For designers, publishers, and typographers working with Arabic, Persian, or Urdu scripts, standard Adobe Illustrator isn't enough. The Latin-centric version struggles with contextual character shaping, cursive connectivity, and right-to-left (RTL) text flow. This is where the becomes indispensable.

You cannot simply toggle RTL on an English-only install.

The ME language pack adds approximately 400MB to the standard 2.5GB Illustrator install. Ensure you have at least 4GB free.

To install the legacy Middle East version of CS6:

Click on your in the top-right corner of the window. Select Preferences from the drop-down menu. Step 2: Change the Default Install Language In the Preferences sidebar, click on Apps . Scroll down to the Installing section. Locate the Default install language drop-down menu.

Without these steps, your Arabic or Hebrew text will likely appear backward, and letters will not "stick" together as they should. By using the Middle Eastern composer , Illustrator correctly evaluates word spacing, hyphenation, and right-to-left flow.

: Go to Window > Type > Paragraph . Click the panel menu (top right) and select Middle Eastern & South Asian Single-line Composer .

Click the three horizontal dots () next to the app and select Uninstall . Step 2: Modify Creative Cloud Language Preferences

3 GB of available hard-disk space for installation (SSD recommended).

Adobe no longer sells a separate physical installer for the Middle East edition. Instead, the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) language features are built directly into the standard Adobe Creative Cloud ecosystem. Users unlock these features by changing their application language settings before downloading the software. The ME version enables critical typography tools:

Keeps the software interface in English but fully enables Middle Eastern typesetting engines and RTL text tools. (Highly recommended for most professional designers).

Standard versions of Adobe Illustrator treat text as left-to-right (LTR). While this works for Latin-based languages, it breaks the fundamental flow of Arabic, Persian (Farsi), and Urdu. This is where the "Middle East Version" comes in. But finding and installing it can be a labyrinth of legacy software, regional licensing, and modern workarounds.

Note: This does not work for all subscription types – especially if your license originated in North America or Europe.

Designing in Arabic or Hebrew requires specific text handling features—such as right-to-left (RTL) text direction, ligature control, and diacritic positioning—that are not active by default in the standard "North African" or "English" versions of Adobe Illustrator.