Last time we talked about the dilemma of how to send a website out for translation. One of the key elements that make up a website is its images. Navigation buttons, banners, publicity graphics, titles in GIF format, and any other type of graphic that is not editable.
To translate the images from a web page, in Trusted Translations we generate work groups that, in addition to including a translator, editor, and copy editor, also include of an HTML programmer and a graphic designer. We use the latest generation of graphic tools to obtain the best results possible.
Translating the text of an image, depending on the text expansion, may be a significant challenge for the graphic designer. It is estimated, for example, that text expansion when translating into English from Spanish is between 15 and 20%. As a result, a word with 5 letters that takes up 2.5 cm of length in English may have as its equivalent a word with more than 10 letters, or even more than one word in Spanish. In some cases, it is also necessary to adapt the width and/or height of the GIF files, with the client’s approval. For example, it is possible that the size of the buttons on a horizontal navigation bar may be modified completely, so that it is not overcrowded with text and so that the translated word fits perfectly, and that at the same time it preserves the total width of the navigation bar (the sum of all the buttons’ widths).
Therefore, working in a team comprised of translators and designers, and the fluid communication between them, is fundamental for the success of the translation, which will ultimately be a completely localized web page. And that is not all: the translation of the images’ titles and captions should be identical to those used in the main body of the website. The simple fact of coordinating all these tasks can end in chaos if the right tools for the job are not there.
