Quote on unusual DTP work in foreign languages Thread poster: Alex Pszczola
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Hello,
I got such request from my client:
" You are required to quote for the extraction of text from the FrameMaker files into Word as well as the subsequent reflowing of the translated text (in two languages) back into FrameMaker and DTP therein. You will find a PDF version in the zip as an example of the complete manual.
Please give me your price and turnaround for the work described above. "
I don't know spanish and italian and I don't know how long wil... See more Hello,
I got such request from my client:
" You are required to quote for the extraction of text from the FrameMaker files into Word as well as the subsequent reflowing of the translated text (in two languages) back into FrameMaker and DTP therein. You will find a PDF version in the zip as an example of the complete manual.
Please give me your price and turnaround for the work described above. "
I don't know spanish and italian and I don't know how long will it take. How should I charge for this job? And how long will it take? Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
There is over 120 pages in English.
Thank you,
Alex ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Consider not accepting the job | Oct 22, 2004 |
Alex Pszczola wrote:
Hello,
I got such request from my client:
" You are required to quote for the extraction of text from the FrameMaker files into Word as well as the subsequent reflowing of the translated text (in two languages) back into FrameMaker and DTP therein. You will find a PDF version in the zip as an example of the complete manual.
Please give me your price and turnaround for the work described above. "
I don't know spanish and italian and I don't know how long will it take. How should I charge for this job? And how long will it take? Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
There is over 120 pages in English.
Thank you,
Alex
Never mind how tempting this may be...
I would simply not touch such work, unless I could outsource this to a colleague who does have the DTP skills needed and who speaks Italian and Spanish.
Other than that, I'd simply charge by the hour.
| | | | Alex Pszczola 
Local time: 16:01
English to Polish
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TOPIC STARTER | I have basic skills and they will proofread - how much time it will take? | Oct 22, 2004 |
Evert DELOOF-SYS wrote:
Never mind how tempting this may be...
I would simply not touch such work, unless I could outsource this to a colleague who does have the DTP skills needed and who speaks Italian and Spanish.
Other than that, I\'d simply charge by the hour.
Well, their translators would proofread the final product, so I don\'t have to worry about that. I forgot to say that I have some DTP skills, I made layouts for brochures and booklet. This document is some kind of manual of machinery and looks like booklet.
So how much time will it take? Approx.?
Thanks,
Alex
| | | | | No problem if you use CAT such as Trados, and have some knowledge on Tags. | Oct 22, 2004 |
Trados has a utility called StaggerF.exe
1. If your "start/programs" menu does not have a shortcut, locate it.
in Trados directory (something ../fi/fm/staggerf.exe
2. Double click and run the application. Click help. The help file is nice, neat and quite helpful in understanding how Framemaker files are converted to and from word files. Follow instructions there.
Pricing:
You may quote rates for translation and DTP.
For DTP, ... See more Trados has a utility called StaggerF.exe
1. If your "start/programs" menu does not have a shortcut, locate it.
in Trados directory (something ../fi/fm/staggerf.exe
2. Double click and run the application. Click help. The help file is nice, neat and quite helpful in understanding how Framemaker files are converted to and from word files. Follow instructions there.
Pricing:
You may quote rates for translation and DTP.
For DTP, you can quote either an hourly rate, or a rate per page.
Nevertheless, the usual practice is to quote an hourly rate.
[Edited at 2004-10-22 15:30] ▲ Collapse
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Stephen Franke
United States
Local time: 08:01
English to Arabic
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| Recommendation: Decline that project (more complex production than apparent) | Oct 22, 2004 |
Greetings.
FWIW, my recommendation: decline that project, as the production cycle seems more complex than apparent and undertaking the project would inject several additional variables.
Save your time and peace of mind.
HTH.
Regards,
Stephen H. Franke
San Pedro, California,USA
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 18:01
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| Printsetter does not need to understand the text | Oct 23, 2004 |
At least my customers, who do the dtp into whatever, Pagemaker, Framemaker etc. do not understand a word of Finnish, and the setter of one agency not even English, all comment has to be in German, but they have no difficulties with producing the final manual. In the Nineties most of professional Russian printing was done in Finland, but almost no Finn understands even the Cyrillic alphabet. I see no problem there, if you are up to job technically.
| | | | Klaus Herrmann
Germany
Local time: 17:01
Member (2002)
English to German
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| You can't do a decent typesetting job if you don't understand the language! | Oct 23, 2004 |
Heinrich Pesch wrote:
At least my customers, who do the dtp into whatever, Pagemaker, Framemaker etc. do not understand a word of Finnish, and the setter of one agency not even English, all comment has to be in German, but they have no difficulties with producing the final manual.
If you don't understand the language, how do you make sure hyphenation and line breaks are reasonable? How would it be possible that you don't understand the language, but you're familiar with the typographical standards, do's and don'ts in the target language?
This answer to the original question has been in my mind since I first read the original question: How long does it take a typesetter/trained DTP person to translate a manual? He's read a manual before, and there are electronic dictionaries as well...
[Edited at 2004-10-23 08:00]
| | | | Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 18:01
Member (2003)
Finnish to German
+ ...
| Proofreading | Oct 23, 2004 |
Of course there needs to be proofreading, but as I understand this is assured for the job in question. You remeber the digitalisation of Grimms Wörterbuch, done by Chinese? In some circumstances it even helps if you do not understand the text!
I'm no dtp man, but they produce good results in those publishing houses. After all the rules for typesetting are pretty much the same everywhere, and befor the file goes to print it is read by a native expert, who points out the mistakes. It works ... See more Of course there needs to be proofreading, but as I understand this is assured for the job in question. You remeber the digitalisation of Grimms Wörterbuch, done by Chinese? In some circumstances it even helps if you do not understand the text!
I'm no dtp man, but they produce good results in those publishing houses. After all the rules for typesetting are pretty much the same everywhere, and befor the file goes to print it is read by a native expert, who points out the mistakes. It works after all. And using tagged files with a CAT tool things should improve further, but is had worked from Word files for years. ▲ Collapse
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