InDesign Translation Project Activity Categories
In the course of translating InDesign documents we typically direct attention in up to three categories of activity. Each are listed below.
1. TEXT TRANSLATION / LOCALIZATION
The most basic category of activity is translation of the InDesign document’s standard text. In this process InDesign document text content is professionally translated into virtually any language a client specifies. Translators are always native speaking in the target language. Proofreading by a second translator is included as a quality assurance step.
Translating text independent of InDesign also allows translators to focus solely on the language aspect of the project. Language of course is their strength.
2. GRAPHICS TRANSLATION / LOCALIZATION
Text as part of embedded graphics (drawings, captions, illustrations, etc.) is also translated and graphics files are recreated in the target language. Sometimes graphics text is not directly editable in InDesign and the graphic itself must be edited. It’s still translation of text, but we think of this type of embedded text as a separate category requiring attention in some InDesign translation projects.
3. INDESIGN MULTILINGUAL FORMATTING
Translation of InDesign document text takes places outside of the InDesign environment. Text from the source InDesign file is extracted at the beginning of the project so that translators can utilize modern translation tools (not machine translation). Utilizing modern translation tools enhances both translation quality and lowers costs.
Translating text independent of InDesign also allows translators to focus solely on the language aspect of the project. Language of course is their strength. Formatting and document design isn’t a linguist’s responsibility.
As the last stage of activity specialist document design technicians perform multilingual desktop publishing services as the text is brought back into InDesign. After the translated text is formatted in InDesign, linguists have a final opportunity to review the formatted text prior to finalizing the project.
