This is a quick introduction to the different types of translation jobs (called "Collections") and file formats you will encounter through Gengo.
- Collection types
- Tips for each file format
- Translate files directly on the workbench! .TXT file extraction
Collection types
There are two types of translation jobs:
1. Text Collections
The source text is displayed in one or multiple text boxes, and the translation is entered next to it or under it.
Text Collections will show in your Work Dashboard with this white sheet icon, and can be Standard, Pro or Edit level.
Enter Workbench:
Click over a Collection to enter the Translator Workbench. Detailed instructions for the Workbench can be found here.
2. File Collections
The source text is contained in a file (for example, a Microsoft Word doc), which is uploaded by the customer when placing an order. You are required to download the file, translate it offline and upload your translation in the same or similar file format.
File Collections will be shown on your Dashboard with the following icons, and can be Standard or Pro level.
Start Working:
After clicking over one to see the details page, you can click on the red button as shown below to download the file and start the job.
Note: Although it's very unlikely you'll encounter any problems, we can't guarantee this and we recommend that you scan the file with a free antivirus software. Windows comes with Windows Defender, and Mac OS with XProtect.
File Format Support:
If you don’t have the specific program to support the file format used by the customer, try using Google Drive, OpenOffice or a similar open source office suite to work in the file format.
Once you have finished the translation and reviewed it carefully, you can submit your translation by clicking the green "Upload translated file" button.
Important things to keep in mind:
Images within a file
- When translating file jobs, text within images is not supposed to be translated.
- Our system does not include images in the word count.
- If you see text inside an image, try selecting the text to see if it's actual text, or just part of the image.
- If you can't select it, do not translate it. However, if you can select it, you should translate it.
In the example below, there is a text box with actual text that needs to be translated. The post-it note is part of the picture and should not be translated.
Formatting
Sometimes you may find a file that contains a lot of formatting or design choices (specially in PDF or PowerPoint files). We don't expect you to take care of the design or formatting, as this can be quite time-consuming, and you are only responsible for the translation part.
Of course, whenever possible, please make a reasonable effort to maintain a presentable document that looks as close to the original as you can. For example, try to leave the formatting untouched, don't move things around, and just replace the source texts with your translations. The customer should take care of adjusting the formatting of the translation to suit their needs.
Your translated file
Please do not leave the source text together with your translation in your translated file. When you submit your translated file to the customer, it should contain only your translated text (unless the customer specifically requests otherwise, which happens very rarely - for example, an Excel file with columns for both source text and translation).
Tips for each file format
Word (.doc or .docx)
- Translate any text that can be selected. Do not translate images.
- Sometimes the system will request Word documents be uploaded in the .doc instead of .docx format in order to be submitted.
- To convert a Word document into .doc format, please select "Save as" from the File menu in Word. Then, select "Word 97-2003 Document (.doc)" ("Word 97-2004 Document (.doc)" if you use Mac) from the drop-down menu and click "Save".
Excel (.xls or .xlsx)
- Sometimes customers will use multiple sheets in Excel docs so make sure you check all the sheets in an Excel doc or similar file format.
- Customers may include pictures as references. Remember to not translate any text within the pictures.
- Only translate actual text within the cells that can be selected.
PowerPoint (.ppt or .pptx)
- Be aware of the difference between text on a slide versus text in the notes section (see picture below).
- Make sure you translate the text in the slides!
- Text in the notes section is not included in the word count, so if the customer requests them to be translated, please contact support@gengo.com and wait for further instructions.
PDF (.pdf)
- If possible, use a PDF editor such as Adobe Acrobat to edit files. There are online tools such as PDFescape that allow you to do so.
- If you don’t have a PDF editor, you can convert the file into another file format by opening the file with that program. Alternatively, you can copy and paste the text into a different file format, or use a file converter.
- Always read customer's instructions first. If they request the translation must be made directly in their PDF file but you can't edit it, it may be best to decline the job and leave it to another translator who can.
- Use your best judgment in choosing the right format (uploading an Excel file for a presentation wouldn't make much sense). If in doubt, ask the customer which format they prefer. In most cases, translating as a .docx Word file is good enough.
- If you do the translation in another format (for example, Word), you don't need to recreate the original formatting/design. You are just responsible to input the translated text.
- If you complete your translation in another file format (such as a .docx Word file), you can upload your translation in that file format—you don’t have to convert it back to the PDF format before uploading.
- Translate only text that can be selected, copied and pasted. Do not translate text in images. It's not uncommon that PDF files may contain scanned documents without a proper conversion to text format where you can't actually select the text.
Text files (.txt)
- When you pick up a job with a .txt file, it's important that you save and upload it in UTF-8 format for the characters to show up correctly (the characters may look okay on your side as Unicode, ANSI, etc., but they might look garbled to the customer and in our preview window).
To do this, open the .txt file with Notepad, click File > Save as, change “Encoding” to UTF-8, and Save.
When working on a Mac, open TextEdit and save the document as Unicode UTF-8.
Translate files directly on the workbench! .TXT file extraction
We recently launched a feature that extracts the text from .TXT files and makes it available for translation directly on the workbench.
You won't need to download or upload any files, and will have access all the advantages of the workbench, such as TM or glossaries when available, saving you time by providing a seamless translation experience.
The text is divided in segments, so you just need to translate and place them in the right place as usual. You won't notice any difference.
Once you submit your translation, the text will be automatically imported back into a .TXT file for final delivery to the customer. The formatting should be mostly intact, but sometimes it may not exactly match the source document, for example, if the target text is much larger than the source.
For the time being, only .TXT files smaller than 2,500 units will be extracted to the workbench. Files larger than 2,500 units, or in any other supported formats, will follow the old process of downloading and uploading the files, which is explained above in this article. We may add support for more file formats in the future.
If you receive any questions or requests from the customer regarding the file format, please be sure to contact Support. We're also happy to receive your feedback for future improvements on this feature.
0 Comments