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• • June 9, 2016 at 4:35 am #85584
    Arati Devasher

    Member

    I design books, and they are often translated into different languages. Previously, when I worked in-house with a publisher, the translations would be sent to us in Word, we’d typeset even if we didn’t understand the language, and send back for approval.

    Now I am freelance, and the client is asking for Indesign files for translation without any images or links… but they wouldn’t be able to typeset correctly without the images being in there because there are tables, overlapping images and text-wraps.

    I’d love some advice or stories of experiences… how do you send indd files to translators?

  • June 9, 2016 at 6:41 am #85597
    Anonymous

    Inactive

    There are a few options available. InDesign translation is rather painful, especially from the designer’s point of view.

    I’d suggest you to try Redokun (https://redokun.com – disclaimer: I work there), which is a tool specifically designed to address InDesign file translation. You can invite your translator to work directly inside the integrated Web Editor and after they’re done, you can download the translated IDML. Also, you can export an Excel file with all the text to send to translation. Then when they’re done import it back in Redokun and download the translated IDML.

    Another solution would be to use InCopy, if your translators already have a license.

  • June 9, 2016 at 6:44 am #85599
    Arati Devasher

    Member

    Unfortunately they are not at all tech-savvy, all they are able to use are the original Indesign files. I will send them the links, though, thanks so much!

  • June 9, 2016 at 7:23 am #85600
    Chris Thompson

    Member

    Many professional translators (I’m one) will have a CAT (computer-aided translation) tool that will handle IDML round trips perfectly. Names to look for are Trados, Wordfast, MemoQ, DejaVu and others.
    Preparation is important to reduce the potential pain level (on both sides – some designer decisions are painful for the translator too!):
    – check your preferred fonts have a repertoire that can handle the target languages
    – expect text block lengths to change by as much as 25%, so leave space for expansion, especially if the source language is English
    – take out any new lines or returns that were only added for text wrap purposes, as the CAT tools use them to break up the text into manageable segments, and segments that actually belong together might be translated as if they do not belong together
    – sort out tabbed text properly, as if you’re not careful, you’ll end up with disconnected sentence fragments.
    – send them a low res PDF, so that they can see the visual context of the text*
    – give them some background to what the project is about

    Good luck,
    Chris.

    PS
    How many translators does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
    It depends on the context.

  • June 9, 2016 at 8:31 am #85603
    Gustavo Martinez

    Member

    Another option would be to package the Indesign file (File/Package). In the latest Indesign version, the package includes a PDF so they can see the actual book layout. The images will be in a separate folder.

  • June 9, 2016 at 8:39 am #85604
    Arati Devasher

    Member

    Thanks guz, packaging is what I do now, but I need an option where only the text goes to the translation people (it’s to the publisher, not to a professional translator) so that they can directly put in their text and create print files of black plate only.

    So the images need to be there but the layout (except text) should not be editable. Haven’t found a workaround just yet.

    • June 9, 2016 at 11:23 am #85614
      Gustavo Martinez

      Member

      How about using empty frames instead of the images?
      After reading again your message I realize they want the images? I’m afraid I don’t get it.

  • June 9, 2016 at 8:58 am #85606
    Chris Thompson

    Member

    Black plate only print files – that assumes that the text fits without any adjustment to the images/links/text box sizes etc. In my experience, that’s difficult to achieve.

  • June 9, 2016 at 1:49 pm #85620
    Arati Devasher

    Member

    Yes, Chris, that’s the thing, they need to fit the translated text in the space provided (already made sure there is enough space for translation to fit).

    Guz, yes, that’s an option, but involves work at both ends and multiple files. They will not then be able to make the k plate files as the images will be missing.

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