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Translation Tips

When your product manuals are finally finished and are ready to be translated, what do you do to get the process started?

Here are a few tips to make the process easier for you and your translation services company. Our goal is to ensure your translated manuals become an investment that increases sales and market share, rather than an expense.

  1. Your graphics department should provide you with:
    1. Low-resolution (also called Fast Web View) PDF files of the manuals you want to translate. Make sure to request that "Content Copying" is "Allowed" in the Security features of the PDF file when the files are created.
    2. The name and version of the program used to create your files, such as InDesign CS4, QuarkXPress 8, Illustrator CS4, PageMaker 7, etc. and the computer platform: Windows or Macintosh.
    3. If your manuals were created in a word processor such as MS Word or WordPerfect, then the translation company can use those word processor files as is. There is no need to create PDF files.
  1. Find a translation company with many years of experience that specializes in the type of manuals you need to translate. Many companies specialize in specific industries, which allows them to provide their clients with good quality translations services, in essence becoming a partner in their industry. Check their references. Pay more attention to quality than price. Remember, translation is an investment in marketing success.
  1. Send files of all of the manuals you need translated via e-mail, in order to obtain an accurate QUOTE. Zip or Stuff your files, as most e-mail services and boxes have a limit of 10 to 15 MB for any attachments being sent with your e-mail message.
  1. Let your translation company know what you need from them:
    1. The languages you need and which markets (countries or regions). For example, you may want to ask for Simplified Chinese for Mainland China or Traditional Chinese for Taiwan, Hong Kong, and/or Macau; or Spanish for Latin America or Spanish for Spain. If you don’t know what language you need, just tell the translating service company the country..
    2. Let them know if you just need the copy translated and delivered in a Word file for your graphics department to produce the final layout, or if you need printer-ready files with the translated text in place or high resolution PDF files that you can ship with your products. If you want your translation service company to provide finished layouts and if your documents include art files or photographs, you will need to provide copies of the original DTP (art) files and all supporting files, such as fonts and photo files.
    3. Let the translation company know how soon you need your translations, or request an estimated turn around time. Avoid rush jobs; they are expensive and can result in a greater risk of errors.
  1. Finally ask for a written QUOTE that shows the itemized work that will be done, along with prices, the estimated turn around time, and delivery details. Provide the name, phone number, and/or e-mail of a contact person that is knowledgeable about your products. Be wary of a translation service company that doesn't have questions. It could be a sign that the company is not paying close attention to your copy and may be providing a literal translation that can include typos, contradictions and inaccurate use of idioms and colloquialisms.