What can be considered part of a post DTP proofing job Thread poster: Laura Gentili
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Laura Gentili 
Italy
Local time: 17:34
Member (2003)
English to Italian
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Dear colleagues,
I work with a US based translation company and sometimes they ask me to do post DTP proofing jobs.
Sometimes these jobs go smoothly, sometimes the Italian PDF is a total mess with chunks of text still in English, etc.
Last time they sent a PDF with chunks of text in English. Most of them can be found in the ITD file with the translation. However, there is an entire section of 414 words which has never been translated, is not in the ITD file and should be transl... See more Dear colleagues,
I work with a US based translation company and sometimes they ask me to do post DTP proofing jobs.
Sometimes these jobs go smoothly, sometimes the Italian PDF is a total mess with chunks of text still in English, etc.
Last time they sent a PDF with chunks of text in English. Most of them can be found in the ITD file with the translation. However, there is an entire section of 414 words which has never been translated, is not in the ITD file and should be translated from scratch. I pointed this out to the PM and she seems to think I should translate this section as part of the post DTP check job, while I think it should be paid separately as a translation job, not included in the post DTP check job.
It's a matter of principle more than of money, since this specific PM always tries to get things for free, to pay less than the other PM's, etc.
However, I would like to have your opinion on how you handle these cases, i.e. post DTP proofing with untranslated text.
Thanks
Laura ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Falls outside scope of the job | Jan 20, 2007 |
Laura Gentili wrote:
However, I would like to have your opinion on how you handle these cases, i.e. post DTP proofing with untranslated text.
Thanks
Laura
You can't proofread something that isn't written in the language you've been hired to proof - period.
Your only obligation as a proofreader is to mark it as "not yet translated" or "wrong language!"
[Edited at 2007-01-20 13:24]
| | | | | the usual penny-pinching clients... | Jan 20, 2007 |
don't budge. You are already proofing the PDFs for free. The extra untranslated words should be paid.
Giovanni
| | | | Laura Gentili
Italy
Local time: 17:34
Member (2003)
English to Italian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | They do pay for the post DTP proof | Jan 20, 2007 |
Hi Giovanni,
They do pay for a post DTP proof, but it's basically a lump sum. So if the job goes smoothly, fine. But translating chunks of text should be paid separately, in my view.
Laura
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Steffen Walter
Germany
Local time: 17:34
Member (2002)
English to German
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| Exactly - ask for separate PO for translation | Jan 20, 2007 |
Laura Gentili wrote:
But translating chunks of text should be paid separately, in my view.
Hi Laura,
You are absolutely right. If they want you to do the translation part, they must treat this as a separate assignment and issue a new PO. Otherwise I agree with the previous contributors - do not even think of translating a single word of that part.
Steffen
| | | | | It's a messy situation | Jan 20, 2007 |
If they send you PDF files to proofread, this is convenient, as I've seen a 64 MB PageMaker file shrink to a PDF that fitted a 1.44 floppy. But then, the best you can do is to add annotations to that PDF, in the hope that the DTP artist will implement them with the proper software.
My opinion is that translator and PDF artist should wo... See more If they send you PDF files to proofread, this is convenient, as I've seen a 64 MB PageMaker file shrink to a PDF that fitted a 1.44 floppy. But then, the best you can do is to add annotations to that PDF, in the hope that the DTP artist will implement them with the proper software.
My opinion is that translator and PDF artist should work together, as I described in http://www.accurapid.com./journal/38dtp.htm . This makes the whole process easier and faster for both. But it seems that your PM thinks differently.
On the other hand, if you are proofreading with the DTP software, it would be fair for you to charge like many DTP-ers (not including myself) do, by the hour. The hourly charge includes anything you can do, proofread, translate, bake cookies for them, and so on.
If there are texts left in English (like my French-made car - bought in Brazil - came with an owner's manual in European Portuguese with a few chunks of text left in French), it means that either a) the translator didn't get ALL the text that was to be translated; or b) the DTP artist (apart from the possibility of being careless) does not know enough EN and/or IT to notice.
My usual suggestion is to get a bilingual, or even sesquilingual, DTP artist, so that s/he can see what is coming out of it. If there is untranslated text, they should extract it and send it back (via PM in your case) for the translator to be able to do a complete job. I'm pretty sure nobody in this world wants to publish a half-translated work. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Whose fault? | Jan 20, 2007 |
Hi Laura
If the words that have been left due to the outsourcers' fault, you should ask for full translation bill and there should be no dispute over it. However, if it happened due to the translator's inadvertences, then you should translate it for free. It is very simple! There is no point to translate 414 words for free. A good outsourcer/PM never demands such unreasonable favour.
Regards
Iffat
| | | | | Agree- This is another job. | Jan 20, 2007 |
Proofreading task is based on the text written in and translated into your target language.
You put remarks like "source language" or "translation needed" on that section and return it to your PM.
Your PM should ask the translator who didn't do his or her job to translate it, not you, a proofreader. If he or she wants the text translated by you, he or she should pay correctly to you.
If the PM keeps on insisting that you should translate them in proofreadi... See more Proofreading task is based on the text written in and translated into your target language.
You put remarks like "source language" or "translation needed" on that section and return it to your PM.
Your PM should ask the translator who didn't do his or her job to translate it, not you, a proofreader. If he or she wants the text translated by you, he or she should pay correctly to you.
If the PM keeps on insisting that you should translate them in proofreading tarif, it might be better to stop working or to do it on the condition of giving you translation job instead of proofreading in future.
I think you should not accept to translate in other case. If not, the PM continues to abuse you.
Sunghee ▲ Collapse
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| Thats a separate job | Jan 22, 2007 |
For sure thats a separate job that has to be paid separately.
Regards
Ahmed Wadan
English-Arabic Financial Translator
http://wadan.arablish.com
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