out for brevity. Neither scenario is ideal, so it is much better to consider this aspect of the task at the design stage.
Overuse of text formatting features like coloured text, bold text and italic text etc. can slow down the localisation process, as the formatting needs to be applied to the precise word or phrase in translation that is equivalent to the English. Sometimes, this does not work at all if the target language has a dramatically different word order.
Embedded, non-editable text in images require extra attention and can slow things down dramatically, especially when over the main part of the image. Where possible, the text should be made available for editing in InDesign. If not, we will require all of the PSD files to work with.
Avoid designing paragraphs or “word clouds” with mixed font sizes that look good in English but have no chance of being replicated in the target language: quite often they do not have the same impact when localised and can often be “lost in translation”. Furthermore, due to word order difference, keywords in English at the beginning of a sentence might end up in the middle or at the end of the sentence when translated.
One of the most frequent issues we encounter is the incorrect and inconsistent usage of style sheets, in particular where one style has been used but in some instances, bold text, italics or even different fonts have been changed manually. This can cause the most significant delays of all and is the biggest source of small typos we encounter during internal QA.
Sending the artwork to be typeset BEFORE it is signed off by the client is never a good idea, and neither are new design changes after we have already started the work. We can do nothing in situations like these where significant changes are requested mid-project but start again and present new figures for the work, delaying work and incurring further costs for the client.
