At a glance. 30 real Arabic fonts for image export, 49 copy-and-paste styles that each say what they changed, a simple spelling helper, an Arabic typography tidy-up, and on-device translation. Everything runs in your browser, so your text is never uploaded. Unicode has no bold or calligraphy alphabet for Arabic, and this page says so instead of pretending.
How to use the Arabic font generator
Many “Arabic font” generators run your text through Latin-only styled alphabets, so Arabic words come out unchanged, or they use Presentation Forms characters that fake the joined shapes and break the text. This one separates the jobs. Real fonts draws genuine joined Arabic letters in Arabic fonts and exports an image. Styles gives you text you can paste, and a badge on every result says what really happened to your letters.
Type or paste
Write Arabic or English. Tap the buttons above the box for ؟ ، « » and the vowel marks when they are hard to find.
Read the badges
Each style says what it really changed, for example how many letters were stretched, or that your Arabic letters stay plain.
Copy, or make an image
Press Copy on a row you like. For a calligraphy look with joined letters, open Real fonts and download a PNG.
Paste and check
Paste into your app and look once before you publish. Need Arabic words? Press Translate first.
What pastes as text, and what cannot
A font is not part of a piece of text: when you paste, the app that shows it picks the font. And Unicode defines bold, italic, script, fraktur and similar letters for the basic Latin alphabet, not for Arabic (the Arabic chart (opens in a new tab) has the letters and marks, with no styled alphabets). So there are only a few honest things a copy-and-paste tool can do with Arabic:
| Kind of style | What it does | On Arabic text |
|---|---|---|
| Frames and ornaments | Adds ornate brackets, quotation marks, stars or lines around your text | Works. Your letters are unchanged. |
| Kashida | Inserts tatweel between letters that join, which stretches the word | Works. It stays in the text, so it can affect search. |
| Marks | Adds a line, a dot or a vowel mark after each letter | Works, but the mark is drawn by your device, so check it |
| Digits and effects | Converts digits to another set, separates letters, adds dots or stars | Works. Separated letters show unjoined forms. |
| English letters (bold, script, Arabic-style...) | Styles the letters A to Z only | Arabic letters stay plain. The card says so. |
This tool does not use Presentation Forms. Unicode has two blocks of pre-joined letter shapes (Forms-A (opens in a new tab) and Forms-B (opens in a new tab)) kept for compatibility with old systems. Text typed with them is different data from normal Arabic, so it does not match searches and can be read wrongly by screen readers and shaping engines. Normal Arabic letters join by themselves when the font supports it.
Kashida: stretching a word
Kashida (also called tatweel or elongation) is a horizontal stroke between two joined letters. In print it is used to justify a line or to emphasise a word. In Unicode it is a real character, U+0640. The Styles tab inserts it by three rules: only after a letter that joins forward, only before a letter that joins backward, and never between lam and alef, because that pair forms its own ligature. Vowel marks stay attached to their letters.
Three things to know. Kashida changes the spelling in the data, so search and spell-checkers can miss the word. Good typesetting puts kashida in specific places for each font, and a tool that adds it everywhere will not match that, so the result is a visual effect. And the amount is yours to choose: light, medium or long. The Typing and typography tab removes it again. The W3C's Arabic layout requirements (opens in a new tab) describe how Arabic justification and elongation work in typesetting.
What works where
Rules differ by app and change over time, so each row says how sure we are. Where an app publishes no rule, we say so instead of guessing.
