InDesign File Translation Pricing Metrics
Translating Adobe InDesign documents from English into other languages is a common type of translation project our company performs. In fact it’s a specialization of ours.
Establishing pricing for an InDesign translation projects is required prior to receiving a customer’s approval to begin a project. There are three main criteria used to price InDesign translation projects. They are:
- The target language (the language going into from English)
- The number of words for translation in the InDesign document
- The number of pages in the InDesign document requiring formatting in the target language
The Target Language
The target language (or languages) for the project is required since a per word rate for translation exists for each target language. Rates vary somewhat according to the language so the target language is needed to know what rate applies.
Our rates for translation always include not only translation but also post-translation proofreading by a second translator. Translators are native speaking in the target language, although fully bilingual each both the source (usually English) and target languages.
The Word Count For Translation
The most widely used pricing methodology for high quality human translation services is the number of words for translation. The word count scales directly with the scope of work and the time requirement for services. Translation companies, including ours, typically offer discounts for measurable repetition with the body of a translation project. Special tools are used to calculate this. When repetition is present then some time and effort is saved since the exact same content needn’t be translated twice from scratch by the translator. Discounts for higher volumes (e.g., >10K words) of text for translation are also available.
The Number of Pages For Formatting
Translation and proofreading of text occur outside the InDesign environment. Once that process completes the translated text is put back into the formatted document to preserve the original visual design, except now in the new language. Some languages are known to require more or less text relative to English to express equivalent meaning. So often there’s some adjustment of the translated text that’s required prior to finalizing the translated InDesign document.
At project conclusion the translated InDesign document mirrors the original English document and is ready for immediate use by the client and the intended audience.
