How Letter Spacing Works in RTL Languages

When creating or editing plain X subtitling templates, it’s important to understand how letter spacing affects RTL (Right-to-Left) languages.

Arabic & Persian

• These languages are cursive, meaning letters are usually connected.
• Adding letter spacing disrupts the natural flow, which is generally undesirable.
• However, spacing can be used for stylistic effects in subtitles.

Hebrew

• Hebrew letters are not connected.
• Letter spacing functions well and behaves similarly to LTR (Left-to-Right) languages.

Mixed Scripts

• If an RTL subtitle includes Latin words, numbers, or symbols, letter spacing may cause unexpected issues.
• This occurs due to bidirectional text rendering, which may impact readability.

Being mindful of these factors ensures better subtitling quality for RTL languages in plain X.