Writing for Translation?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Nancy Allison wondered about writing for translation: <<1. I once knew  
of a PDF prepared by, I dunno, a translation company maybe, that was  
all about how to write with translation in mind. It was book-length  
and was highly recommended (at an STC meeting, Boston chapter, a few  
years ago). Does anyone know of it, and, if so, can you send me a link  
to it, assuming it is still available?>>

Probably one of the books published by the Localization Industry  
Standards Association (http://www.lisa.org/Industry-Data.512.0.html)?

<<2. Specific, immediate concern: Callouts in figures. My client still  
has callouts (in Framemaker text boxes, if it matters) in the figure  
itself. What is the preferred format of callouts for translation? Put  
only numbers and arrows in the figure, and then have the key separate,  
in the main body text? Or have the key in a separate text frame, but  
within the anchored frame (that would be for Framemaker)?>>

This is generally a question you should ask your translation vendor,  
since I'm sure that practices vary and your real goal is to work  
efficiently with whoever does your translation. Anything that makes  
the text easy to extract and run through machine-assisted translation  
will make the translator's work easier (thus, less expensive); text is  
difficult or impossible to extract from graphics (this is definitely  
true for bitmaps, but I'm way out of date on this issue, so don't take  
that as authoritative for vector art). A good translator will work  
with you to find efficient ways to localize everything (e.g., your  
software interface), not just your graphics.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geoff Hart (www.geoff-hart.com)
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Effective Onscreen Editing:
http://www.geoff-hart.com/books/eoe/onscreen-book.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/

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