How to calculate a rate per line
Thread poster: Raffaella Magi McCann (X)
Raffaella Magi McCann (X)
Raffaella Magi McCann (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:44
English to Italian
+ ...
Mar 13, 2006

Dear All

I have received an equiry by a customer about my rate per line. So far I have always charged per source or target word. Does anyone know a good method to convert my word rate in line rate? I tried to look for the answer in previous forum enquiries but I didn't find anything. So I apologize if this issue has been already covered.
Many thanks in advanced!
Raffaella


 
Mar Anton (X)
Mar Anton (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 16:44
English to Spanish
+ ...
What I do... Mar 13, 2006

Hi,

I usually work for an agency in Austria that pays me by the line. What we do is the following:

# words /9.54

I don't really know if this is the standard but it's pretty accurate with the word count and works for us!

Good luck!
Mar


 
Katherine Mérignac
Katherine Mérignac  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 16:44
Member (2004)
Use Word's line count Mar 13, 2006

Hi Raffaella,

I had to do this recently for a very large project and used Word's 'word count' function. Multiply the number of words by your rate to reach the total that you would normally charge and then divide that amount by the number of lines shown in 'Tools'>'Word Count'.

This technique is probably more accurate for a large project without drawings and tables and things.

It's an idea anyway!

K.


 
Woodstock (X)
Woodstock (X)  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 16:44
German to English
+ ...
Hi Mar 13, 2006

In Germany we usually work with a line rate in the target language. The calculation goes like this:
Using Word count, count the total number of characters WITH spaces (it's the 4th entry on the word count table in the German Word) in your text, make sure everything is marked so that nothing is left out, then divide by 55 (this is standard) = the number of lines in your translated text. You'll have to fiddle a bit to find out what you want to charge per line.

I imagine this is
... See more
In Germany we usually work with a line rate in the target language. The calculation goes like this:
Using Word count, count the total number of characters WITH spaces (it's the 4th entry on the word count table in the German Word) in your text, make sure everything is marked so that nothing is left out, then divide by 55 (this is standard) = the number of lines in your translated text. You'll have to fiddle a bit to find out what you want to charge per line.

I imagine this is used in Germany because the words are sometimes unbelievably long, especially the ones that are constructed from 2 or more nouns. We would starve if translations were calculated per word...

Hope this helps.
Woodstock

Be careful about using WordCount's line count. It's not as exact as doing the above calculation, and may not be accepted. I believe they go by the actual number of lines shown in the document, which are not all 55 characters long. Some may be longer, others shorter.

[Edited at 2006-03-13 12:27]
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Raffaella Magi McCann (X)
Raffaella Magi McCann (X)  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:44
English to Italian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Millions of Thanks to everybody! Mar 13, 2006

I am really very grateful for all your replies and time dedicated to help me. I am going to work out the exact rate now using your methods and see what is the best!!

Thank you very much once again!

Raffaella


 


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How to calculate a rate per line







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