The adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” is well known, and nothing could be truer in the world of localization. Selling goods or services abroad demands more than just translating the content into the target language; the complete package must be localized, from picture placement to text formatting to graphics localization. The procedure known as Desktop Publishing services is used to make these crucial aesthetic changes to translated information (DTP).
Step-by-Step
In a normal localization job, the initial DTP stage gets the source layout files ready for processing. Translators utilize their Translation Memory tool to make sure that any material or coding in our clients’ files that shouldn’t be changed is safeguarded throughout the translation. DTP experts often deal with files, exporting the layout in the program’s native interchange format. Text located inside graphics or other embedded objects, as well as text found outside the layout program, are not included in this export. Next, the DTP expert locates and manually extracts this text, making sure to include it in the export. After analysis, the prepared files are sent to be translated. The procedure is reversed when translation and editing are finished, and the DTP expert imports the interchange format back into the original layout program. The product is then finalized and polished to make sure it is spotless and prepared for publishing.
Localization of Flash
Here is an illustration of the procedure the DTP experts used to localize Flash material for an e-Learning module on a fresh time entry system. This specific module was created utilizing a variety of technologies, including components from Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Adobe Captivate, and Adobe Flash. The following tasks had to be carried out to provide a fully translated version of this e-Learning module:
- Professional studio voiceover recording of the English narration
- Desktop publishing,
- Translation, editing, and proofreading of all specified information inside the PowerPoint, Word, Captivate, and Flash source files
- Visual localization
- Localization of Flash and integration of post-DTP quality control online quality control of the Captivate CBT components Project management for CBT components using Flash Localization.
While translating PowerPoint and Word text is simple, translating Flash content has additional steps that must be taken to guarantee that the application functions correctly once the translated version is released.
Desktop Publishing for Online Education
The DTP team must complete the following processes from beginning to end for the time entry module:
- Review the way the course was put together. This makes it possible to ascertain how the software was created, which components needed to be localized, and the most sensible course of action for the project.
- Look over the course materials to find any localizable text. To identify precisely what needed to be localized and where it was located in the source file structure, the software must be examined.
- Review the course for screen captures and localizable visuals. Use full software and screenshots from a source application program as well as visual graphics with text that could be translated.
- Extra text that can be localized
- For translation, all text from the Flash files and the graphical pictures should be extracted and placed in a Microsoft Word DOCX file.
- Add language-specific text.
- Put the retrieved text into the proper source Flash files after it had been translated, revised, and proofread.
- Put localized graphic screenshots in your document.
- Screenshots sent to the client in the target language that contained content that might be translated were now substituted for the English versions in the relevant places.
- Localize the material.
- It is necessary to check and modify the translated text to make sure it was appropriate for the application. German, French, Spanish, and other languages will grow and occupy more space than the original English material. Employ a range of techniques, including cropping photographs, shortening the distance between lines, and reducing text size, among others, to create space.
- Synchronize the regional audio.
- The files holding the narration’s voiceover recording should be entered, and they needed to be synchronized to comply with the program’s specifications. Some languages have longer narration times than English does because they grow. Sometimes the course’s runtime has to be changed to allow for extended recording sessions.
- Validate the translated course’s functionality.
- After it was finished, the Flash integration team must test the course’s functionality to ensure that it works just like the original English version. Before giving the course to the language QA team, who examined it linguistically, any necessary revisions ought to be made. Given that the reviewers completed the entire course, the language QA also acts as a separate functional QA. Include linguistic and other modifications.
- The integration team corrects any language & functional issues when the linguistic QA is finished, then the content is back for verification by the linguistic QA team. At this time, no further adjustments are needed, therefore the project’s Flash translation portion is deemed finished.
To deliver flawlessly localized Flash-based software can only be done with expertise and help under Professional DTP Services.