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The Layout Adjustment For Document Translation

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The Layout Adjustment Challenge in Document Translation

There are two critical elements you must know when translation a document and they cannot be stated too many times:

1. A translated document should read as if it were written in the target language. If it can be identified as a translated document, your translator did not give you 100 percent.
2. If a translated document looks terrible, nobody will pay attention to the exceptional quality of the translation. How your document looks is just as important as the content.

When articles are submitted to translators in the source text, all of the text, graphics, graphs, and so forth are well aligned within the margins, the text fits well on the page, line orphans are eliminated, and pages that are supposed to be across from each other are. When documents are translated the text length is rarely the same as the source document. Word lengths are usually different, single words may be translated into a phrase, concepts may explained in a single word, acronyms may need to be spelled out or explained, and so forth. Depending on the languages being translated, the text may expand or be compressed up to 60 percent. Obviously, when the text length changes, so does the layout. Graphics may no longer be where they are supposed to be, page breaks are changed, text on graphics may not fit into the text boxes, etc.

Special Formatting Considerations

When your document is comprised mainly of text, formatting can be easily adjusted.
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