We have all heard the word "desktop publishing" It seems to be a common term, even if we do not know the details, but we can connect the dots and say it has something to do with our computer's desktop. If we look back a decade or two, everything was different. So did DTP. Things were more manual than digital. Before you did anything, you had to go through a painful OCR process and it was just the beginning. We used pen and paper or long spreadsheets to go about our day.
Now, we create complex and design-rich documents in many languages that we hope will resonate with our clientele. Tools are easily accessible and powerful. DTP has become easier to make our professional publications look greater than they've ever looked.
The term desktop publishing refers to the design of pages on a computer using special software that integrates text and images. The first desktop publishing dates back to the 1980s and has developed rapidly from then on. In the 1980s and 1990s, the use of desktop publishing was limited to professionals and printers. DTP software had replaced all the technologies previously used for these purposes. With the advancement in technology, desktop publishing is now everywhere. The world has embraced digital and accepted that it exists in every aspect of our lives, from businesses to hospitals. Digital products such as e-books, websites, and many others use DTP as an integral part of their operation.
As devices have gotten better, Internet connections have gotten faster, and clouds have become a reality, anyone can use DTP software. You do not have to buy specific software to do so. Instead, you'll find free software that does not require installation and that you can use to get started with your tasks.
Desktop publishing involves three steps:
This article covers all the necessary aspects you need to know about desktop publishing, and it can serve as a guide to help you understand it better.
Are you new to DTP or do you plan to use it for any of your projects? Then you need to know what it is used for. You can use the DTP software for the following:
Any of these can be exported as PDFs for further processing, distribution, or publication.
Related content: What You Need to Know About Image Localization
The number of desktop publishing programs has grown tremendously and it continues to grow. You will find many programs that require a subscription, but you can also look for free programs. Some see them as plain page layout software, while in fact, they are robust design solutions that are critical to your success worldwide.
Adobe has most of the leading desktop publishing programs to date. For Adobe Creative Cloud products, you can subscribe and choose one depending on your desired plan and budget. There are several options to choose from, such as:
If you are not a fan of Adobe products, you can always go with the powerful products of their competition, such as QuarkXPress or Microsoft Publisher, or the new great players on the market such as Figma and Sketch. Yes, some still use old good Microsoft Word, especially for creating technical user guides, and then convert them to PDF files for distribution.
You may also stumble upon Adobe PageMaker software files. This app was great but it has been discontinued but yes, we worked with that one, too.
At ATL, we've noticed throughout the years that the best bang for a buck and your safest bet if your content is meant for translation is InDesign. Its INDD and IDML formats are easily and accurately handled by all leading translation management systems and CAT translation tools. This means shorter turnaround times, fewer errors, and lower costs. Figma and Sketch are also great choices with wonderful integrations and connectors with leading translation systems. If someone asked us about the tools that we or our clients like the least, we'd go for Illustrator, Publisher, and Quark. Don't get us wrong, these are great powerful tools and for some use cases they are the best choices for our clients and we do work hand-in-hand with them but we think the other ones are just easier and quicker to use.
InDesign from Adobe is a top desktop publishing software that is recommended and preferred by many professionals.
You can think about the features that you can use with desktop publishing software. Every single software you find in the market offers you an endless array of tools and features, and InDesign is no exception. It offers a wide range of tools that have made it one of the most popular DTP software for professionals. If you use the InDesign app, you can:
In addition to InDesign, there are other programs you can find in Creative Cloud that may be useful to what you want to accomplish and some of them are also well-integrated with localization tools, for example, Adobe XD, a tool for UX/UI graphic design.
Imagine a situation where you have a translation project in front of you. Probably all translation companies you have contacted mention DTP in their conversations with you. You may wonder what this has to do with translation. Well, the answer is that it has everything to do with translation or what you call localization. We all know the importance of localization, its crucial role for businesses, and their success in a local market. When you integrate multilingual desktop publishing services into your translation projects, you can streamline many things.
When we use the word multilingual desktop publishing, it refers to the creation and customization of the entire composition of online or print content. It focuses on design, rearranging and fixing visual design elements to make them more user-friendly and appealing to viewers. If we remove desktop integration from online content and do not fix its design, hardly any visitors will come to your website. Effective use of the software combined with advanced technology can help you create properly formatted documents that you can later publish in different languages.
When translating your original document into multiple languages, the DTP software changes the entire design of the document, ensuring the consistency of the design in all language versions. It maintains the similarity of format and design with the source. A messy and poor design will not go down well with your target audience. One of the most important roles that DTP plays in your translated document is to improve the look and feel of your documents. So if you are spending money on translating a project and launching it in the local market, you need to make sure it grabs your audience's attention. With a solid multilingual marketing strategy and a well-designed document, you can succeed in the local market and attract enough visitors to your site.
