Oftentimes for large volume assignments, we’re asked queries like – “Can you deliver the files earlier?”, “With whom will the files be shared?”, “How do we know our documents are kept confidential?”, “Will I get the documents in the same format?” and so on. It is understandable and in fact good to have questions because it’ll help you to understand the process and also have clear expectations from your service provider.
A document usually goes through the below stages at a professional language translation company:
Once an assignment is confirmed, it is sent to the production team where the files are made ready to be worked upon i.e. for translation.
- If the documents are in non-editable formats such as PDF, JPEG or anything scanned, software named OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is used to identify text characters by its optical properties, enabling the file to be made editable.
- If the scanned file is unclear or of lower resolution, the team has to clean the file or even manually type the content if necessary.
- In case of open files (Corel Draw, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, AutoCAD), the team creates a PDF version and further prepares a separate document for the translator.
- For large volume assignments, a glossary is prepared by the Editors with recurring terms and sentences that’ll aid the translator in maintaining uniformity throughout the document.
Once files are prepared for translation in an orderly manner, they are allocated to a native translator or group of translators (depending on assignment volume and timeline) who are domain specific and possess considerable experience in translation.
- The editable files along with instructions and reference materials (from client and as per the assignment) are shared with the translator. This helps the linguists to concentrate only on translation and spend time working on the format or other such nuances.
- The Projects team then tracks the translation progress and in case of any unforeseen delays, communicates with the client about it.
The documents are accessed by the production team where they’ll undergo a process of proofreading to check for grammatical accuracy, consistency and overall quality of translation.
- Once proofread, the documents are formatted and prepared as per the original format.
- In case of clarifications needed by the editors, files are resent to the translators and collated after being satisfied with its quality.
- If DTP (Desktop Publishing / Typesetting) is required, the translation is incorporated into the open / source file which can be readily used for printing by the client.
Here, the documents are compiled as per their original names and folder structure.
- A certificate (on the company letterhead) authenticating the translation is prepared and is shared with client along with the final set of documents.
As for confidentiality, a professional company will always sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement with the client to ensure the content remains safe and is discarded after a certain period upon completion of the assignment.
Translation, although important, is one aspect of the entire process. Several people are involved during the course of translation of one assignment, without whom it wouldn’t be possible to deliver a professional and quality service.
Contact us or send us your request at request@cmmlanguages.com