Any translation project involving documents like manuals, flyers, posters, brochures, handbooks, and PowerPoint presentations can hugely benefit from including multilingual desktop publishing (DTP) in the process. DTP translation ensures your documents are not only linguistically accurate but visually beautiful as well.
Multilingual desktop publishing is the process of formatting translated content using specialized layout software. A professional DTP service will recreate the source document’s format, taking into account language-specific typesetting, layout adjustments, images, graphics, and other vital elements. The goal is to maintain the same polished look and feel as the original.
Desktop publishing specialists also do important work even before the translation process begins, known as the preprocessing phase.
During preprocessing, specialists prepare the documents for translation using computer-assisted translation (CAT) tools or other translation methods. Early inspection by DTP experts can identify missing elements or formatting issues that will later impact the final product, thus saving cost and improving translation quality. So multilingual desktop publishing can be integrated before and after translation.
Editable formats and DTP for document translation
Documents often come in editable formats like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Adobe InDesign which can be imported directly into CAT tools. This integration brings huge benefits, streamlining your translation process and ensuring consistency.
If your documents have graphics (e.g. diagrams, technical drawings, charts) or non-editable images with text, DTP specialists will extract the text for translation. After translation the specialists will reinsert the translated content back into the original graphics and ensure no text for translation is missed.
A skilled multilingual DTP specialist knows how to adjust the layout to accommodate text length differences across languages and ensure the final translated document looks good and professionally formatted.
Example of a PowerPoint document that benefited from DTP
The images below illustrate the stages of a multilingual desktop publishing project: starting from the original source document, followed by the CAT tool export with typical formatting issues after translation, and finally, the professionally adjusted document after desktop publishing services have been applied. These examples highlight how desktop publishing significantly enhances readability, maintains professional appearance, and ensures formatting consistency across translated documents.
Image 1 (Source):
A PowerPoint slide before translation, with structured information and defined formatting in the source language.
Image 2 (CAT Tool Export)
The same PowerPoint slide after exporting translated content from a CAT tool, showing common formatting issues like misaligned text, inconsistent bullet points and overlapping content due to language expansion.
Image 3 (Final Layout after DTP)
The PowerPoint slide after DTP services have been applied, showing resolved formatting issues, adjusted text layout, uniform bullet styles and overall improved readability and professionalism.
Processing scanned formats with DTP
Desktop publishing specialists also play a key role in processing scanned documents which are often in PDF format and images with text that needs to be translated.
Using advanced optical character recognition (OCR) technology, DTP experts can convert scanned or image-based text into editable digital formats.
This is particularly useful for projects that involve document legalization, certifications, or large volumes of scanned documents with similar content. By converting these documents into editable formats before translation, DTP services speed up the translation process and reduce overall cost.
Conclusion: Add value to your translations with DTP
In summary, multilingual desktop publishing should be part of your translation process to ensure your translated materials are beautiful, well-formatted, and professional.
Whether you have editable documents, graphics-intensive content, or scanned files, professional DTP services add value to your projects and deliver translated documents that are equal to or as high-quality as the original.