| Where | What to expect | How sure |
|---|---|---|
| Usernames and web addresses | Keep plain letters. Styled English letters are different characters, and Arabic usernames follow each app's own rules. | Follows Unicode's mixed-script guidance (opens in a new tab). Each app's own rule is not verified here. |
| Display names, bios, captions | Usually fine to paste. Length counters can treat styled characters differently, so use the length check and test. | Not verified in each app. Test before you publish. |
| Search | Kashida and marks make a word a different string from the plain word, so a search for the plain word may not find it. | Not verified in each app. Keep key words in plain text. |
| Mixed Arabic and English lines | Punctuation at the joins between the two scripts can move, because of the bidirectional algorithm. Check the line where you will post it. | Defined in Unicode UAX #9 (opens in a new tab). How each app shows it is not tested here. |
| Screen readers | Marks on every letter, separated letters and styled English letters may be read letter by letter or skipped. | Widely reported, not tested by us. Keep important text plain. |
| Marks and ornaments | Combining marks and the Bismillah symbol are drawn by each device and font, so spacing can differ and some fonts show boxes. | Marked “Test first” where less common. We have tested in Chrome on Windows only. |
The length check offers Instagram bio 150, TikTok bio 80, X bio 160 and Discord display name 32, or your own number. Platforms change limits, so treat these as a guide. You can count visible characters or UTF-16 units; a vowel mark or a kashida adds a unit.
Real Arabic fonts
The Real fonts tab renders your words in 30 open-licence fonts. The picture is at the top and does not follow you down the page, so the controls below it stay fully visible. Use Compare all fonts to see your text in every font at once, filter by Naskh, Kufi, Ruqaa, Nastaliq, Modern or Display, star the ones you like, and download a PNG in square, story or banner size, at standard or sharp 2x resolution, or copy the image to paste it elsewhere. You can also set line height, text size, a border, an outline and a shadow, and after you translate, add the original as a small caption under the text. There is no letter-spacing control on purpose, because spacing pulls the letters of a joined script apart. Each font was checked for the base Arabic letters and the Arabic comma, semicolon and question mark before it was added. All use the SIL Open Font License, and each loads only when you pick it.
- AmiriClassical book Naskh (opens in a new tab)
- Noto Naskh ArabicClean, even Naskh (opens in a new tab)
- Scheherazade NewTraditional Naskh with generous marks (opens in a new tab)
- LateefSoft, flowing Naskh (opens in a new tab)
- Markazi TextText face with a calligraphic feel (opens in a new tab)
- Reem KufiGeometric Kufi (opens in a new tab)
- Noto Kufi ArabicPlain, sturdy Kufi (opens in a new tab)
- KufamRounded Kufi (opens in a new tab)
- Reem Kufi InkKufi with ink-trap cuts (opens in a new tab)
- Reem Kufi FunPlayful Kufi (opens in a new tab)
- Aref RuqaaCompact Ruqaa hand (opens in a new tab)
- Noto Nastaliq UrduSloping Nastaliq (Persian and Urdu) (opens in a new tab)
- CairoFriendly modern sans (opens in a new tab)
- TajawalNeutral UI sans (opens in a new tab)
- AlmaraiBold, open sans (opens in a new tab)
- IBM Plex Sans ArabicTechnical sans (opens in a new tab)
- Readex ProHighly readable sans (opens in a new tab)
- AlexandriaGeometric modern sans (opens in a new tab)
- VazirmatnPersian-style sans (opens in a new tab)
- LalezarHeavy poster face (opens in a new tab)
- RakkasChunky headline (opens in a new tab)
- JomhuriaTall, tight display (opens in a new tab)
- KatibehCalligraphic title face (opens in a new tab)
- El MessiriElegant headline (opens in a new tab)
- BlakaBold, rounded display (opens in a new tab)
- VibesDecorative script (opens in a new tab)
- LemonadaRound and cheerful (opens in a new tab)
- MarheyBouncy handwritten (opens in a new tab)
- Playpen Sans ArabicMarker handwriting (opens in a new tab)
- Baloo Bhaijaan 2Soft, bubbly (opens in a new tab)
The quick looks (classic book, gold on green, Kufi poster, greeting card, modern clean and poetry page) set the font, colours, border and size in one tap. The font groups follow the letter shapes of each font; there is no true Thuluth or Diwani font in this set, and none is claimed. The glyph checks confirm that a letter exists in a font, not that every joined shape looks right, so look at the preview before you download. Some fonts lack the short vowel marks, the kashida character or the Persian letters; where a font lacks Persian letters it is not marked as supporting them.