Related content: Why and When to Use Desktop Publishing Service for Your International Growth
If you think you can use DTP software only once in a while, you probably do not know much about it. On the contrary, DTP and translation or localization services go hand in hand. DTP and layout services are indispensable and highly effective for creating multilingual content that is visually and graphically rich. Translating online content into multiple languages brings some challenges and hurdles as the files change as a result. Translating a document from English to Korean affects many aspects of the document, such as flow, technical details, and sentence structure. If you use human translators, they will need to translate the document, check for errors, proofread, and correct the layout. What changes occur when translating source content?
It's the most important goal of every client we speak to. Moreover, in many cases, it's not only preserving but adjusting it to the language and culture requirements of the country you are targeting. For example, in Hebrew, the source content translated from English will require thorough transformation and adaptation, not only because there are certain cultural aspects you need to be aware of and handle them properly for the content to resonate with the audience (not only the text itself but also graphics and illustrations), but because it's one of the right-to-left languages, which seriously affects the final design.
Whenever we translate a document, your target language determines the time required for translation. The changes that occur in the translated text can lead to the expansion and contraction of the written text. Some languages are wordier than others, which leads to the contraction and expansion of your document. For example, if you translate a 1000-word Arabic document into English, approximately 250 additional words will be added, making the word count 1,250 English words. Adding additional words affects the formatting or increases the page count as more words are added. You need to watch out for text display issues, line breaks, or spacing at the end.
When a document is in pretranslation, desktop publishing experts review and analyze the source so translators can translate and localize it. With multilingual DTP services, you can localize the visual elements of your document, specify the colors, themes, and shapes, and make the document more culturally relevant. By tailoring these details to your target audience's preferences, there's no risk of offending their cultural values, and your message will be conveyed more effectively.
When you receive an original text for translation, the source document will not be the same after translation. A DTP specialist will analyze the source text and look for possible problems. For example, the German and Finnish languages are more wordy than English and therefore have enough space in the target text. Internalization of documents makes it easier to run the documents through DTP software and helps in quick localization. Before you start translating your document into multiple languages, follow these steps to prepare the document.
In this step, a DTP specialist must convert the text from the source file into a file format that best matches the content that will be localized.
Once you have prepared the text, the linguist translates the source using translation tools, terminology and glossaries, style guides, and other specific instructions to ensure the quality and consistency of the target texts. To avoid redundancy in DTP, the translator should avoid typing directly into the source file, as many DTP specialists are not familiar with translation tools. Linguists need to know how to use special translation tools that can help them realign texts when they expand in the translated document.
A professional translation services provider will help you with this step. Usually, it's the same company that does the DTP for you. Translation and localization are whole another process to be handled before we move on to the next steps. Also, any corrections in your design files at later stages, even the tiniest punctuation corrections, require updates in translation files so that the updated translations are stored in translation memories to be reused next time if need be. As always, professional project management helps handle all coordination here as well.
Once the source file has gone through the translation process, pass it on to a second linguist who is familiar with the same language for proofreading. This helps eliminate typos, grammatical errors, or translation mistakes. Automated quality assurance such as spell-checking against a predefined glossary, untranslated text, and checking for consistency also improves the quality of translated files.
Proofreaders go through the translated version like a reader in the native language, ensuring that the translation reaches the right audience and attracts the necessary attention.
After all the cross-checks have been made on the file, now comes the final outlook on your localized document. This is the part where your DTP specialist with page layout skills works on the new layout of the file. Sometimes the layout of the localized file differs from that of the source file. They make sure that the translated file template does not contain text boxes, fonts, graphics, or page numbers, as these can easily be added later. These specialists also make some adjustments if the text expands or shortens.
The finished outlook is then subjected to further quality control. An expert compares page by page with the source file. This is mandatory to ensure that the translated version is as similar as possible to the original content.
Many clients ask to review the finished file before it is published on the website or other medium (usually it goes to printing or is published online). Sending the file to the client for review makes it easy to make changes instead of updating the content and making revisions later. The client can also provide feedback on the layout, visual design, or other aspects they want to change. Finally, support the customer. Anything that does not fit his requirements can cause delays in delivery later.
Your company's marketing, its documentation, and everything related to it must be easy to understand and give the reader a sense of originality. Even if you have the high-quality translated text, but it lacks formatting and proper presentation, it will not convey the message the way you want it to for your target audience. It may sound simple, but when it comes to translating a single document into multiple languages, DTP software is what you need most.
A word in one language may consist of five words in another. Shortening and expanding affect the layout and flow of your document. Using a different language in your document also disrupts the positioning and formatting of images, creating unnecessary white space. Multilingual desktop publishing tools and software have made it easy for people to customize their localized content without changing the quality and consistency of the final documents.
If you want to make your DTP experience smooth and rewarding, you can partner with a language service provider (LSP) to help you with translation and provide DTP services. They will have all the resources, including processes, tools, and people, such as project managers and DTP specialists, to handle your content in any language you require for your international expansion. They will make sure your desktop publishing translation quality is as per your strict requirements and that the final version of your content truly works on your target markets. Go and grow!
