Desktop Publishing (DTP)

Why can't I select the text from this scanned PDF file?

We can identify two essential steps that are more related to design than language in translation, namely file preparation and post-translation adjustments.

File preparation (or recreation) is usually associated with digitalization of physical documents. Scanned files are only images and have no selectable text. You will need someone in charge of preparing all translatable textual and paratextual elements, including charts, tables, headers, footers, links, and keys, as requested.

Harmonization of formatting will be necessary before the translation phase in order to have a clearer text, stripped off from non‐text, tags and artifacts created by Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Sometimes, accessibility requirements are made so that people with visual, sensory or auditory impairment are able to access the information from a document. The layout management will have to be based on such requirements.

Post-translation adjustments are necessary after the translation process in TEP (translation, editing, & proofreading) is finished. They should consist in thorough check: spacing and indentations, widows and orphans, appropriate paragraph and table divisions across pages, text rearrangement based on the increased or decreased text length, consistency in localization of numbers and dates.

Adjustments in all elements depend on their final destination: web‐based or hard‐copy. When it comes to web-based articles or even complete websites, an ongoing check of all elements placed in the final front end version will be necessary to see if visual elements are properly placed. As regards print or hard-copy documents, a swift ability to handle design software is critical for a good outcome.