Scribd
Upload
10 views4 pages

DTP Course-Unit 1 - Overview

DTP, or Desktop Publishing, involves preparing and formatting files for publication, particularly in the translation industry, to ensure proper presentation and eliminate formatting issues. It is necessary both before and after translation to enhance efficiency and quality, especially for complex file types like Word, PowerPoint, InDesign, and Illustrator. The process includes pre-processing to clean and format source files, followed by post-processing to adjust the translated content, ensuring all elements function correctly and maintain design integrity.

Uploaded by

Cande32Pauli
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
10 views4 pages

DTP Course-Unit 1 - Overview

DTP, or Desktop Publishing, involves preparing and formatting files for publication, particularly in the translation industry, to ensure proper presentation and eliminate formatting issues. It is necessary both before and after translation to enhance efficiency and quality, especially for complex file types like Word, PowerPoint, InDesign, and Illustrator. The process includes pre-processing to clean and format source files, followed by post-processing to adjust the translated content, ensuring all elements function correctly and maintain design integrity.

Uploaded by

Cande32Pauli
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

What is DTP and when is it needed?

Generally speaking, DTP means preparing files for publication using a computer. In the
translation industry, it refers to formatting files after translation to make sure they are
appropriate.

DTP work is also needed before the translation starts. Resolving formatting issues in the
source makes translators' work easier with or without CAT tools.

Some common scenarios where DTP is needed:

Translating Word or PowerPoint files that have complex formatting or that contain non-
editable graphics. Any converted files will also require extra work.

Translating InDesign (.idml) files and Illustrator files. These require extra work to be done
before the translation to ensure that everything is translated. These types of files may come
with links that are separate files with formats such as .psd, .ai., .jpeg, .pdf, etc.

What does DTP accomplish?

➔ It ensures time efficiency since translation work won't be disrupted.


➔ It ensures quality by eliminating possible mistranslations.
➔ It allows access to new options for translating files that normally cannot be
accepted.
➔ It allows the work to be done by the same team, which saves the trouble of finding
two separate providers.

Important considerations

DTP is normally about reformatting, adjusting and editing an existing editable document.
It does not involve file creating new designs.

DTP involves conversion only when there is no other better solution. Working directly on
non-editable files such as PDF and images is sometimes possible, but not always efficient.

A quick way to test an image to see whether it is editable or not is to try to select the text
inside it using the native viewer. If you cannot select and edit the text, then it is non-editable.

Target text length might be longer or shorter compared to the source. This means that
spacing, fonts, size, alignment and so on will be different.

InDesign files almost always come with fonts and links folders. These are important parts
of InDesign packages and are needed for DTP.

DTP requires careful thought. For example, when translating from English into more than 1
language that uses an RTL script, prepare an RTL version beforehand for efficency.
DTP Task Types
In principle, DTP is about formatting a document properly. It involves handling the basic
features of documents. These are elements that can be found in almost any document:

● Text formatting: colors, bold, italics, underlining, hyperlinks, alignment, justification,


etc. Keep in mind that text can grow or shrink in the target.
● Spacing: enough spacing between lines, headings, paragraphs, etc.
● Text size: proper text size is legibile and fits the available space in the container.
● Fonts: fonts that display the text without any issues or blank boxes “□” (tofus).
● Punctuation: native target language punctuation and proper spaces in-text.
● Publishing: page layout, page size, binding, etc.

Pre-Processing

Preparing files for translation


Pre-processing - What is it?
A multi-step process performed on source files that includes:
● Cleaning up messy formatting to get rid of problematic tags
● Properly formatting source files so they can look the same in the target
● Removing breaks between sentences and phrases
● Reconnecting sentences, phrases and paragraphs across pages / columns etc.
● Converting non-editable images, figures, tables etc. to editable format
● Fixing any problems with automatic formatting, such as Tables of Content, page
numbers etc.
Pre-processing - Why do we do it?
Performing pre-processing has the following benefits:
● Makes the translation process faster, since there are no problems that force
translators to check back and forth.
● Improves quality by helping to avoid potential mistranslations due to
problematic breaks.
● Makes post-processing and deliver faster and streamlined, since any problems
are already taken care of.
● Allows graphics to be translated in the same step by the same translators.

Pre-processing - What it involves

Some of the things that may need to be done:

● Remove hard and soft returns that occur within the same sentence or paragraph.
● Fix text formatting to eliminate any exta/problematic tags.
● Ensure that all non-editable text and graphics are accounted for.
● Check the automatic parts of a document, such as the ToC, footnotes, footers and
headers to make sure they work properly and are not broken.
● Accept any tracked changes and remove comments that are not meant to be
translated.

Post-Processing
○ Formatting files after translation

● Post-processing - What is it?


Post-processing is the set of steps normally performed after translation. It involves the
following:

● Adjusting the spacing and size of text to match the source


● Increase or decrease page numbers to account for text length changes
● Change binding, page size, and text direction depending on language
● Rotate graphics, icons and other shapes as needed
● Ensure all elements are functional (hyperlinks, buttons etc.)
● Ensure that all formatting is properly reflected in the target.

Post-processing - Why do we need it?


Post-processing offers the following benefits:

● Target files are properly formatted, ensuring that all design elements display
correctly.
● Any problems with fonts or how text displays are resolved.
● Any monolingual edits can be implemented by the linguist as needed.
● Files are prepared for delivery without the need for extra steps.

Post-processing - What it involves


In most cases, you need to:

● Make sure that colors, bold, italics, underlines, hyperlinks match the source.
● Adjust spacing and text size to ensure it fits the same space as the original. Add
extra pages if necessary.
● Adjust text alignment and spacing to ensure they are proper for the target
language.
● Adjust bullet or numbered list characters and spacing to match the target language.
● Replace fonts as necessary, and update any non-editable graphics.

DTP Tools and Resources

To do DTP work, you might need special tools to view or edit certain file formats. Some of
these tools are:

MS Office: It offers the best editing experience and TransTools works with it. There is a lot
of training material online. Free alternatives include LibreOffice, OpenOffice, and Google
Docs.
Adobe Suite: Essential to edit InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop files. There are many
guides that can help you on the Adobe website itself. Scribus is a free tool that allows you to
work on InDesign files.

PDF: Illustrator and Acrobat DC Pro are the best tools to view and edit PDF files. However, if
you just need a free program to view them, you can use Adobe Reader or Foxit Reader.

Photo editing: Photoshop usually gets most of your


photo editing needs done, but there are other free
alternatives of varying capabilities.

Transtools: A very handy add-on that automates many


tasks. The TransTools website offers extensive, detailed
information on how to use the tool for various scenarios. Some of the most common features
you might need are: 1) Tag Cleaning in Word and PPT; 2) Automatic removal of breaks in
Word and PPT files; 3) Hiding and unhiding text in Word files.

Notepad++: Useful for viewing and editing numerous programming and other formats, which
include: .po, .json, .tmx, .xliff etc. It could be a handy tool for alignment work.

Rainbow: Useful for filtering certain file formats, but also contains useful tools such as
Olifant, which is a .tmx viewer.

You might also like