Tutorials

This is Mashq Studio. It's free, it runs in your browser, and in two minutes you'll make your first piece of Arabic calligraphy. Start in the Text box. Write any word, name or phrase in Arabic. Here, we'll write the name Maryam. Make it bigger: type a size in the Size box at the top. Now choose a script. Each one is a classical style of Arabic calligraphy. This is Ruq'ah, the clear hand of everyday Arabic writing. And this is Thuluth, the grand script of mosque walls. Switch as often as you like. Your text stays. Pick an ink colour from the bar at the top. In the corner, you can see your design on a finished piece, with its price. When you're happy, open Export. PDF is ready for any print shop. SVG and DXF are there for laser cutting. Your first four downloads are free, with a small Mashq mark. Or click Order a piece, and we'll make it for you in the UAE and deliver it to your door.

This film shows how to take a design out of Mashq Studio: for a print shop, a laser cutter or a CNC router. Start with any design. Here we pick the phrase Masha'Allah, write it in Thuluth, and set its size. Now open Export. Every format is here: PDF, PNG, JPG, SVG, EPS and DXF. PDF is for printing. It's vector, at the true size, with bleed and crop marks, which is what print shops ask for. SVG gives clean vector outlines. It opens in Illustrator, Inkscape and cutting software. For a CNC router or a laser cutter, choose DXF. Turn on Welded, and overlapping letters are fused into one outline, so the cutter follows a single clean path. Then download. Your first four downloads are free, with a small Mashq mark. In Packs, the Laser pack gives you the SVG, the DXF and the welded DXF in one go. No cutter of your own? Click Order a piece, and we'll make it for you in the UAE.

This film shows how to give a design its real size for printing, then choose the material, ground and frame for a paint. Open Paper size. There are print sizes, frame and poster sizes, squares and social formats. You can also type your own. Here, 60 by 40 centimetres. Then Fill the sheet, and the phrase grows to the paper, centred. The status bar shows the true size at 300 dpi, which is what you print from. Turn on Bleed to see the 3 millimetre bleed line and the 5 millimetre safe area. To have it made instead, open Order a piece and choose Paint. Set the paint to 60 by 40, and fit the artwork to the frame. Choose the material: canvas alone, or with acrylic glass over it. Pick a ground, the colour behind the letters. Then the frame: gold, wood, black or more. The price updates with every choice. When it looks right, Get your piece takes you to checkout on mashq.ae.

This film is about scripts and styles: the classical hand your words are written in, and the font that draws it. We start from a ready phrase, Ahlan wa Sahlan, and make it a little bigger. Naskh is the clear hand of books and print. Kufi is angular and geometric. Diwani flows and loops, like the letters of the Ottoman court. Ruq'ah is quick and plain, the everyday hand. Display holds bold modern faces for headlines and signs. Each script holds styles, different fonts of the same hand. Kufi has seven. The same lists sit in the bar at the top, so you can switch without scrolling the panel. Every script exports and orders the same way. Try them all on your own words.

This film shows how to turn a design into a finished piece, from choosing the product to the order button. Start with any design. Here, Ahlan wa Sahlan, a welcome for a guest tray. Open Order a piece. Your design can go on a paint, a box, a tray, a tissue box or a mug. Choose Tray, and the piece appears in 3D. Press Spin to turn it, or drag it with the mouse. Pick a size: small, medium or large. The price updates. Choose the ink colour, printed or engraved. And the acrylic: clear, ivory or gold-tinted. The top view shows the design as it sits on the tray. Is it a gift? Tick the box and the parcel carries no prices. You can also ask for a delivery date. Order the SET puts this design on a paint, a tray and a tissue box together. When it's right, Get your Custom Piece takes you to checkout on mashq.ae

This film shows how to put your design on a mug: white ceramic, 330 ml, printed all the way around. Open Order a piece and choose Mug. It appears in 3D, with your design on it. One size, 330 ml, for AED 50. The label above the mug gives its real measurements. Sticker designs are ready-made coffee phrases. One click puts one on the mug. Press Spin, and the phrase wraps all the way around the mug. Pick the ink colour while it turns. Maroon on white ceramic looks classic. When it's right, Get your Custom Piece takes you to checkout on mashq.ae