Bilingual Catalog Design: Persian and English Catalogs Done Right

RTL vs LTR: what really changes on the page

Persian is read from right to left, English from left to right. That affects much more than the text itself. The reader's eye starts at the top right of a Persian page and the top left of an English one, so the most important element, usually the product image or headline, should sit where the eye lands first. Page order flips too: a Persian catalog turns from right to left, like a Persian book.

Alignment follows direction. Persian paragraphs align to the right, English ones to the left. Lists, bullets and table columns that start on the left in English should start on the right in Persian. Arrows and "next" symbols point the other way: a forward arrow in English points right, in Persian it points left.

Not everything flips. Product photos, logos, maps, charts with a time axis and technical drawings normally stay as they are; mirroring a photo would reverse the product and any printed text on it. Phone numbers, email addresses, website addresses and product codes are always written left to right, even inside a Persian sentence.

• Flip: text alignment, reading order of blocks, column order, list markers, directional arrows.
• Keep: product photos, logos, maps, technical drawings and diagrams.
• Keep left to right: phone numbers, URLs, emails, model numbers and SKUs.

Choosing fonts for Persian and English

Most Latin fonts do not contain Persian letters at all. If a catalog falls back to a default system font for Persian text, it looks out of place and inconsistent across devices. Choose a proper Persian typeface for Persian pages and a matching Latin typeface for English pages, and make sure both are embedded with the catalog so they look the same on every phone.

Vazirmatn is a popular open-licensed Persian typeface: clean, highly readable on screens, and available in several weights, which makes it a safe choice for body text and product details. For headlines with more character, a display face such as Lalezar can work in short phrases. On the English side, pair a neutral sans-serif for body text with a heading font that matches your brand.

Persian text often needs slightly more line height than English, because of letters that reach below the line and dots above and below.

Mirrored layouts: how to adapt a page for the other direction

Mirroring means flipping a page's layout horizontally so its structure reads naturally in the other direction. A product page with the image on the left and text on the right in English becomes image on the right and text on the left in Persian. Done properly, both editions feel native and share the same grid and hierarchy.

Mirroring is a design step, not an automatic flip. Check each element: does it carry direction, or is it neutral? A centered cover title needs no change; a timeline, a step-by-step diagram or a "swipe" arrow does. Make sure buttons, prices and product codes still line up with the grid after the flip.

If you design from a template, start from one that already has a Persian edition, so the two editions match from the start.

1. Finish and approve the layout in one language first, usually the one most of your customers read.
2. Duplicate the page and flip the arrangement horizontally.
3. Switch every text element to the other language's font and alignment.
4. Return photos, logos, maps and diagrams to their original, unflipped orientation.
5. Paste in the translated copy and adjust text boxes where the length changed.
6. Check numbers, phone numbers and codes, and fix directional arrows and icons.
7. Compare both editions side by side to confirm they share the same grid and hierarchy.

Translating product copy so it still sells

Product copy that is translated word for word reads stiffly and loses its persuasion. Translate the meaning and the benefit, not the sentence structure. Persian marketing copy often reads better with a warmer, more direct tone, while English B2B copy tends to be shorter and more factual.

Keep a glossary of product names, materials, technical terms and units, and decide once how each is written in both languages. Should a product name stay in Latin letters, be transliterated into Persian script, or be translated? Whatever you choose, apply it everywhere, so customers recognize the same product in both editions and in their messages to you.

Watch units, sizes and prices. English buyers abroad may expect a different currency or measurement, while Persian readers expect rials or tomans written the way the market writes them. Our guide on product descriptions that sell gives a structure you can apply in both languages.

Separate editions or combined bilingual pages?

There are two ways to build a bilingual catalog. Combined pages show both languages on the same page, usually Persian on one side and English on the other, or one above the other. Separate editions are two catalogs with the same products, one fully in Persian and one fully in English.

Combined pages work for short documents with little text, such as a one-page price list, a trade-show flyer or a menu where each dish has a name in both languages. Their weakness is space: every page carries twice the text, which is hard to read on a phone and forces you to mix directions on one page.

Separate editions work better for most product catalogs. Each edition is laid out natively in its own direction, with room for proper descriptions, and each can have its own link and its own search title and description. You can then share the right edition with the right audience, put a link to the other language on the cover, and compare how each one performs.

• Choose combined pages for menus, short price lists and flyers with minimal text.
• Choose separate editions for catalogs with descriptions, specs and many pages.
• Link the two editions to each other from the cover or the last page.

Persian digits, prices and dates

Persian has its own digits (۰ ۱ ۲ ۳ ۴ ۵ ۶ ۷ ۸ ۹), and Persian readers expect them in Persian text. Mixing Latin digits into Persian prose looks careless. Use Persian digits for prices, sizes, quantities and dates in the Persian edition, and Latin digits in the English one. Product codes, model numbers and phone numbers are often kept in Latin digits in both, because that is how customers type them into search or a phone.

Dates differ too. Persian readers use the Solar Hijri calendar, so a Persian edition should say the season and year in that calendar, while the English edition uses the Gregorian calendar.

SEO for both languages

Persian and English readers search with different words, and often for different things. Research each language separately: a Persian buyer may search for a product category and the word for price list, while an English distributor may search for a product type and the word supplier or manufacturer. Write titles and descriptions natively for each, rather than translating one into the other.

Separate editions make bilingual SEO much easier, because each page can declare one language and one direction, with its own clean address, title and description. For more on titles, descriptions and page addresses, see our guide to catalog SEO on Google.

Building a bilingual catalog with CatPro

CatPro was built bilingual from the start. Every built-in page in catalog templates has an English page and a Persian edition, mirrored right-to-left and set in Persian fonts with the sample copy already translated, so you can pick the same style for both editions. The catalog builder includes 17 Persian and Latin fonts, from Vazirmatn and Lalezar to Playfair Display, hosted with your catalog so they load everywhere.

For separate editions, create one catalog per language, each with its own clean address, and give every page its own title and description in that language. Catalog SEO handles the rest: each page declares its language and direction, so Persian catalogs are understood as Persian, and every published page is added to your sitemap.