How much should we pay for a translation job? What are standard translation rates in India? Can we pay a flat rate or pay per word? So many questions around translation rates are demystified below.
Have you wondered why handwritten texts, manuscripts or scanned pages have a flat translation rate? It is mainly because they are non-editable files. Translators face bigger issues when confronted with projects like these. Translation process for non-editable documents requires project management and research and sometimes DTP services too.
What are Non-editable file types?
- Graphics (PNG, JPEG)
- PDF files
- Handwritten texts
- Medical documents
- Engineering content (DWG files)
- Scanned pages
- Manuscripts
A translation company typically takes up projects with 2 types of source files – editable and non-editable. Translation process is easy with editable files, but non-editable files require more work. For instance, non-editable files can’t always be used within CAT tools. This means that the formats are more expensive to translate as the text must be converted to an editable format first for translation.
Why is converting to editable formats expensive?
NPDF files, graphics, scanned documents are converted to editable formats before the linguists start working on it. At CMM Languages we extract the text from a non-editable file using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) that will place the text into a Word file or an Excel file. This makes it easy for linguists to work on. However, sometimes a project manager/formatter must carefully check the converted text to ensure that all of it has been placed in the editable format for the linguist to translate. This process of checking is unavoidable in case of non-editable files and it requires extra-manpower!
Why format after conversion and translation? Does this affect the standard translation rates in India?
Our clients give us source files and naturally expect the translated file to be in a certain format. In this lengthy procedure of conversion and translation of non-editable documents, the layout of the translated document most-likely differs from the original one. Files like PDF files that have been converted will require additional formatting or DTP. This is done to regain the original layout. Often, we redesign the files to get them back to the way the client wants them. For instance, a handwritten source document to be converted into a Word file for delivery. Or a PDF source file has to be converted into a PowerPoint Presentation for delivery.
Hence, conversion and translation of files are incomplete without formatting.
Again, why flat rates? How does this affect the standard translation rates ?
Non-editable files are not calculated per word or per page for all the reasons mentioned above. The whole translation process of non-editable documents takes longer than a straightforward translation for editable documents. Our team of linguists at CMM Languages work carefully to ensure the accuracy of the translation and layout. Our project managers ensure that the project is delivered just the way the client wants it. We do not use machine translation for our job.
Why cmm languages for non-editable files translation?
Our skilled team is capable of working with any set of files and their formats. Our project managers are in constant touch with clients in order to deliver the best solution to match their needs.
Moreover, we have a separate team of formatters, who have great experience of working on non-editable files. From step one, our team carefully understands and analyses the source files and client’s expectations. We always offer our best cost-effective quotes to our clients and ensure that we meet their expectations for the required translation or localization job.
Learn more about us and how we do things. You can also write to us – request@cmmlanguages.com