Best Practices for Handling Araabic PDF Text Selection and Search

[Ismail Elmogy]

Hello Support Team,

I’m currently evaluating syncfusion for a project that requires accurate text selection and search functionality for Araabic PDFs. Given the complexities associated with right-to-left (RTL) languages, I want to ensure we are following the best practices to achieve optimal results.

Could you please help clarify the following?

1. **Text Selection and Search Optimization**:

   - Are there any specific settings or configurations within syncfusion that we should enable to improve text selection and search accuracy for Araabic  content?

   - Does the SDK require any particular document structure or metadata settings to handle Araabic text correctly?

2. **Font and Encoding Recommendations**:

   - Are there preferred fonts or encoding standards that you recommend for Araabic  PDFs to ensure compatibility and improve accuracy in text selection and search?

3. **PDF Formatting**:

   - Is there an optimal PDF type for working with Araabic (e.g., text-based vs. image-based PDFs with OCR)? Are there any known limitations with scanned Araabic  documents, and are additional steps needed to process these?

4. **General Best Practices**:

   - Are there any additional tips or best practices specific to working with Araabic  (or other RTL languages) that we should be aware of to get the best results?

Thank you very much for your assistance. Your guidance on these points will be instrumental in helping us achieve high-quality text handling in Araabic.

Best regards,

Ismail Elmogy

[Irfana Jaffer Sadhik]

Hi Ismail,

Are there any specific settings or configurations within syncfusion that we should enable to improve text selection and search accuracy for Araabic  content?    - Does the SDK require any particular document structure or metadata settings to handle Araabic text correctly?	We have no specific constraints for text selection, especially for Arabic text. However, if the text is rendered using complex script shaping when drawn in the document, it may not be extracted correctly, which could lead to issues.
Are there preferred fonts or encoding standards that you recommend for Araabic  PDFs to ensure compatibility and improve accuracy in text selection and search?	Any font that supports Arabic characters will assist with text search. Additionally, we are actively working to improve text search compatibility in Flutter. Sharing your input document would help us analyze this further on our end.
Is there an optimal PDF type for working with Araabic (e.g., text-based vs. image-based PDFs with OCR)? Are there any known limitations with scanned Araabic  documents, and are additional steps needed to process these?	There are no limitations in the text extraction process; we can extract text from both standard and OCR-processed documents without issues. With properly formatted Arabic content, the text will be extracted accurately.
Are there any additional tips or best practices specific to working with Araabic  (or other RTL languages) that we should be aware of to get the best results?	If the text is rendered with an encoded TrueType font that uses OpenType encoding, it is currently not supported, as we do not have support for OpenType fonts currently.   Currently, our Flutter library does not support the drawing of complex script text in PDF documents. And, we do not have any immediate plans to implement this support. we will consider implementing it in one of our upcoming releases. You can track the status of the feature using this feedback. Complex script text drawing support in Flutter PDF in Flutter | Feedback Portal

Regards,

Irfana J.

[Ismail Elmogy]

Issue with Highlight Feature 

Dear Syncfusion Team,

I hope this message finds you well.

I am facing an issue with the highlight functionality in your product. Specifically, the highlight feature is not behaving as expected. I have created a video demonstrating the problem for your reference.

Please find the video attached, which shows the issue in action. I would appreciate any guidance or support you can provide to resolve this matter.

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Best regards,

Ismail Elmogy

[Krithiga Perumal]

Hi Ismail, 

We are able to replicate the issue where the highlight is not being applied properly to the selected text in the RTL document. We are currently validating this issue, and we will provide further details once we find the root cause of the issue.

Regards, 
Krithiga Perumal. 

[Krithiga Perumal]

Hi Ismail,

After further analysis, we have identified an issue with the text extraction process in our dependent Syncfusion Flutter PDF library, which is causing the highlight functionality to behave improperly in this specific RTL document. We have already reported this issue to the PDF library team and we are following up with them.

We will provide you the additional details by November 28th. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Regards,

Krithiga Perumal.

[Imman Kumar P]

Hi Ismail,

On further analysis, it was found that the document is created with complex text scripts. As of now, Syncfusion Flutter PDF library doesn't have support to complex script text extraction support in flutter PDF library. We have logged this requirement as a feature request with "Complex script text extraction support in flutter PDF" in our library.

At present, we do not have any immediate plans to implement this feature, and we will implement this support in any of our upcoming releases. We usually have an interval of at least three months between releases, at the planning stage for every release cycle, we review all open features. We will let you know when this feature is implemented.

Please use the below feedback link to track the status of the feature.
https://www.syncfusion.com/feedback/63234/complex-script-text-extraction-support-in-flutter-pdf

Regards,

Imman Kumar P