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Type Arabic text in After Effects

Each key of your keyboard types the letter of the official layout.

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Text for Photoshop and design software

Copy this converted text (joined letters, reversed order) and paste it into software that shows Arabic reversed or with separated letters.

Long-press a key for variants (e.g. ا‎ :‎ أ‎ إ‎ آ‎).

Phonetic mapping table
2 → ء
3 → ع
5 → خ
6 → ط
7 → ح
8 → غ
9 → ق
a → ا
A → أ
AA → آ
I → إ
b → ب
p → پ
t → ت
T → ط
th → ث
t' → ة
j → ج
dj → ج
H → ح
kh → خ
7' → خ
d → د
D → ض
9' → ض
dh → ذ
r → ر
z → ز
Z → ظ
s → س
S → ص
sh → ش
ch → ش
gh → غ
3' → غ
f → ف
v → ڤ
q → ق
k → ك
c → ك
g → ڭ
l → ل
m → م
n → ن
h → ه
w → و
o → و
u → و
ou → و
W → ؤ
O → ؤ
y → ي
i → ي
e → ي
é → ي
Y → ى
E → ئ
x → ش
' → ء
_a → ◌َ
_i → ◌ِ
_u → ◌ُ
_o → ◌ْ
_an → ◌ً
_in → ◌ٍ
_un → ◌ٌ
__ → ◌ّ
_ → ـ

Prepare the Arabic titles, captions and kinetic type for your After Effects compositions here. You get normal text for recent versions and a converted version for those that show Arabic text backwards.

How to use

  1. Open the Floating keyboard so it stays above the After Effects window (Chrome or Edge on a computer).
  2. Type your title, one line at a time if it has several lines.
  3. If After Effects uses the South Asian and Middle Eastern text engine, click Copy.
  4. Without that engine, open Design software mode and click Copy converted text.
  5. In your composition, double-click the text layer, select its content and paste with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac).

Arabic text in After Effects: choose the right engine

After Effects applies one text engine to the whole program, picked in the preferences: one for Latin and East Asian scripts, another for South Asian and Middle Eastern ones. Only the second joins Arabic letters and lays them out right to left. If your titles come out as separate letters, check this choice before touching any layer. Older releases without the option need converted text. Be careful not to mix methods: converted text may appear backwards under the Middle Eastern engine, since that engine already reorders Arabic from right to left. Pick one approach per project and stick to it.

Animating a converted title

Converted text is a string of fixed shapes (Unicode presentation forms). After Effects treats them as ordinary characters, which changes how you animate:

  • Because the order is reversed, any per-character animation starts at the end of the sentence; flip the direction of the range selector.
  • Joins only hold while characters stay touching: animate opacity, colour or blur, not spacing.
  • Vowel marks sometimes sit badly on these shapes, and the Remove vowel marks option gives a steadier title.
  • The program no longer sees the text as Arabic, so an expression that splits words or a search tool will not recognise it.

For a title that must be translated into several languages later, keep each version on its own layer rather than overwriting one layer: re-converting a single Arabic line is quicker than rebuilding an animation.

A comfortable workflow

The After Effects interface fills the whole screen. In Chrome and Edge, the Floating keyboard stays on top next to the composition panel, so you are not constantly switching windows. If you do not know the Arabic layout, Words mode turns marhaba into مرحبا when you press Space. Once installed, the app also works offline, which is handy on an edit workstation with no connection. Finally, keep the normal version of every title with Download (.txt): fixing a typo then just means converting it again.

Do your animations end up in an edit? The Arabic keyboard for Premiere Pro page deals with titles and subtitles on the editing side.

Frequently asked questions

How do I write Arabic in After Effects?
Type the text on this page, copy it and paste it into a text layer. In recent versions, first choose the South Asian and Middle Eastern text engine in the Type preferences. If that choice is missing, paste the text converted by Design software mode instead.
Where is the Arabic text setting in After Effects?
Go to Edit > Preferences > Type on Windows, or After Effects > Preferences > Type on a Mac, and look at the text engine section. Select South Asian and Middle Eastern, then restart the program if the change does not show. Older versions do not have this setting.
Why does the typewriter effect reveal Arabic text from the left?
In converted text the character order is reversed, so the first character is the leftmost one, which is the end of the sentence. Reverse the range selector animation, for instance by animating its End value from 100% to 0%. The text then appears from right to left.
Can I animate Arabic text letter by letter in After Effects?
Yes, but avoid animators that push characters apart, such as tracking or a position offset, because they break the joins between letters. A per-character opacity fade, colour change or blur keeps the word readable.
How do I make a two-line Arabic title in After Effects?
With the Middle Eastern engine, a normal line break is enough. With converted text, use one layer per line so the line order cannot get flipped. Then align the layers to the right, as Arabic reading expects.
An After Effects template shows my Arabic text backwards. What can I do?
The template's text layer probably relies on the Latin engine, or it was built in an older version. Switch on the Middle Eastern engine and paste the normal text again, or replace it with converted text from this page. Also check that the template font includes Arabic.

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Updated October 6, 2026