Notes
File formats and delivery
The majority of our translations are delivered in the widely used (for better or worse) Microsoft Word .sod and .docx formats. We can however provide files in a number of other word processor, spreadsheet or database formats, or as plain text, HTML and related formats; let us know what you need. We can supply bilingual exports in xliff format.
We pride ourselves on clean, clearly laid out and standards-compliant HTML code and not messing up the code of source files we receive.
We usually deliver translations by email or services like WeSendIt. On request laser-printed hard copy will be sent at postage/courier cost.
Help us to help you ...
We will be able to do a better job and help you to achieve the results you want if we have some idea of the target audience and the purpose of the translation. Is it for publication or just for information? If the latter, what sort of thing are you looking for? Background material is always welcome ...
Life is much easier if you can let us have an electronic copy of the source document. This makes it possible to use computer-assisted translation techniques ("translation memory") which help ensure consistency between translations of similar documents, to retain layout features, and to avoid errors creeping in when numbers and other arbitrary data are copied.
Word and character counting
Wherever practical we prefer to base our prices on the length of the source text. This enables us to provide an accurate immediate estimate of the final price, and avoids any danger that the translation quality might be affected by payment issues. As most texts in our source languages are longer than their English translations, and to reflect our personal preferences, we offer a small discount for texts charged this way.
Prices are normally calculated according to the length of the text in characters as measured by the software used (including spaces, which are not included in the word count facility of versions of Word prior to Word 97 - for such programs, add together the figures given for "characters" and "words"). Note that account will be made for some layout features (frames, text boxes and graphics) in Word which result in text not being counted, and that Word gives two separate and sometimes conflicting character counts; we use the one under Tools/Word Count. A nominal "line" as usually calculated by Belgian agencies is 60 characters, while German agencies use 55. Per word rates are based on an anticipated ratio of approximately six characters per word in English, with variations for other languages.
A reasonable amount of basic text formatting is included in our normal rates; however we reserve the right to charge a higher rate where the formatting of a document requires a disproportionate amount of extra time. Where the source text is in a format suitable for use with translation memory programs, this should not generally be a problem.
Hughes Communications Ltd: Registered Office 88 Gertrude Road, Nottingham, NG2 5DB.
Registered in England and Wales no. 4686110