28 September 2011

Seeking_#3: Graphic agencies that respect fellow professionals

Today I'm looking for feedback from into-English translators and English-language journalists and technical communicators based in non-English-speaking countries whose work is frequently laid out by local graphic artists and layout teams.

I'm hoping that colleagues in Europe and elsewhere will tell us about experiences more efficient and less unpleasant than those suffered by myself and trusted colleagues based in France.

And here are some precise questions I'd like answered.
Do the teams that lay out your work:
- Always remember to reset the language of their layout software to English before starting work on an English version? (And when they don't and proof reading reveals a myriad of errors, do they reduce their bill accordingly?) ;-)
- Do they use English-mother-tongue operators who understand what they are laying out, including how and where to break headings and the like?
- Do the layout personnel insist on retyping short headlines, captions and the like -- instead of using copy & paste, as they should, particularly if they are not working in their mother tongue?  (And when they don't and proof reading reveals a myriad of errors, do they reduce their bill accordingly?) ;-)
- Do they know how to use and adjust the settings of the hyphenation function for optimal results (as judged by mother-tongue readers)?
- And do they respect the translator's or writer's punctuation or insist, like one of very large agency in France, on running automatic punctuation software to the dismay and anger of anyone who knows anything about punctuation in English, not to mention anyone with the least notion of the respect due to other professionals (I refer to translators and journalists) supposedly working with the agency to give their shared customer the best possible service?

Last but not least, has anyone ever encountered a graphic agency with quality assurance procedures taking into account any of these issues?

ChatGPT, a drafting aid for translation by emulation

On 17 October 2011, I published the first of two posts summarising my general approach to the type of translation/adaptation services I was ...