Question about typesetting issue

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    • #80321
      Lucian Shen
      Member

      Hello, everyone! As a new comer, I have one problem. Our department always do instruction manual typesetting job for around 20 language. Here comes the question, is it possible to reduce the effort not just copy the translation content to the indesign file 20 times? Does anyone knows any tips?

    • #80323
      David Blatner
      Keymaster

      There are a number of companies that offer tools for doing translations in InDesign documents. For example, https://mediatrad.com, https://www.1io.com, or Trados (https://www.sdl.com/cxc/language/) which can read IDML files, I believe.

    • #80391

      As a frequent tidier-up of translated InDesign files, I’d favour the IDML and CAT (computer-aided translation) tool route in preference to copy+paste every time.
      If you’re outsourcing the translation to a language service provider (aka translation agency), let them deal with choosing the right tools, but if you’re getting translations done in-house by local business units, there are also free open source CAT tools which will do the job. Have a search for “choosing a CAT tool”, maybe on the translators’ website proz.com.
      And make sure your source is “clean”, e.g.
      – avoid mid-sentence returns/tabs/multiple spaces and use Text Wrap properly instead
      – tabular data works better in CAT tools by using proper tables instead of tabs between columns
      – leave plenty of room for expansion of the target text (running longer than the source by 20-25% in some cases)
      – avoid text embedded in linked graphics

      (I’m sure there’s a whole training course that could be made on the subject!)

      Good luck,
      Chris.

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