Papyrus Graphics – our aim is excellence
‘Papyrus’ was launched in 1989 in Dubai , by Medhat Singab.
It was one of the first Arabic typesetting agencies to take advantage of the new-born Apple Macintosh desktop computers that went on to revolutionise the right to left languages typesetting industry.
The business grew throughout the 1990s, keeping pace with technological developments, until 2001, when Papyrus set up a UK operation. We now have in-house Arabic typesetting capabilities at our state-of-the art studio, supported by a network of carefully selected professional translators.
Meet Medhat
“I’m passionate about typography,” says Papyrus’s founder, Medhat Singab. “I started my typesetting career working in a graphics house in Egypt , where I used a C.R. Tronic 150 Linotype machine to compose Arabic magazines, books and commercial print works. I moved to Dubai in the late 1980s, where I did similar work. This means I gained some great experience in ‘traditional’ typesetting - that is, before the desk-top publishing revolution - so I really appreciate that finer points of the art that others might not notice, such as where to break lines, where to insert hyphens, and how to stretch lines to fit.
“At Papyrus, we still have an old Linotype system linked to a Macintosh running system 7.5. This give us the full Arabic keyboard, with all the accents and symbols we need. Of course, we have the most up-to-date systems too, and a great selection of software and fonts.
“I think it’s really important that right-to-left language typesetters have good cultural awareness. Some people might not be aware that each font has its own particular history. It is essential to use the right font for the job. And in magazine and advertising work, illustrations need to be chosen with great care to avoid causing offence.
“I’m fascinated by fonts. Before I joined Papyrus, I worked in Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Kurdish, Hebrew, Pushto, Indic, Eastern European, Chinese and, of course, Western European languages.
“For me, the great thing about Papyrus is that we offer the ‘whole package’. We’ve developed good relationships with typesetting software developers, so we often have the chance to test out new software, and can choose the best tools for the project. We also have plenty of experience of working with printers, which means we can handle most jobs from start to finish.”
Feedback
We welcome comments from visitors to this website, and from our clients. Please send feedback to info@papyrusgraphics.com
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