InDesign Thread poster: Daniel Hawpe
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Hi Friends,
I've been considering a monthly subscription for Adobe InDesign as I have several customers who have to send me Word versions of InDesign publications that require translating. Anyone have experience with the Creative Cloud version of InDesign? Has that led to more work? Thanks!
AmiDan
| | | | Paulinho Fonseca 
Brazil
Local time: 12:27
Member (2011)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Hi Daniel,
Well, two months ago one of direct clients sent me some files-in design- and I had never worked with those type of files.
When opened in SDL they were like regular files I work with, but as the job was done, I opened the files inDesign and there was always, for all 13 files, an error message saying it was missing some items like, segments, pictures/art/drawings. I talked to client and the software engineers did not fine any problems in files. To me the were ok, but... See more Hi Daniel,
Well, two months ago one of direct clients sent me some files-in design- and I had never worked with those type of files.
When opened in SDL they were like regular files I work with, but as the job was done, I opened the files inDesign and there was always, for all 13 files, an error message saying it was missing some items like, segments, pictures/art/drawings. I talked to client and the software engineers did not fine any problems in files. To me the were ok, but when opening they were not. My client never complained.
Good luck.
[Edited at 2014-06-19 15:28 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 17:27
Spanish to English
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| Can of worms | Jun 20, 2014 |
InDesign is what the name says: a design program. It wasn't meant to make life easy for translators. Unless you are good with that kind of thing, I'd avoid it like the plague.
| | | | Joakim Braun
Sweden
Local time: 17:27
German to Swedish
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neilmac wrote:
Unless you are good with that kind of thing, I'd avoid it like the plague.
And if you avoid it like the plague, you'll never become good at it.
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| I have InDesign CS6 | Jun 20, 2014 |
And it has a reasonably steep learning curve. If the only reason you want to learn it is to translate a few documents every once in a while, I don't know if the time spent would be worth it. If you want to get into document design and publishing it might be a different story though.
What do the documents look like when you open them in Word? Is the text editable?
| | | | John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 11:27
Member (2008)
French to English
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| Have used CC | Jun 20, 2014 |
I have used the Creative Cloud version a few times, to convert INDD files to IDML for translating in SDL Studio. It cost $25 for a one-month subscription, which worked for me. You have to be very deliberate about cancelling, or Adobe will keep charging your credit card.
That said, it was for an end client who knew what they were doing with InDesign. The end client had provided the agency with INDD and then was not available (summer shutdown) while the translation proceeded. But ... See more I have used the Creative Cloud version a few times, to convert INDD files to IDML for translating in SDL Studio. It cost $25 for a one-month subscription, which worked for me. You have to be very deliberate about cancelling, or Adobe will keep charging your credit card.
That said, it was for an end client who knew what they were doing with InDesign. The end client had provided the agency with INDD and then was not available (summer shutdown) while the translation proceeded. But when the end client received the translated IDML file they knew how to import the translations back into their workflow. I never attempted to work in InDesign. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Daniel Hawpe
Local time: 17:27
German to English
TOPIC STARTER
Hi Folks,
Thanks for the input and feedback. I don't use CAT tools by the way, although I know some of them like Transit have filters. I would just be using InDesign as a stand-alone tool for doing translations direct with the thought that maybe I could open the door to additional work that I couldn't get otherwise.
The idea of hooking up with a graphics specialist is a good idea though. I hadn't thought of that.
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You can use the trial version of the cloud for free (each program comes with 30 days free use).
If you don't close the program after the last day of the trial, you can keep using it.
That would give you enough time to get to know the software and decide if you want to offer services using it without having to pay.
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Tomasz Sienicki
Denmark
Local time: 17:27
Member (2007)
Danish to Polish
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| Language Terminal | Jun 20, 2014 |
John Fossey wrote:
I have used the Creative Cloud version a few times, to convert INDD files to IDML for translating in SDL Studio. It cost $25 for a one-month subscription.
You can use www.languageterminal.com for free to convert InDesign files to xliff (that can be translated in a CAT tool) and back, as well as to export the input and output files to PDF.
The procedure is described at
http://kb.kilgray.com/article/AA-00388/0/Upload-and-download-of-INDD-files-to-Language-Terminal.html
and works for *.indd, *.idml and *.inx files. Works with memoQ, SDL Studio and probably any CAT that supports xliff.
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sibsab wrote:
You can use the trial version of the cloud for free (each program comes with 30 days free use).
If you don't close the program after the last day of the trial, you can keep using it.
This is funny, interesting... and tempting!
So, at least theoretically, if you never close the program (which would mean you would never turn off your computer again), you can use the program forever for free?
What a gold mine!
| | | | | This is not for translators | Jul 1, 2014 |
InDesign? How anybody can require from a translator to use InDesign...This is not the easiest tool I had to do with, and I must admit, that a finished file is usually too heavy to be sent by e-mail!
