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Location: Language Technology Center: Articles: Best Practices for Successful Documentation Localization

There are many things a localization professional can do to reduce localization costs. Simple, logical steps that involve intelligent use of page geometry and common document elements will lead to substantial cost savings and shortened project delivery schedules.

The most common challenge with localized desktop publishing is text expansion. English source text will often expand as much as 35% when translated into other languages. For instance, if source English paragraphs are wrapped on the page to a depth of 6 inches, the same text translated into German could wrap to a depth of 8.1 inches.

Text expansion is compounded when margins are increased, or text is within a “container” (like table cells, or “boxed” text for cautions and warnings.) Obviously, such elements (tables and indents) must be used to display critical data and significant text content. But excessive use of such elements increases the labor in post-processing localized documents. With localization needs in mind, your content creators can intelligently shape text to avoid excessive post-translation text expansion. A few sensible guidelines are detailed in the following text.

Controlled Use of Tables and Containers

Some clients have document formats that utilize tables more for cosmetic purposes rather than emphasis of statistical data. A classic example is a document format based on the 1990s style known as “information mapping.” This style evolved in order to box “important steps” with ruled table cells. A narrow left column served for displaying faux “side-heads.” Because information mapping encases generic content in tables, text expansion is magnified. This is particularly true where multi-level nested lists take place within table cells.

Such tables act like miniature pages, reducing useable page area. A good practice to use during content creation is to ask yourself “does this need to be in a table?” Not only do table cells magnify text expansion after localization, table cells also increase file size; this adds time with extended upload and download times.

Another misuse of tables may be boxed text, like cautions and warnings. This type of text is justifiably emphasized with a box. However, the text depth should be carefully limited in the source language. A warning box that is 4 inches deep can easily expand more than an inch after localization, causing headaches with page breaks and subsequent text flow.

When using tables, avoid rotated or “sideways” text in table header cells. When text is translated, rotated cell content grows dramatically, because it cannot “wrap” like a normal body cell. An actual customer example had one table header cell with a row height of 1.78 inches in English grow to a depth of 3.10 inches in German. Taller header rows will bump more portions of the table across multiple pages, and can exponentially increase page count in certain types of documents.

Thumb Tabs

Another troublesome text container can be thumb tabs in the outer page margin with 90° rotated text. Again, such formats are necessary in certain publications (e.g. catalogs). However, guidelines need to be made for localization, including language-specific templates with a condensed typeface. Avoid UPPER CASE text and use abbreviations wherever possible in thumb tabs. If your thumb tabs contain only generic product names that will not be translated, you should not have any problems.

Text Layers in CAD Files and Tech Illustrations

Visualize a CAD or technical illustration in which the artwork takes up the left 2/3 of the diagram, and a “legend” for parts (which looks like a table) takes up the right hand 1/3 of the diagram. When such legend text is contained in the artwork, considerable manual work is required to extract text strings from source art and move it through localization.

Typically, your staff would have to open up source files (e.g. Illustrator), extract text from text layers into another format (e.g. MS Word), and submit the text to your localization vendor. Once the text is translated, your staff receives translated Word files, and must manually copy and paste keyed text back into the appropriate location within the source art. Needless to say, human error is possible at several stages.

Whenever possible, try to confine such legend text outside of the diagram (e.g. in a table below the diagram). This makes your legend text part of the overall document “flow,” which will automatically transit into translation software tools, without manual extraction.

Redlines

Redlines (updates to previously translated projects) can incur unwanted cost overruns due to the many manual steps involved. A combination of XML document structure and CMS (content management system) for “chunks” of re-useable data can reduce translation costs and make redlines more manageable. However, the initial setup costs for such a solution are well beyond the budget of most customers. Hence, the majority of redlines are manually marked up in the margins of hard copy documents.

Localization vendors must be able to read notations for changed content and update files accordingly. Many redline changes involve only formatting (for instance, make text bold, or change a line break). The localization vendor must segregate marked pages for linguists (text content changes) and internal publishers (format only changes). One way to reduce project time is to use different ink colors to denote text content (linguistic) changes from mere format changes. This enables your localization project manager to determine project page count for various team members “at a glance.”

If you are marking up redlines with annotations in PDF documents, use different colors or note objects to differentiate your text content changes from format changes. Acrobat tools may be used to make comments display “by type,” giving the localization project manager a quick way to determine how many linguistic changes are involved.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the simple steps and tools you can use to manage documentation and localization projects to constrain costs. Avoid unnecessary use of “expensive” document format objects (like rotated text, text-dependent layout, etc.), and delineate content and format redlines in a logical fashion. These steps, integrated with regular team communications with your localization partner, can help reduce costs and ensure your projects’ success.

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