| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Translating the accompanying text on images Thread poster: Lorraine Bathurst
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Does anyone know how to translate the text in pictures in a word doc? The images appear to have been created in word - the edit picture toolbar comes up but I cannot translate the text. Using text box doesn work because these graphics are detailed with lots of colour/shading etc. and that justs pastes over the whole thing.
help appreciated
| | | | Henry Hinds 
United States
Local time: 09:23
English to Spanish
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In memoriam | One Solution | Jul 24, 2009 |
I cannot give you much technical help here, but if you are having trouble in working with such formats, then the best thing is to put the burden on the client. Just supply the translation of the text in these images in another place and let the client insert it. You are a translator, not a desktop publisher (unless you want to be one).
| | | | | Outside picture | Jul 24, 2009 |
AFAIK, Word does not create pictures; you can paste, insert or embed them on Word documents but not create them with that application. If it were a chart then double clicking on the text would take you to the object and you would be able to edit it.
Include the translation outside the picture. Your client should know that you do not have access to text embedded in pictures.
| | | | Lorraine Bathurst
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:23
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER | What do others do when faced with graphics in word that require translating? | Jul 24, 2009 |
Thanks Luisa
I am having this a lot recently - and most of the time I am able to work something out - (photoshop/ pdfs etc) but this takes a lot of time and I am starting to think that I should add the translation of graphics to my rates as an extra.
I would appreciate other input - I am still quite green and have to balance securing work without going to ridiculously low prices which I think helps no-one!
Cheers
L
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What I do is this: First I cut the picture and paste it in Paint. Then I edit it. When I am done I paste it back to the word file.
This tool is very easy to use.
Start>All programs>Accesories>Paint
HTH, Bye.
| | | | | Outside the picture | Jul 24, 2009 |
I have always been asked to supply the text outside the picture, and I believe that is what most of us do. I am no expert but I believe that modifying the text would require ungrouping the object (the picture) and that can create all sort of problems for you, otherwise it requires access to the original object, the application used to create it (or a compatible one); that does not fall within the realm of translation. But if you insist, take a lo... See more I have always been asked to supply the text outside the picture, and I believe that is what most of us do. I am no expert but I believe that modifying the text would require ungrouping the object (the picture) and that can create all sort of problems for you, otherwise it requires access to the original object, the application used to create it (or a compatible one); that does not fall within the realm of translation. But if you insist, take a look here:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Microsoft-Word-1058/2009/5/ungrouping-text-pictures.htm
[Edited at 2009-07-24 19:18 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Lorraine Bathurst
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:23
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
[quote]mariale125 wrote:
What I do is this: First I cut the picture and paste it in Paint. Then I edit it. When I am done I paste it back to the word file.
This tool is very easy to use.
Start>All programs>Accesories>Paint
Thanks mariale125 - I'll try that!
| | | | | Paint is not the answer | Jul 24, 2009 |
Although you can do some basic editing of bitmaps in Paint, the result will 99% likely not be usable for any kind of professional document. And what if the original was a vector image?
If you have the software required and, more importantly, the design skills needed to actually edit the original file, you should ask the client for this file (and don't accept any kind of compressed image - jpg, gif, png). For this kind of service, I suggest charging by the hour on top of your transla... See more Although you can do some basic editing of bitmaps in Paint, the result will 99% likely not be usable for any kind of professional document. And what if the original was a vector image?
If you have the software required and, more importantly, the design skills needed to actually edit the original file, you should ask the client for this file (and don't accept any kind of compressed image - jpg, gif, png). For this kind of service, I suggest charging by the hour on top of your translation rate.
Unless you can supply this kind of service, just supply a text file with the translation clearly stating what is what. For example:
House = Casa
Street = Strada
Blah blah blah = Blah blah blah
You will save both yourself and the client's designer a lot of time this way - you do what you do best, translate, the designer does his/her job and can just copy + paste the text where required (rather than having to read everything and then recreate). You should, of course, remind the client that you need to proof the final images (keep this in mind when quoting for the job) as text created in images by someone with no knowledge of the relevant language might need some adjustments - hyphenation, where best to break a line, etc. ▲ Collapse
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mariale125 wrote:
First I cut the picture and paste it in Paint. Then I edit it. When I am done I paste it back to the word file.
