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When trying to produce an Arabic document, I'm having a problem with space between certain letter combinations being so big that it looks like a break between words.

For example:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{polyglossia}
\setmainlanguage{arabic}
\newfontfamily\arabicfont[Script=Arabic]{Amiri}
\begin{document}
\begin{Huge}
تركيب
\end{Huge}
\end{document}

When compiled using XeLaTex produces the following:

enter image description here

The space between the ر and the ك is so large that it makes it look like two words.

paquda
  • 121
  • Please supply a minimal working example that produces the result you show. – Thérèse Jul 13 '17 at 20:59
  • Okay, @Thérèse, tried to do so. – paquda Jul 13 '17 at 21:32
  • This seems to be by design (I get the same result with arabluatex). Noto Naskh Arabic and Scheherazade have somewhat tighter spacing. – Thérèse Jul 14 '17 at 00:28
  • If it's by design, @Thérèse, I wonder why this doesn't bother other people? Am I missing something? – paquda Jul 14 '17 at 13:57
  • Just as some Roman typefaces are designed so that the letters almost lock together, while others leave breathing room, so with Arabic typefaces. And just as some Roman typefaces are easier to read than others, for the average reader or for an individual or in some contexts, so with Arabic typefaces. Since I started learning Arabic as an adult, I couldn’t judge how comfortable Amiri is for those who grew up with the script. But if you look continuous text, e.g., the documentation in …texmf-dist/doc/fonts/amiri, instead of inspecting a single word, it seems clear where the word breaks are. – Thérèse Jul 14 '17 at 16:04

1 Answers1

1

A manual solution, to reduce space between letters ر and ك just insert ~ in between. 

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{polyglossia}
\setmainlanguage{arabic}
\newfontfamily\arabicfont[Script=Arabic]{Amiri}


\def~{\kern-1ex}

\begin{document}
\Huge   
    تركيب

    تر~كيب

\end{document}

enter image description here

Salim Bou
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  • Thanks Salim, that will be something I could try at least for title pages and prominent headings. – paquda Jul 14 '17 at 13:59