Introduction

1) Exporting files directly as PDF: When you want to create a read-only copy of a document, this new feature in OpenOffice.org 1.1 is particularly helpful. PDFs (portable document format) don't require a specific office suite in order to view them, so they are an excellent way to share read-only documents with people who use different types of software. To create a PDF from an OpenOffice.org document, simply click the PDF button on the main toolbar, and OpenOffice.org will automatically create a PDF of your document with the same file name and a .pdf extension.

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PDF is an acronym for "Portable Document Format". PDF is a file format created by Adobe that allows you to view and print a file exactly as the author designed it, without needing to have the same application or fonts used to create the file. Since it's introduction in 1993, PDF has become an Internet standard for electronic distribution that faithfully preserves the look and feel of the original document complete with fonts, colors, images and layout.

Probably few people are familiar with, and even fewer use, the advanced feature of Microsoft Word's Find and Replace function. However, this feature may often prove to be extremely helpful in the translator's work. It can be accessed from the Find and Replace dialog box and it is called, depending on the version of Word, Use pattern matching or Use wildcards. The advanced feature only works after you have checked this option. If it is not presented to you in the dialog box, click the More button.

For many translators, Acrobat Portable Document Format files are nightmarish; even more, in forums and mailing lists periodically the question reappears again: How can I edit this PDF document?

PDF files are very useful (from now on: PDFs to simplify the text). PDFs allow the publishing of documents in a format that shows/prints the same on (almost) any environment. They also protect documents from malicious modifications. However, as translators, they often make our lives very difficult. We (too) often end up retyping material from the original language/PDF document, even before we start translating. In fact, I hear regularly : “I hate those PDFs!”.

Of course, DTP, like any job requiring a very high level of skill and expertise is best left to the professionals. The trouble is that to do a good DTP job of a publication in a foreign language, first of all you must know the language. Secondly, your DTP application must have the target language listed as one of the system languages and have the hyphenation and spellchecker programs for the target language. And, thirdly, you must have a selection of postscript fonts in the target language in order to be able to use the same fonts as in the original publication. Some of them cost as much as $700 for a set. If you do not know the language, you are liable to make mistakes in hyphenation while formatting the text. If you do not have the postscript fonts, you will not be able to create a printable PDF or EPS (encapsulated postscript) file from your DTP application. So, agencies often turn to the translator for help.

Translation and Typesetting

Would you expect a paint chemist to double as an artist or an architect to install the plumbing in the houses he designs? Translation and typography are similarly two distinct skills requiring different tools, yet translators are often expected to double as typesetters. There is, of course, nothing wrong with translators wishing to supplement their incomes through “vertical integration,” as long as both the translation user and the translator know what to expect from each other.
The translation user must be aware that typesetting requires a different talent and different acquired skills from translation, and the computer software used for translation work is usually ill-suited for typesetting (and vice-versa). The extra formatting involved in producing “typeset” copy also requires extra time and effort on the translator’s part.