Layout Overview

There are a number of challenges in the typesetting of complex scripts. These include problems of interaction between the font and typesetting system, problems of very large character sets, and considerations of typesetting the particular script. Happily, the advent of new computer technology has considerably lessened some of these problems.

Two parts of the needed technology are Unicode and smart fonts. If the application uses Unicode as its underlying encoding then document exchange is easier and the difficulties of very large character sets are lessened. With the advent of smart fonts, much of the behavior of complex scripts can reside in the font rather than the typesetting system. This, of course, means that whatever typesetting application is used must have the ability to use such fonts.

It is very important to study the typesetting, printing, and typographic traditions and history in the region where each particular script is in use. Without this, the typesetter may impose his or her (most likely Roman) understanding of ‘good’ typesetting. If a published set of guidelines cannot be found, studying a variety of published books in that script and talking to publishers to see what the rules of good design are can be invaluable.

Although there may be a typesetting or publishing application already in existence for a particular script, it is unlikely to take into account the differences minority languages will have from the majority language that uses the same script.

This section will address technical and design challenges which can often be found in publishing of texts using complex scripts. It is by no means exhaustive, but is intended as a starting point for those who are interested in the area of publishing.