| User | Thread poster: eurolanguagesPt Are we expected to make all those tables included in medical report images? |
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eurolanguagesPt 
Portugal
Local time: 00:58
Portuguese to English
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I've been asked to do a fairly large translation of a PDF that includes only images of medical reports with lots of handwritten info & many tables...is this reasonable? The payment is for translation only, but this is a typing/translation job...
How do you cope with this type of situation?
Most of the work I do comes in organized word format.
Thank you all
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Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 02:58
 Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| | Charge per hour | Jul 12, 2011 |
The customer must pay for your time.
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Alexander Chisholm
Italy
Local time: 01:58
 Member (2003)
Italian to English
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If you haven't already formally accepted the job, clarify this with the client.
I had a problem like this once before and it was a nightmare.
They're paying you for translation work, not DTP or typesetting work, so make sure if they expect that then they pay you accordingly.
Reproducing a medical form may only require a few words of translation but take you quite some time to reproduce tables and forms etc.
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Rudolf Vedo CT
United States
Local time: 18:58
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
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| | You didn't look at the file beforehand? | Jul 12, 2011 |
Call me cynical, but in general I've found that the more secretive and vague an outsourcer is about the nature of their document, the more likely it is to be of such a nature that you wouldn't take it on if you had more information.
[Edited at 2011-07-12 10:47 GMT]
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Corinne Jeannet
Spain
Local time: 01:58
Member (2009)
Japanese to French
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| | Standard rates can't apply to a non-standard job! | Jul 12, 2011 |
I think you're expected to do it only if you accept to do it!
First clarify with the client what he really wants and how far he wants the translated document to look "the same" as the source one.
Even if you handle Excel/tables etc. well enough, it's extremely time-consuming.
My clients usually ask me for a special quote for such documents: the amount of work involved is really case by case.
I think your quote should include the extra work in a way or another (lump sum price, or higher word rate, or charge X hours for extra work besides the translation rate)
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TranslateThis
United States
Local time: 18:58
Member
Polish to English
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| | the client might do it for you | Jul 12, 2011 |
Do ask your client. If it's one simple table or two, I would just do it. Otherwise, I let the client know. Agencies will usually do it themselves in-house or pay extra for this type of work; you shouldn't have to spend too much time on tables!
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Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 01:58
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
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| | Not too reasonable, if you ask me | Jul 12, 2011 |
eurolanguagesPt wrote:
I've been asked to do a fairly large translation of a PDF that includes only images of medical reports with lots of handwritten info & many tables...is this reasonable? The payment is for translation only, but this is a typing/translation job... |
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I think the client thinks that you can type the translation of each sentence after reading the source text of it. I suspect your client doesn't realise that you prefer to translate by overtyping the source text, i.e. that you need to have editable source text before you can do the translation. Some translators can actually do that -- they have a hardcopy source file next to the keyboard and they type the translation of it into the computer directly.
I no longer do such medical reports because it takes very long to do it and the remuneration is usually for translation only (even if the client expects formatting intact, etc). I would consider doing such jobs again if the client could have the source text typed and formatted by a typist, and then have the typed version proofread against the original by a proofreader, and only then would I be willing to translate the typed version.
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Jeff Whittaker
United States
Local time: 19:58
Member (2002)
Spanish to English
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[Edited at 2011-07-12 16:11 GMT]
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eurolanguagesPt
Portugal
Local time: 00:58
Portuguese to English
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TOPIC STARTER | | Thank you all! | Jul 12, 2011 |
I appreciate all the feedback, but am not too sure about the 100/100 TECHNIQUE...is there such a thing? Will Google it!
I tried to transfer the PDF content into word with a free program Free PDF to Word converter...the program did its thing & before completing the conversion it told me that the PDF file's termination was incomplete/irregular or something like that...time wasted and nothing done!
Are there programs that can accurately read those unclear images that so many medical reports contain? I honestly have only worked with Word & Excel files...numerical value tables are a nightmare
What a shame, I actually thrive on medical/health issues, but when the texts are presented in this form and as unreasonable rush work it just makes it monstrous.
Thank you all!
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eurolanguagesPt
Portugal
Local time: 00:58
Portuguese to English
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TOPIC STARTER |
Yes, I did ask to see the file beforehand (it's kind of a horror scene), that's why I came and ask for the advice of those colleagues who may have already dealt with such issues.
Thanks for the input!
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