Author: Yuri Tsverkun
Founder at OCR Craft
Over 15 Years of Experience in the Translation Industry

Project managers regularly receive noneditable PDF files from their clients for translation. DTP specialists normally handle such files. However, we don’t always consider all possible ways to organize our workflows.

We can offer you an alternative workflow for such files—a workflow that can save you money instead of wasting it, make your turnarounds faster, and make your clients happier.

If your project is not intended as a large-scale publication, we promise to help you save time and money.

Let’s have a look at examples. Below are the screenshots of a typical DTP file:

It’s an 88-page file with illustrations. To prepare such a file for running through a CAT tool, you can use two different workflows.

1) One-to-one PDF>DOC conversion, or

2) Pre-DTP text extraction + post-translation DTP.

Now, let’s see how much you can potentially save for each of the workflows:

1) One-to-one PDF>DOC conversion ⇒ 16.7 hours, or €250.50.

2) Pre-DTP text extraction [8.2 hours] + post-translation DTP [17.6 hours] ⇒ 25.8 hours, or €387.00.

See the difference?

Now, let’s take a closer look.

What does one-to-one PDF>DOC conversion exactly mean?

It means that you’ll have your PDF file formatted as DOC, translate the file using your or your client’s favorite CAT tool, and generate the target translation, which you will only need to quickly skim through to make sure it’s perfectly recreated. (By the way, we also process the text embedded in the images by placing on them self-adjusting textboxes. This way, we can ensure that the textboxes will properly stretch to match the length of the translated text.)

So, what do you think: Should you adjust your approach to cut your costs by 35% and increase your profits during these challenging pandemic times?

What’s more, even if you plan for a publication or if the file is too complex and you will eventually need to work in InDesign, you can still save time and money.

We are often asked to assist our clients with one-to-one PDF>DOC conversion as part of their translation projects using InDesign or other DTP software. However, we do not recommend this approach.

For InDesign or similar projects, we suggest the following:

If possible, prepare your file for a CAT tool in the most cost-efficient way, then translate and complete with DTP.

Let’s check another file (12 pages, multiple drawings):

Here, instead of one-to-one PDF>DOC conversion, we suggest applying another option: pre-DTP text extraction.

Pre-DTP text extraction is a simplified version of OCR but without the one-to-one recreation of the source file. This option is perfectly sufficient for a desktop publisher to work with.

Now, using this file as a reference, let’s estimate the price tags for each option:

1) One-to-one PDF>DOC conversion ⇒ 6.6 hours, or €99;

2) Pre-DTP text extraction [2 hours] + DTP [2.4 hours] ⇒ 4.4 hours, or €66.

So, should you adjust your approach to cut your costs by 33% and increase your profits during these challenging pandemic times?

As you can see, alternative DTP workflows may be applied for each file. The choice of the most efficient workflow will eventually depend on the complexity and purpose of your project.

You should know that we approach each project individually. Our skilled PM team understands all aspects of DTP project management and will evaluate your project thoroughly to help you save time and money. We guarantee it!