Translate English and Arabic on your device
Press Translate above the text box, or use the translate bar in the Real fonts tab, to turn English into Arabic or Arabic into English. It works in two layers, and neither sends your text to a server:
- Your browser's translator, when it supports English and Arabic. The page asks the browser which language pairs it can do and shows the answer next to the button. Chrome on desktop has this feature and downloads a small language model once. Chrome documents this (opens in a new tab). We have not checked other browsers or phones.
- A built-in list of 249 words and phrases. It covers greetings, family, love, days, months, numbers, colours and short messages, including common Islamic phrases. Words it does not know stay as you typed them, and the panel says how many it found. It writes Modern Standard Arabic in dictionary form without vowel marks, so it cannot adjust endings or the definite article to fit a sentence.
Many Arabic words change with gender, so you can choose masculine or feminine, which applies to the built-in list. You can Undo, and one tap sends the Arabic text to Styles or Real fonts.
Check anything important. This is a quick helper. The phrase list has not been reviewed by a native Arabic speaker, and Arabic differs a lot between countries. For a tattoo, a sign, a name, or a legal or medical text, ask an Arabic speaker or a professional translator.
Spell it with English letters
If you cannot type Arabic, the Real fonts tab has a one-line helper. Type how a word sounds in English letters and it gives an approximate Arabic spelling you can send to the picture. It uses the usual spelling for about a hundred common names and words, and these rules for the rest:
- Digraphs: sh is ش, kh is خ, th is ث, dh is ذ and gh is غ.
- Long vowels: aa, ee, ii, oo and uu give a long vowel letter. A vowel that starts a syllable is written long, and a short vowel that closes a syllable is left out, the way Arabic is normally written. A vowel at the start of a word becomes an alef.
- Chat digits: 2 is hamza, 3 is ayn, 5 is khah, 6 is tah, 7 is hah, 8 is ghayn and 9 is sad. This is a common habit in online Arabic, not a standard.
It is a helper, not a keyboard and not a translator. Dialects pronounce letters differently and a name can have several correct spellings, so the result is a starting point. Ask an Arabic speaker before you use it for anything permanent.
Arabic-Indic, Persian and Western digits
Arabic text can use three digit sets, and mixing them in one text looks careless. The Digits styles and the Tidy tool convert a whole text to one set.
| Set | Digits 0 to 9 | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic-Indic | ٠ ١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥ ٦ ٧ ٨ ٩ | U+0660 to U+0669. Common across the Middle East. |
| Persian | ۰ ۱ ۲ ۳ ۴ ۵ ۶ ۷ ۸ ۹ | U+06F0 to U+06F9. Same as Arabic-Indic except 4, 5 and 6. |
| Western | 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | Used widely in the Arab world, for example in North Africa. Check your audience. |
Tidy Arabic typography
The Typing and typography tab first lists what it found in your text, then fixes what you choose. Nothing changes a word: it only changes marks, digits and letter forms that are interchangeable in print.
| Finding | What the tool does |
|---|---|
| , ; ? in Arabic text | Replaces them with the Arabic comma, semicolon and question mark ، ؛ ؟ |
| " " | Pairs of straight quotes become « » guillemets |
| Mixed digit sets | Converts every digit to the set you pick |
| ي and ی, ك and ک | Makes yeh and kaf all Arabic or all Persian. They look alike but are different letters for search. |
| Kashida and vowel marks | Removes them when you choose, for data and usernames |
| Spacing | No space before punctuation, one space after an Arabic comma |
| Mixed Arabic and English | Reported as information. Optional right-to-left marks can help a line that begins in English. |
Typing Arabic and its punctuation
- Windows:open Settings, Time & language, Language & region, add Arabic (or add an Arabic keyboard under Language options), then switch with Windows key + Space. Microsoft documents adding a language and a keyboard layout (opens in a new tab).
