ENGLISH > DTP
Desktop Publishing, also known as DTP, is the process of developing a complete publication using a computer, with texts, pictures, drawings, tables, diagrams, etc. It may be a book, a magazine, a catalog, a brochure, a manual, etc.
The output will be an electronic file that may be adapted to various purposes, such as:
Outsiders to the translation marketplace may be surprised, but translation is all about text, nothing else. A complete century hasn't yet elapsed since the days when translators worked using a pen or a typewriter. Some people could be mislead into thinking that to "translate" a publication would implicitly mean rendering an identical publication in another language, which is not true.
From translation itself and the graphic assembly of a publication there is a whole publishing job involved. It used to be done manually, with materials generated by photomechanical processes: text strips were generated by a phototypesetting machine and on boards (the process was named paste-up), and the result was photographed to make photoliths, used for engraving printer plates. Nowadays all this is done with computers.
Your problem:
You or your company have some foreign product literature (catalogs, manuals, leaflets, etc.) and need it published in Portuguese. It may also be a newsletter, a bulletin or an institutional folder.
My solution:
I can provide you the same materials in Portuguese, ready for publishing, be it with conventional (offset) or digital printers, or in Adobe Acrobat PDF files.
If my solution solves your problem, keep reading. This may be the start of a mutually rewarding collaboration. And if you have a publication in Portuguese, and need it in another language, the same solution applies.
My approach
Being both a translator and business consultant, I adopt a two-questions approach to any project:
1. What do you HAVE?
2. What do you WANT or NEED?
My goal will be to take you from answer #1 to as close to the answer to #2 as economically feasible. Anything else will be outsourced as long as it reduces cost.
What do you HAVE?
In this case I'll assume that you or your organization have a publication in a language X, and needs it in language Y. In order to make the process effective, I only do this work when both X and Y are both among these: English, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Spanish.
The most common case involves instruction manuals, which are legally required with imported products. Nevertheless, to sell these products it's often necessary to have catalogs or promo and technical flyers. Yet many companies develop educational publications on the use of their products.
Formerly such materials were provided in hardcopy, paper was the only version. Advances in IT gave us PDF files, developed by Adobe, which added convenience and lowered the cost of widespreading such information.
It doesn't matter whether your pubs are on paper or computer files, they can be translated and republished with all their illustrations, even with a few changes (products not available for export, different features, corrections, other addresses, etc.) preserving the original layout and look.
What do you NEED or WANT?
The most common cases are:
I can offer you both, at once.
Photolith makers and printers can work with PDF files at 300 dpi resolution, obtaining good quality. In a parallel process, it is possible to distill much smaller PDF files at 72 or 96 dpi resolution, for quick download from a web site. Yet, depending on the publication size and quality requirements, either one can be saved to a CD-ROM.
How does it work?
One basic need, obviously, is the translation. If it's between English and Portuguese, I can do it myself, however I have no objection to it being provided by another translator of your choice. If the translation involves Italian, French, or Spanish, I won't need text cross-references for them, as I speak these languages, though I don't translated them professionally.
In a nutshell, among these five languages all I need is the original pub on paper and/or PDF file, and its translation in a TXT (plain text) file; don't worry about having it formatted (font type and size, bold, italic, etc.). I'll take care of all that during DTP.
The second step is a series of decisions from you, typically including:
If there are...
a) are these fonts common (Arial, Times, etc.)?
b) if they are not:
b1) can "equivalent" fonts be used?
b2) can these specific fonts be provided?
b3) will I have to purchase a license for these special fonts?
a) PDF for download (low resolution)
b) PDF for printing (high resolution)
c) PageMaker file to be sent to a printer (some of them prefer)
d) PDF to be sent to a printer with "bleeds" (illustrations going as far as the edge)
Once all this is decided, it will be my turn. Using the material provided, I'll assemble your translated pub and deliver it via e-mail, or on a CD/DVD-ROM.
What can lower costs?
What can increase costs?
How can I get an estimate?
Use the e-mail button on the left to send me a message, answering the two questions (what do you HAVE / WANT?) and briefly describing your project. Don't send me any files at this time. You'll receive some guidelines, and possibly some more questions.