May I ask how much you charge for the extra work?
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I personally don't charge extra, IF the text is clear enough for and CR program to read it and create the layout (even though I do have to use a non-free software like Abbyy), that means no tables or text boxes, just plain text which I deliver in the same format without any formatting edits. If the text has simple tables or requires additional minor formatting, I might or might not charge extra, depending on many factors.
But if the text does require heavy editing or reproduce table... See more I personally don't charge extra, IF the text is clear enough for and CR program to read it and create the layout (even though I do have to use a non-free software like Abbyy), that means no tables or text boxes, just plain text which I deliver in the same format without any formatting edits. If the text has simple tables or requires additional minor formatting, I might or might not charge extra, depending on many factors.
But if the text does require heavy editing or reproduce tables, fonts, layouts, etc. I do charge by the hour, and I do it myself if it's just minor Photoshop DTP or pay someone else to do if it's something more complex. So if your text needs OCR but you also need to do a lot of formatting, you should definitely charge by the hour. Time Stamp is a great free program that keeps track of the time you've worked and it also creates reports. Changing the terms of the job after you've accepted it is not a good idea though (unless it's going to take you way too much time), so you might want to tell your client that the next time you're going to charge by the hour. If you wanna make a statement, like Mariale said, send the translated text as a graphic but you may annoy that client away.
By the way, Microsoft Office has an in-built OCR tool: the Microsoft Office Document Imaging. And you can use Gimp, which works like Photoshop and is free, to edit the documents.
[Edited at 2009-07-25 00:34 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | | translation and facsimile reproduction are two different things | Jul 25, 2009 |
I agree with the answerers above to the effect that a translator is not responsible for creating a facsimile of the document unless that is a condition set by the client, in which case he should provide a document that can be esily overwritten.
My practice when I'm offered a job is to look through it both to see if I am comfortable with the subject matter, and whether there are any technical problems such as legibility or the issue of text that cannot be overrwritten such as you des... See more I agree with the answerers above to the effect that a translator is not responsible for creating a facsimile of the document unless that is a condition set by the client, in which case he should provide a document that can be esily overwritten.
My practice when I'm offered a job is to look through it both to see if I am comfortable with the subject matter, and whether there are any technical problems such as legibility or the issue of text that cannot be overrwritten such as you describe. I then inform the client of this up front. In three and a half years I have never lost a job on this basis.
Actually the legibility issue is one that is likely to come up more frequently than the text caption one. I get lots of texts with illegible parts, and since I can't translate what I can't read I note to the client in advance that there are places where I will haveto insert [illegible] (I use square brackets for all translator's comments) in place of translated text. Again I have never had any problem with this. Good luck. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | An answer and a thank you | Jul 25, 2009 |
Viktoria, I don't charge extra for this because I deal with few simple images. That's why Paint works for me. After translating the text, editing the image just takes a couple of minutes. But, of course I agree that extra work must be charged extra. This I have learned here in Proz. By the way, thanks to all the comments posted here I have a better understanding of how to deal with jobs involving complicated graphics or images. Thanks!
[Editado a las 2009-07-25 19:09 GMT]
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| Charge extra | Jul 25, 2009 |
Lorraine B wrote:
I am starting to think that I should add the translation of graphics to my rates as an extra.
Yes, I always charge extra for this kind of work as it is time consuming.
| | | | Lorraine Bathurst
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:23
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER | Very time consuming | Jul 26, 2009 |
Yes, I always charge extra for this kind of work as it is time consuming. [/quote]
I only add text boxes because I dont do DTP but it is surprising how long it does take - especially when there are many different boxes to describe different processes. I will start factoring this in.
Thanks everyone for your advice - most helpful
L
| | | | Verónica Garello (X)
Argentina
Local time: 12:23
English to Spanish
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| Extracting text from images | Jul 27, 2009 |
When our customers ask us to prepare image files for translation, we extract the text from the images to a Word file. It is a service we charge for. After translation, during the DTP stage, we flow the text from the Word document back into the images.
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