- Mac and phones: add an Arabic keyboard in the keyboard settings and switch with the shortcut or Globe key shown there. Menu names change between versions, and we did not check them against the vendor pages.
- Guillemets: hold Alt and type 0171 for « and 0187 for » on the number pad, or tap them under the text box. The Arabic comma, semicolon and question mark have buttons there too, because their keys differ between Arabic layouts.
The Windows codes are the standard Windows-1252 values, as in the table on Microsoft Support (opens in a new tab). The Mac shortcuts are the standard Option combinations on a US keyboard; we have not checked them against an Apple page. This tool does not include its own Arabic typing layout.
How to say “font” in Arabic
The everyday word is خط, which means both a font and a style of handwriting. These are common terms; check a dictionary or an Arabic-speaking colleague if you need the exact usage for a formal text. The style names below are what you will meet when you look for a font.
| Arabic | English |
|---|---|
| خط | font, or a style of handwriting (the everyday word) |
| حجم الخط | font size |
| خط النسخ | Naskh, the standard book and screen style |
| الخط الكوفي | Kufic, the angular geometric style |
| خط الرقعة | Ruqaa, the quick everyday handwriting |
| خط الثلث | Thuluth, a monumental style (not in this tool) |
| خط الديواني | Diwani, an ornate Ottoman style (not in this tool) |
| خط النستعليق | Nastaliq, the hanging style used for Persian and Urdu |
| غامق / عريض | bold |
| مائل | italic, slanted |
| كشيدة / تطويل | kashida, elongation of a joined letter |
| التشكيل | vowel marks (harakat) |
Private by design
Styling, translation, spelling, typography fixes and image export all run in your browser. Your text is not uploaded or stored on a server. Favorites, recently copied styles and your option choices stay in your own browser storage, and Clear removes your text. A share link contains your text only when you press Share link.
Frequently asked questions
What is an Arabic font generator?
An Arabic font generator shows text in Arabic typefaces or turns it into decorated Unicode text you can paste into a bio, chat or game. This one does both, and is honest about the difference: the Real fonts tab draws genuine joined Arabic letters in Naskh, Kufi, Ruqaa, Nastaliq and modern fonts and exports a PNG, while the Styles tab gives you copy-and-paste text.
Why can I not copy and paste Arabic in a calligraphy font?
A font is not part of the text. When you paste text, the app that shows it chooses the font, so the look of Naskh or Ruqaa cannot travel with the letters. Unicode has bold, script and fraktur alphabets for the Latin alphabet, but none for Arabic. What can travel is text around and between the letters: ornate brackets, stars, kashida, digits and marks. For a calligraphy look use the Real fonts tab, which exports an image.
What is kashida, and does it paste?
Kashida (tatweel, U+0640) is a stretching character that joins one letter to the next with a horizontal line, so a word looks longer. It is ordinary text, so it pastes anywhere. This tool adds it only between letters that really join, and it never splits the lam and alef pair. It also changes how a word is spelled in the data, so search and spell-checkers can miss a stretched word. The Tidy tool removes it again.
Why do some cards say the Arabic letters stay plain?
Unicode has no bold, script or fraktur Arabic letters, so styles built for English letters cannot change Arabic. Those cards say so and count how many English letters they changed. Some tools get around this with Arabic Presentation Forms characters that fake joined shapes. This one does not, because that text breaks search and screen readers, and Unicode keeps those blocks for compatibility.
Which Arabic fonts can I download as an image?
The Real fonts tab has 30 open-licence fonts in six groups: Naskh, Kufi, Ruqaa, Nastaliq, Modern, Display. Examples are Amiri and Scheherazade New for Naskh, Reem Kufi and Noto Kufi Arabic for Kufi, Aref Ruqaa for Ruqaa, and Noto Nastaliq Urdu for Nastaliq. Every font was checked for the base Arabic letters and the Arabic comma, semicolon and question mark. Each link opens its Google Fonts page where you can get the font file.