Paulinho Fonseca - I think I know the cause of your problem. You need to put all the files (txt, jpg,pdf) into 1 folder, and only then InDesign will be able to detect them and import inot the whole project.
| | | | | Part-time graphic artist here | Jul 1, 2014 |
I have InDesign (CS 6) and I really don't think it's that hard to work with, especially since it's just a question of replacing the text (you don't have to recreate any of the designs).
If you don't have the software to run it (CC is a good option), ask them to give you a PDF or a table with the source language on one side and a spot for the target on the other. Their graphic artist (or copy writer, DTP specialist, what ever) will have to put the text back in, but it might be the be... See more I have InDesign (CS 6) and I really don't think it's that hard to work with, especially since it's just a question of replacing the text (you don't have to recreate any of the designs).
If you don't have the software to run it (CC is a good option), ask them to give you a PDF or a table with the source language on one side and a spot for the target on the other. Their graphic artist (or copy writer, DTP specialist, what ever) will have to put the text back in, but it might be the best option.
[Edited at 2014-07-02 06:08 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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John Fossey
Canada
Local time: 11:27
Member (2008)
French to English
+ ...
| Language Terminal | Jul 2, 2014 |
Tomasz Sienicki wrote: John Fossey wrote:
I have used the Creative Cloud version a few times, to convert INDD files to IDML for translating in SDL Studio. It cost $25 for a one-month subscription. You can use www.languageterminal.com for free to convert InDesign files to xliff (that can be translated in a CAT tool) and back, as well as to export the input and output files to PDF. The procedure is described at http://kb.kilgray.com/article/AA-00388/0/Upload-and-download-of-INDD-files-to-Language-Terminal.html and works for *.indd, *.idml and *.inx files. Works with memoQ, SDL Studio and probably any CAT that supports xliff.
Yes, thanks, at the time I did not have memoQ and was not aware of this.
| | | | | Translation and DTP | Jul 2, 2014 |
I have been using the memorable InDesign's "father", Page Maker, for over a quarter century. Some colleagues say that it would take me about half an hour to get used to InDesign, but I chose not to dive in.
PageMaker was extremely useful in the many years when my translation "source" came in hard copy, and they wanted a PDF they could send to a printing shop. It is still very useful (v6.52 is stable as a rock under Win XP) when I get a scanned PDF and they want me to translate and r... See more I have been using the memorable InDesign's "father", Page Maker, for over a quarter century. Some colleagues say that it would take me about half an hour to get used to InDesign, but I chose not to dive in.
PageMaker was extremely useful in the many years when my translation "source" came in hard copy, and they wanted a PDF they could send to a printing shop. It is still very useful (v6.52 is stable as a rock under Win XP) when I get a scanned PDF and they want me to translate and rebuild it via DTP.
However one can't have it all. I had to turn down translation requests using FrameMaker and QuarkXPress.
Only once I had a request to translate material using the horrible MS Publisher, however the PM exported it to Word (according to MS, it's the only way to do it), and then would copy&paste each translated sentence back there. No translation requests for Serif PagePlus nor Scribus.
One day I met Infix, a PDF editor, and suggested they developed a translating solution using it, which they did, and it became Infix Pro.
Depending on the publication, it's not always fast, it's not so easy, however now I can translate and fix the post-translation DTP on any PDF file. It still requires some considerable DTP skill, however I don't have to turn down any job because I don't have the software for it, as long as the client can distill and provide me with a PDF. It also helps a lot translating some intricate-layout Word files, if PDF output is acceptable.
Another valuable point is that the cost of Infix is a two-digit-denominator fraction of the total cost of buying the three leading DTP apps, not to mention the time to learn to use each of them. Of course, Infix also requires reading carefully the entire 250-page manual, but it's just one program, one m.o. to master.
Some fellow translators partnered with me, as I propose on my web site, on PDF jobs. I extracted the TXT file for them to translate, and later I implemented their translation to the PDF, adjusting the layout. Most of these eventually bought Infix, and began doing the entire job on their own.
I must forewarn prospective users that PDF files are often intrinsically messy, particularly to what concerns partially-embedded fonts, and the way they handle text flow. Keep in mind they are distilled from PostScript printing files, so all a printer must know is what should go where, often regardless of the 'how' making any sense.
If anyone is curious about how it works, I've devised an illustrated Infix PDF translation process walkthrough on this page. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Dan Lucas
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:27
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
| Another interesting tool | Jul 2, 2014 |
José Henrique Lamensdorf wrote: If anyone is curious about how it works, I've devised an illustrated Infix PDF translation process walkthrough on this page.
A (potentially) very useful read, thank you. I wasn't aware of the existence of this piece of software.
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