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Translating PDF files
Thread poster: Ana Ribeiro
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 10:16
French to English
. Oct 7, 2019

I remember a comic strip that went like this:

Client: Can you translate this? It's urgent.
Translator: Yes, I can. Do you have a Word file?
C: Sorry no.
T: OK, then I could get it done for Thursday at {double usual rate}.
C: I need it for tomorrow, and why is it so expensive?
T: Well, if you gave me a Word file, I could do it at my normal rate for tomorrow.
C: Ah I think I know where I can find the Word file...


 
Multiverse Solutions s.r.o. (X)
Multiverse Solutions s.r.o. (X)
Local time: 10:16
Polish to English
+ ...
Misunderstanding? Jan 7, 2020

I guess that the original question referred to a different issue.

Extracting text from a PDF merely for translation purposes is easy, although different PDFs may need different approaches due to the specific nature of their file structures. Your customer probably expects a clean translation, legible and readable. To meet this objective, you may need to handle four problem areas in the finalisation process:

1. Reinserting the translation back into the same place and cont
... See more
I guess that the original question referred to a different issue.

Extracting text from a PDF merely for translation purposes is easy, although different PDFs may need different approaches due to the specific nature of their file structures. Your customer probably expects a clean translation, legible and readable. To meet this objective, you may need to handle four problem areas in the finalisation process:

1. Reinserting the translation back into the same place and containing it in the original area (fields, borders, tables, images, etc).
2. Updating fonts when special or language-specific characters are used.
3. Customising the target text so as not to overtype images, charts, etc.
4. Reformatting the translation to reproduce the original text layout (paragraph formatting, bullets, numbering, font size differences, etc).

The above may not apply to hefty product catalogues. They are developed in a different way.

Each typical PDF may need a different workflow to achieve this. Simple documents may be easy to OCR and reproduce directly in Word. More complex files may require 100% manual insertion and formatting, which may only be done in the original PDF file. Solving the above 4 problem areas with satisfactory results is always time-consuming and requires significant manual work. If it is beyond the price that your customer would be willing to pay, try translation as a regular document, without the original complex formatiing.

I do all these steps in vector-editing programs (you may try Illustrator, Xara, Corel or other). It is easier, faster and more flexible than in a PDF editor, but the process requires learning to use yet another software package. This effort was rewarded when I offered PDF editing services to my customers in any language they need. Fellow translators do their work, and I simply integrate their translations in the source PDFs provided.
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Vaclav Hruza
 
Vaclav Hruza
Vaclav Hruza
Czech Republic
Local time: 10:16
French to Czech
+ ...
How about the catalogues Mar 4, 2020

Miroslav Novak wrote:

The above may not apply to hefty product catalogues. They are developed in a different way.



Could you elaborate more on what exactly makes complex catalogues different and (I believe) more difficult to edit? What software do you personally prefer for their editing?

I want to get into DTP / layout editing as well but professional software such as full-fledged Photoshop is not an option for me because of the system requirements - my laptop just wouldn't handle it. Do you know any lighweight software for such purposes?


 
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Translating PDF files






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