subject: Translation With Dtp Partnership [print this page] A search in any translators' discussion forum will reveal that now and then some less-informed clients expect the 'translation' of a rather complex publication will be no less than an exact replica of the original in a different language.
Some translators simply say 'no' and deliver plain text as usual. Others, having once stated that their clients rule, decide to face the challenge... and get frustrated at first, and desperate later, when the deadline comes nigh. Here are some ideas to emerge a winner from such situations.
The case is about a translator's client who has a publication in language "A," and needs to have the same in language "B." It may be a product catalog, a spec sheet, some user or service manual, a company newsletter, whatever that has both text and illustrations.
You will outsource the DTP work whenever it's not practical, economical, or feasible to provide the final desired output from your word processor.
Nowadays, the very same microcomputer an average translator uses every day is definitely capable of building the whole publication virtually, without pasteboards, creating a PDF file, and sending it over the Internet to a print-on-demand printer, who will make as many copies as desired, neatly printed in B&W or color, and stapled or bound as needed.
A interesting aspect is the presence of actual paper only at the beginning-the original-and at the end-the fully-featured translated print. But the key point is the translator's computer being able to do the whole job. What some clients fail to realize is that the translator, him or herself might not have been trained to do it economically.
Translators already do a lot, using mostly a word processor, CAT tools and their translation memories, glossary managers, both on-disk and on-line dictionaries, web searches, e-mail, etc. To require them to work with graphic arts might be pushing the envelope. So the client is misled into thinking that any translator will be able to eke out a completed publication.
When one sees text giving way to illustrations, some of them irregularly shaped; when the text, regardless of its meaning, is an expression of art, when text interacts with images or is part of them, it's time for DTP.
A translator can learn to do DTP with the proper software, but many colleagues have agreed with me that it is just like learning another language. Is it worth it? If it is, in other words, if you have enough demand for this kind of work, get started! If you get such requests only now and then, and every time it's with a different computer program, simply find ways to outsource it.
Though most word processors can import/export common file formats (such as *.doc, *.rtf, and, of course, *.txt), this does not apply to DTP programs: each one has its proprietary, exclusive, file format. Though Adobe offers a file converter "from QuarkXPress to PageMaker," they warn it doesn't work on the Macintosh, and I'm yet to see it work successfully in Windows.
Let's assume that your intent is to go on translating, but you will outsource the DTP work whenever it's not practical, economical, or feasible to provide the final desired output from your word processor.
You may think that this is your client's problem: you just have to deliver the translated text. First, ascertain with your client that this is really what they expect from you. If it is, by all means, do it! But depending on the circumstances, maybe you should get ready for a surprise much later: a request to proofread the final DTP-ed publication. Some clients might candidly expect you to do it for free, as you have already been paid for the translation. Though in these times of electronic files there are fewer things that can go wrong, you may find: improperly hyphenated words; misplaced, missing, or wrongly formatted text; untranslated text.
The best option is to find a bilingual, or even a sesquilingual DTP artist, He or she doesn't have to be a translator, but it's really good if the DTP person has at least basic knowledge of both your source and destination languages.
The linguistic savvy of your DTP person is not for proofreading. As a matter of fact, he shouldn't be expected or allowed to change one single comma in your text. But this will spare you from a very tedious job: marking text cross-references.
Aunes Oversettelser AS has been in the business for 26 years, and we are specialized in technical translations. We are specializing in the Nordic languages, and can offer services into Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Icelandic. The premier translation agency for Norway and the Nordic region! Technical translation services for businesses in the Nordic countries and translation agencies world-wide.
