Hebrew copy in InDesign to be converted to ePub

[rewyn]

Not sure if this is for this forum...

In designing an academic book in InDesign CS6, I've encountered a problem with having a Hebrew word inside a footnote with a number after it (Hebrew copy 37...), however, while setting the Hebrew copy the number wants to go in front of the Hebrew text instead of staying behind it (ltr vs. rtl.)

I have tried many things but currently I placed the character "i" in front of the number to hold it's position.

Can anyone offer me a solution? My greater worry is that after completion of this project that creating it into an ePub will be another "can-of-worms" entirely. Thanks

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by rewyn

In designing an academic book in InDesign CS6, I've encountered a problem with having a Hebrew word inside a footnote with a number after it (Hebrew copy 37...), however, while setting the Hebrew copy the number wants to go in front of the Hebrew text instead of staying behind it (ltr vs. rtl.)

Try wrapping the Hebrew word in a dir="rtl" span followed by a zero-width non-joiner (‌) or a thin space ( ). For example:

<p>The exact pronunciation of <span dir="rtl">יהוה</span>&zwnj;<sup>2</sup> is unknown.</p>

BTW, the most commonly used ADE/RMSDK based Adobe reading apps don't support RTL text. The above code only works with iBooks and Kindle KF8. I.e., you might have to convert Hebrew text to .svg images.

[rewyn]

thanks for this reply, and it helps down the road for when I'm ready to process the book into an ePub. But any help regarding the InDesign issue I'm facing?

[Jellby]

Your problem look like this. The purely Unicode way to fix it is the second solution given in the page: insert a left-to-right mark

I think recent ADE/RMSDK versions support right-to-left texts, but I'm not sure they obey the bidi algorithm or need explicit markup.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by Jellby

Your problem look like this. The purely Unicode way to fix it is the second solution given in the page: insert a left-to-right mark

You are, of course, right, technically speaking, a left-to-right-mark (‎) should be inserted between the Hebrew text and the following numeral. I suggested a non-joiner because it has the same effect and can be easily added in InDesign via Type > Insert Special Character > Other > Non-joiner.

@rewyn: AFAIK, you'll need to use the ME edition of InDesign for proper RTL handling, unless Adobe has added RTL support in recent InDesign versions.
BTW, unless you happen to read Hebrew, you might not even notice the lack of RTL support. For example, the Hebrew word Ivrit should be displayed as: עברית, however, without RTL support, you'll get תירבע, which looks somewhat similar.

Originally Posted by Jellby

I think recent ADE/RMSDK versions support right-to-left texts, but I'm not sure they obey the bidi algorithm or need explicit markup.

ADE 4 supports RTL languages, but only in ePub3 books. RMSDK 11 supposedly also supports ePub 3 and RTL languages, however, I haven't seen RMSDK 11 apps with RTL support in the wild so far.
There are some apps for mobile devices that support ePub3 and RTL text (for example iBooks and Gitden), but they don't support Adobe ADEPT DRM, which makes them uninteresting for most publishers and ebook readers.
For all of the above reasons, I'd strongly recommend using an svg image, unless the OP's client publishes books only in the iBooks Store.

[rewyn]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

You are, of course, right, technically speaking, a left-to-right-mark (‎) should be inserted between the Hebrew text and the following numeral.

I decided to do some further research in regards to this, and found if I create a script in InDesign utilizing this script:
https://www.rorohiko.com/wordpress/m...into-indesign/

That I could create a script with U+200E (ltr) invisible character, directly before the numeral and hold it's position.

So far this has worked marvelously, and has carried over into a mock ePub I made to test it. Thanks again.

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

ADE 4 supports RTL languages, but only in ePub3 books. RMSDK 11 supposedly also supports ePub 3 and RTL languages, however, I haven't seen RMSDK 11 apps with RTL support in the wild so far.
There are some apps for mobile devices that support ePub3 and RTL text (for example iBooks and Gitden), but they don't support Adobe ADEPT DRM, which makes them uninteresting for most publishers and ebook readers.
For all of the above reasons, I'd strongly recommend using an svg image, unless the OP's client publishes books only in the iBooks Store.

I was referring to the RTL support in the Kobo readers, using RMSDK and ePub2, as shown here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...4733&p=2875234