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Off topic: Converting non editable files
Thread poster: Lorenzo Rossi
Lorenzo Rossi
Lorenzo Rossi  Identity Verified
Switzerland
Local time: 16:36
Member (2010)
German to Italian
+ ...
Jun 10, 2014

Hello.
Is there some software to convert non editable files?
My customer sometimes sends me non convertable files (jpg) with pictures, graphics, drawings etc to be translated into various languages.

Is there some software wich is easy to learn and not too expensive?

Thank you

Lorenzo
 
Dan Lucas
Dan Lucas  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:36
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
There's no easy solution Jun 10, 2014

Lorenzo Rossi wrote:
Is there some software to convert non editable files? My customer sometimes sends me non convertable files (jpg) with pictures, graphics, drawings etc to be translated into various languages. Is there some software wich is easy to learn and not too expensive?

I know of no easy way to do this, at least if I understand you correctly. Are you asking if there is software that can "read" the jpg file and produce text output? I have in the past had some success in using OCR software, specifically Omnipage, to convert PDFs and jpg files of tables into editable text. However, I've never tried using it to turn a drawing into text, though it might be possible. Omnipage is a large and complex application that is rather intimidating for beginners. It is also quite expensive.

In the past I have successfully recreated simple drawings from scratch with translated text in Microsoft Visio, but that sort of thing costs money and more importantly time. While Visio is easy to use, it is not cheap to buy. (I have tried Smartdraw and that is a little less expensive and performs a similar function.) In some cases it is possible to import the jpg file into Visio (or GIMP/Inkscape - see below) and simply add text over the imported image in such a way that it covers the existing labels, but the overall effect is not good.

If the client can send you the original files from which the jpgs or PDFs were created you may be able to open them in other software and directly change the source language text to target language text. Files created in Adobe Illustrator (.ai format) can be opened in Inkscape and Adobe Photoshop files (.psd) can be opened in GIMP. Both GIMP and Inkscape are free applications.

In summary, probably the easiest thing to do is simply to read the text in the diagrams or images off the screen and write them out as text items. Whatever else you do would take you a long way from pure translation and into the realms of graphic design, which requires significant extra effort.

Dan
 
Lorenzo Rossi
Lorenzo Rossi  Identity Verified
Switzerland
Local time: 16:36
Member (2010)
German to Italian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you Dan Jun 11, 2014

Thank you Dan for your complete explanation.

Best regards

Lorenzo
 


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Converting non editable files






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