Non-Latin Vinyl Lettering — Arabic, Greek, Chinese & More

We cut vinyl lettering in non-Latin alphabets — Arabic, Greek, Cyrillic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Thai, Hindi (Devanagari) and others — for caravans, motorhomes, boats, horseboxes and self-build vans. If you can send us the exact text in the script you want, we can produce it.

Most of our customers ordering non-Latin lettering are doing one of three things: putting a family or boat name in their own language, adding a meaningful word or phrase as a decorative feature, or replicating original manufacturer text that wasn't in English to begin with.

Which alphabets and scripts can you produce?

If a script can be displayed digitally and the characters are clearly defined, we can almost certainly cut it. The most commonly requested are:

• Greek — Modern and Ancient Greek alphabets
• Cyrillic — Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian and related languages
• Arabic — including the joined, cursive forms (right-to-left)
• Hebrew — including vowel points if required (right-to-left)
• Chinese — Simplified and Traditional characters
• Japanese — Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji
• Korean — Hangul
• Thai
• Devanagari — Hindi, Sanskrit, Marathi
• Other scripts — please ask, we have cut many one-off scripts including Armenian, Georgian, Tamil and Tibetan

We can also reproduce decorative or stylised non-Latin lettering from a photo, drawing or scan — for example, recreating a name that was previously painted by hand.

Why non-Latin lettering needs to be handled differently

Cutting vinyl in a non-Latin script is not the same as cutting Latin text in an unusual font. There are three reasons it needs more care:

1. Character joining and shape changes. In Arabic and several other scripts, a letter changes shape depending on whether it appears at the start, middle or end of a word. The text has to be set in a font that handles those forms correctly, or the result reads as nonsense.
2. Reading direction. Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu and Farsi read right to left. If the text is copied or typed wrongly the order of the letters reverses, which is hard to spot if you don't read the script yourself.
3. Stroke detail and minimum size. Scripts like Chinese, Japanese Kanji, Thai and Devanagari can contain very fine strokes and stacked diacritics. We need to keep the lettering at a sensible minimum size so every stroke survives the cut and the weeding process.

For all of these reasons, we never produce non-Latin lettering without sending you a digital proof first.

How to send us the text

The single most important thing you can do is send us the exact text in the script you want it cut in. We don't translate — if you want a phrase in Greek, please supply the Greek. Any of the following work:

• Typed text in an email — copy and paste from a document, website or messaging app
• A clear photo or scan — of handwritten text, a printed source, or existing lettering you want to replicate
• A screenshot — of the text on your phone or computer
• A PDF, Word document or image file — attached to your email or order

If you're sending a photo of handwriting, please write as clearly as possible and use a dark pen on plain white paper. If you're typing the text, please double-check it character by character before sending — small differences (a wrong accent, a missing dot, the wrong form of a letter) change the meaning.

The proof process — why we always send one

Every non-Latin order is set up by us and sent to you as a digital proof before we cut anything. The proof shows the exact characters, the font, the spacing and the size, so you can check it word for word. We won't put a single piece of vinyl through the plotter until you've confirmed the proof is correct.

If you read the script yourself, please check the proof carefully. If you don't read the script — for example, you're commissioning lettering as a gift or memorial — please ask a friend, family member or native speaker to read the proof before approving it. Once approved and cut, vinyl lettering can't be amended.

Sizes, colours and finishes

Non-Latin lettering is supplied in exactly the same way as our standard Latin lettering. You can choose any size and any colour from our standard vinyl range, including gloss, matt, glitter and chrome finishes. All lettering arrives pre-spaced on transfer tape with full fitting instructions, ready to apply.

For very fine or detailed scripts we may suggest a minimum letter height to make sure every stroke cuts cleanly — we'll let you know on the proof if that applies to your order.

Order custom non-Latin lettering

To order, please contact us with the text you want, the script or language, the approximate size, and the colour. We'll come back to you with a price and a digital proof for approval before any vinyl is cut.