Multilingual Desktop Publishing

Desktop publishing is often one of the last phases in a typical translation project, and one that gives the final look and feel to the localized materials. No matter how good the translation quality may be, even a small layout or typographical mistake may dramatically impact how users perceive the product or the brand. This is even more so on high-profile materials such as marketing communications, advertising or packaging.

In other situations, the output from multilingual DTP has a direct impact on the product's regulatory approval and usage. For instance, one incorrectly placed decimal separator in dosage prescription data, for example in Patient Information Leaflets, may lead to dire consequences. These include product recalls, and if a problem with a medical device or pharmaceutical product can be connected to unclear information or instructions provided to users, even liability lawsuits. This means that multilingual desktop publishing is a step which should never be underestimated.

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When localizing print and online publications, one key aspect is the cost and efficiency of desktop publishing (DTP) work required, on both the source and target levels. Learn more.

Comprehensive Multilingual DTP Services

At Moravia, we lead the way in providing comprehensive multilingual desktop publishing services, which include:

• Formatting and layout of localized materials matching the original, complying with target-language standards
• Generation of PostScript and PDF files for online and print publication
• DTP quality assurance checks
• Creation and maintenance of specific target-language DTP and typographical guidelines
• Creation of templates and document designs for producing online or printed PDF outputs
• Extraction of content for translation from any DTP application or format
• Extraction of content for translation, where original editable source material does not exist
• Design and implementation of single-sourcing solutions
• Migration of authoring to structured XML-centric processes based on standards such as DocBook or DITA

Single Source, Multiple Target Files

One set of current issues revolving around DTP has to do with efficiency. Desktop publishing may be a lengthy, and to a large extent still manual process. Since it is one of the last steps in a localization projects, DTP may often impact on the timeline, especially if the aim is for sim-ship of the localized products.

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That's why much of the effort in streamlining publishing processes centers around single-sourcing - creating one localized source which can be used in multiple formats and documents, printed as well as online. This helps reduce total localization costs, ensure consistency and reduce the time-to-market. Effectively, this approach dramatically decreases the need for typical desktop publishing, layout formatting and DTP checks, resulting in major reductions of DTP-associated costs.

We have the experience in applying best practices to make the most of today's single-source options. This includes helping clients who decide to migrate their authoring processes to XML-based standards, and who choose to adopt DocBook or DITA as the underlying standard. As part of our localization practices, we also have specific expertise in utilizing localization-specific XML-based standards such as XLIFF and TMX.

Any Tool, Any Platform

At Moravia, we have the ability to work with any DTP or graphics applications that exist on Windows and Macintosh platforms. These include:

• Adobe® FrameMaker®
• Adobe® Photoshop®
• Adobe® Illustrator®
• Adobe® InDesign®
• Adobe® Acrobat®
• Enfocus PitStop
• QuarkXPress®
• CorelDRAW®
• Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint)
• Discontinued products such as Adobe PageMaker or Macromedia FreeHand

For efficient integration of multilingual DTP with localization, we support tools such as:

• Trados S-Tagger (for Adobe FrameMaker)
• Trados Story Collectors (for Adobe InDesign, Adobe PageMaker, or QuarkXPress)
• Napsys CopyFlow (for QuarkXPress for Macintosh)
• Transmission (for Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop)

Round-the-clock Production

We have DTP resources located in all three major commercial regions - Europe, Asia and the Americas. This way we ensure round-the-clock DTP production, and the ability to meet fast turnaround DTP requests from whatever time zone. Thanks to our global DTP production capabilities, we can also always deploy the most appropriate DTP specialists based on the languages required.

Language Matters

We can provide multilingual DTP in any language, including European languages, double-byte Asian languages as well as bidirectional languages such as Hebrew or Arabic. Our DTP specialists possess the locale-specific knowledge, backed up by our existing knowledge base and a set of country-specific DTP rules and standards we have developed over the years. This enables us to produce flawless DTP for any language.

Each country or region presents its specific challenges. For instance, the "international" standard aesthetic quality of localized content is considered insufficient for the Japanese market. In some cases what would be considered acceptable elsewhere is seen as inappropriate or in the worst case confusing for Japanese users. The general focus is on aesthetically appealing design, and one that prefers graphics and pictures instead of long descriptive texts. In this case, we recommend getting an early approval of DTP specifications with our clients, which will save time later.

Savvy Solutions

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Moravia DTP specialists regularly work with complex scripts using desktop publishing software that lacks support for non-Western languages. The reason for this stems from the fact that it is not unusual for source content in English to be developed in a particular DTP application without considering the limitations when it comes to languages outside of the "standard" script.

Because of this, some of the tools we are required to use (because they're used by our clients) often do not support Eastern European, Asian or bidirectional languages. Being technically savvy, over the years Moravia has discovered technical "workaround" solutions to many complex language issues posed by these applications. We have established internal procedures for handling most language scripts in any application.

To find out how our multilingual desktop publishing solutions could help you produce high-quality local versions of your materials, please complete the Request for Information form and we will get back to you shortly, or see other options for contacting us.