Translation of an InDesign file can be quite easy, in the sense that no “excess noise” is generated when processing. Since InDesign files are compatible with Trados, they can be translated directly in TagEditor after being exported as an .idml or .inx file. Once the file is translated and edited, cleaning is easy. Even if the file contains images and tables, these have their own links and files from sources that do not interfere with the translation. With a good design team, the post-processing of these files can be carried out smoothly.
But what happens when a file is to be translated into languages that differ greatly from what we may be used to? Take, for example, Arabic. It goes without saying that the Arabic alphabet, along with the way it is written (right to left), is quite different from Western languages. So what happens in these cases? How do we translate a .ttx file into Arabic? Does InDesign work the same way in these cases?
There is one answer to all these questions: InDesgin Middle East, in versions 5 or 5.5. Both of these versions works with files that need to be translated into languages of the Middle East (Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Kurdish etc.). Both InDesign and Trados, for these particular cases, use special configurations and plug-ins that structure the document so that it can be translated into those languages. Thus, both the conventional structure of Trados and the final version of InDesign will be compatible with this type of language. Simply open a TagEditor file from Middle East InDesign to see how the structure of the segments changes completely: that is, from right to left. The same applies to the final .inx version.
Please note that using the conventional version of InDesign for Arab file does not prevent cleaning the document. That is, if you clean an Arabic file from the ordinary version of InDesign, the PM will see that the file is clean, but without the required InDesign plug-ins, the clean version will appear with unrecognizable characters. This can get confusing, since a successful cleaning of the document does not guarantee a final version in Arabic. For this reason, it is essential to use a tool for support of Arabic. Of course, given the complexity of the language, processing a file from InDesign requires resources who know Arabic, because that way we can ensure delivery of better quality jobs.
(Versión en español: https://www.trustedtranslations.com/traduccion-de-un-archivo-indesign-al-arabe-2012-04-27.html)