Is there a Thuluth or Diwani font?
Not in this tool. We looked for open-licence families that follow those styles and did not find one we could verify, so none is listed and no font is called Thuluth or Diwani. Aref Ruqaa and the Naskh fonts are real examples of their own styles. If you need true Thuluth or Diwani, look for a commercial calligraphy font or a designer.
Can I type an Arabic name if I do not have an Arabic keyboard?
Yes, in the Real fonts tab. Under the picture there is a field for spelling a word with English letters, such as shukran, Ahmed or 3ali. It gives an approximate Arabic spelling by sound, uses the usual spelling for about a hundred common names and words, and understands chat digits (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9). It is not a keyboard and not a translator, and names have more than one correct spelling, so check it with an Arabic speaker before a tattoo or sign.
Can this tool translate English to Arabic?
Yes, in a limited way. Press Translate to turn English into Arabic or Arabic into English. Translation runs on your device: it uses your browser's built-in translator when it supports English and Arabic (checked when the page loads, and only on browsers that have the feature) and a built-in list of 249 common words and phrases otherwise. The list covers greetings, family words, days, months, colours and short messages. It writes Modern Standard Arabic without vowel marks and has not been reviewed by a native speaker, so check anything important.
What does the masculine and feminine choice do?
Arabic words such as beautiful, happy and tired have a masculine and a feminine form (جميل and جميلة). The choice applies to the built-in phrase list and describes the person the words are about. Arabic has no separate formal form of you like Spanish usted, so there is no formal option. The browser translator picks its own forms.
Which digits should I use, Arabic-Indic, Persian or Western?
It depends on your readers. Arabic-Indic digits (٠١٢٣) are common in the Middle East, Persian digits (۰۱۲۳) are used for Persian and share their shapes with Arabic-Indic except for 4, 5 and 6, and Western digits (0123) are common elsewhere in the Arab world. Check what your audience uses. The Digits styles and the Tidy tool convert a whole text to one set, and a mix of sets is flagged.
Is my text sent to a server?
No. Styling, translation, spelling, typography fixes and image export all run in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded.
Can screen readers read this styled text?
Plain Arabic is read normally. Marks placed on every letter, separated letters, dots between letters and styled English letters may be read letter by letter or skipped. We have not tested screen readers. Use styled text for short names, bios and headings, and keep important information in normal text. The Copy plain text button copies exactly what you typed.
كيف أكتب نصا عربيا بخط جميل؟
اكتب النص ثم افتح تبويب «Real fonts (image)» لتجد خطوطا عربية حقيقية مثل النسخ والكوفي والرقعة والنستعليق، ويمكنك تنزيل الصورة بصيغة PNG. أما تبويب «Styles» فيضيف أقواسا وزخارف وكشيدة إلى نصك العربي ليبقى نصا حقيقيا يمكن نسخه.
هل يُرسل نصي إلى خادم؟
لا. الأنماط والترجمة وتنسيق الكتابة وتصدير الصورة تعمل كلها في متصفحك، ولا يُرفع شيء مما تكتبه.
Sources
- Unicode chart, Arabic (U+0600 to U+06FF) (opens in a new tab)
- Unicode chart, Arabic Presentation Forms-A (U+FB50 to U+FDFF) (opens in a new tab)
- Unicode chart, Arabic Presentation Forms-B (U+FE70 to U+FEFF) (opens in a new tab)
- Unicode Standard Annex #9, Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm (opens in a new tab)
- Unicode Technical Standard #39, Unicode Security Mechanisms (opens in a new tab)
- W3C, Arabic Layout Requirements (opens in a new tab)
- Chrome for Developers, Translator API (opens in a new tab)
- Microsoft Support, manage the language and keyboard/input layout settings in Windows (opens in a new tab)
- Microsoft Support, insert ASCII or Unicode Latin-based symbols and characters (opens in a new tab)
- SIL Open Font License 1.1 (opens in a new tab)
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