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•Provide all
source files and fonts used for creating document. If you used layers with text and images to create art effects, make sure that foreign typesetter receives all necessary source files, and not only ones exported after merging layers. Provide all graphs and charts in an Illustrator format.
•Don't forget about cross-platform conversion issues. Use OpenType fonts as much as possible. Most PC fonts do not match Mac fonts. For some languages, it will be easier to find a typesetter who is using a PC to do their work. Also, nearly all of translators will be using PC fonts, and fonts they use may not be available in certain combinations of applications and platforms.
•If you decide to do typesetting on your own, try to arrange a proofreader to check on punctuation, line breaking, and to verify that text is placed in its proper places, etc.
•Use a minimum number of columns. In some languages such as German, words may be twice as long as English. If columns are too narrow, you may end up with lines that only have one word or many hyphens. Documents formatted that way just aren't as professional looking as they may otherwise be.
•Pictures with callouts may look great in English, but they often need to be readjusted after translation text expansion. Leave enough space for expansion, or use key letters with a legend.
•If your computer is set up to use special colour profiles-collect them along with your pictures and fonts. Save your source files to a lower version; it's possible that foreign typesetter does not have same version software.
•If you use special techniques, make sure that foreign typesetter has necessary tools and knowledge to manage project without losing quality or message.
•Pay attention to cultural issues. If your document is to be translated into a language spoken in an equatorial or tropical country, try not to use pictures with Eskimos. This will work only in case that your document is actually about Eskimos. Be careful when choosing colours. In some traditional cultures, meaning associated with colours is very important. Red is colour of love and Christmas in Western culture, but it's also colour of Communism in East European countries, and colour of mourning in South Africa. Green is traditional colour of Islam, but in Western culture, it is colour for money and ecology.
Felicia Bratu is a foreign language typesetting with WTB Language Group Inc. WTB is a professional translation service (http://www.wintranslation.com) that provides technical translations in over 140 languages.
