Sometimes you might have one PDF file to be translated. Although the easiest thing for you to do would be to send the translator the file as it is, below are a few tricks to save you and your language professional some time and money.
– Translators usually charge more to deal with PDF files because it takes us more time to work with this file extension. If you have the original file format (*.docx, *.indd, etc.), send it along and this will help the translator to avoid juggling between formats, thus saving both of us time and money
– Make sure your pdf is not an image (*jpeg, *gif, etc.) copied on a document and then converted into a pdf. If so, someone will have to manually type any words or expressions to be looked up or any proper nouns, like your company name. You might want to do this yourself if you have the time to do so and thus save money, or you can outsource this task to the translator and thus save time
– If you pdf is a long and complex document, tell your translator what the purpose of the translation is so that your language professional will advise on the best solution.
Do you need to translate your e-book to showcase your product innovations to prospects, so the layout has to be as appealing as the original?
Do you need that long technical report for that important tender, so the layout should be similar, but even if it is not the same it would still be ok as long as the translation is impeccable?
Do you need to translate the labels for your cosmetic products and then your graphic designer is going to finalise the work, so in this case the most important thing is to know what is what in the foreign language?
Depending on your request, you might need a careful rearrangement of your layout, a plain document with all the information needed or a table with both languages to identify correspondences between foreign idioms.
And do you have more tips about PDF translation? What is your experience with these files?
Thanks in advance for your comments!