From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Msuck: nntp://news.gmane.io/gmane.comp.tex.context/25097 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: "John R. Culleton" Newsgroups: gmane.comp.tex.context Subject: Re: Right-to-left typesetting in Farsi for Context. Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 11:43:16 -0500 Organization: WexfordPress Message-ID: <200601111143.16762.john@wexfordpress.com> References: <200601091643.14825.john@wexfordpress.com> <43C2EF5E.3070802@wxs.nl> Reply-To: mailing list for ConTeXt users NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: sea.gmane.org 1136997919 3682 80.91.229.2 (11 Jan 2006 16:45:19 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@sea.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 11 Jan 2006 16:45:19 +0000 (UTC) Cc: Idris Samawi Hamid , gip.bilotta@iol.it Original-X-From: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl Wed Jan 11 17:45:11 2006 Return-path: Envelope-to: gctc-ntg-context-518@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from ronja.vet.uu.nl ([131.211.172.88] helo=ronja.ntg.nl) by ciao.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.43) id 1Ewj5I-0005p8-Fb for gctc-ntg-context-518@m.gmane.org; Wed, 11 Jan 2006 17:44:28 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by ronja.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id 22F16127B9; Wed, 11 Jan 2006 17:44:27 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from ronja.ntg.nl ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (smtp.ntg.nl [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 17235-06-3; Wed, 11 Jan 2006 17:44:24 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from ronja.vet.uu.nl (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by ronja.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id C9C67127BB; Wed, 11 Jan 2006 17:44:24 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by ronja.ntg.nl (Postfix) with ESMTP id A547D127BB for ; Wed, 11 Jan 2006 17:44:23 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from ronja.ntg.nl ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (smtp.ntg.nl [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with LMTP id 17235-06-2 for ; Wed, 11 Jan 2006 17:44:22 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from mta13.adelphia.net (mta13.mail.adelphia.net [68.168.78.44]) by ronja.ntg.nl (Postfix) with SMTP id 34C30127B9 for ; Wed, 11 Jan 2006 17:44:21 +0100 (CET) Original-Received: from 69-168-15-53.chvlva.adelphia.net ([69.168.15.53]) by mta13.adelphia.net (InterMail vM.6.01.05.02 201-2131-123-102-20050715) with ESMTP id <20060111164416.FPVQ26442.mta13.adelphia.net@69-168-15-53.chvlva.adelphia.net>; Wed, 11 Jan 2006 11:44:16 -0500 Original-To: ntg-context@ntg.nl User-Agent: KMail/1.7.2 In-Reply-To: Content-Disposition: inline X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at ntg.nl X-BeenThere: ntg-context@ntg.nl X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: mailing list for ConTeXt users List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Original-Sender: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl Errors-To: ntg-context-bounces@ntg.nl X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at ntg.nl Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.comp.tex.context:25097 Archived-At: 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