Technical writers and others responsible for preparing documents for localization are usually aware of important factors to consider when creating text for an international audience. Such factors include leaving room for text expansion, removing references that may only work in one language, and generally internationalizing content. Graphics, however, are often not treated with the same care, which can lead to problems in the localization process. Careful consideration and planning before localization can make the process easier for all involved and reduce costs.

Example: A fictitious company called ABC Heavy Equipment has decided to localize its website from English into Spanish, Italian, and Arabic. Their localization project consists of a combination of HTML and JavaScript files, as well as about 2000 images. These are bundled onto a CD and sent to their localization vendor. The vendor opens the files and analyzes the various forms of the graphics.

• 250 of the images are illustrations that contain text.
• Another 300 of the images are navigational elements that contain text.
• As is typical of a website, the files are all stored in GIF and JPEG format.

• They will need to be essentially remade from scratch, adding many hours to the localization process and increasing the chances of error.
• In addition, prior to translation the localizer will have to create a database (manually typed) of all the navigational text.
• The table-based layout of the pages will have to be re-engineered to allow for text expansion.
• In the case of the Arabic localization, the arrangement of the graphics will have to be horizontally flipped to allow for the right-to-left orientation of the Arabic script.

1. DO save each graphic that must be localized in a format that preserves text as editable text, not as an image. This is the single most important thing you can do to facilitate the localization of graphics. While the final output form may be a flat image, the source should not be.



2. DO leave room for expansion. In the case of graphics, this is even more critical than in the case of long text. Whereas a long text translated from English into another language might grow by 30%, a single word or short phrase will commonly grow 100-200%. If space is at a premium in the source language graphic, it may be difficult, or even impossible, to fit translated text into the graphic without making significant changes to the graphic.



3. DO take image resolution into account. A 75 pixel-per-inch image (typical on-screen resolution) with 10- point Roman text might be perfectly readable, but the same graphic with 10- point Chinese text might be illegible. It is also imperative that graphics designers consider not only how a design looks on their computer, but how it may look on other machines. For example, a graphic that looks fine on a screen at 1024 x 768 resolution might be too small to see on a similar screen displaying at 1600 x 1200 resolution, especially in Asian scripts. Resolution is important in printed documentation as well, since the original resolution of a graphic may not be its final resolution - it is quite common for graphics to be resized in a publishing application to fit available space.



4. DO consider using keys or legends to describe graphics instead of embedded labels. For example, the letter "A" could be used in a diagram rather than "cellular antenna," with a key designating part A as a cellular antenna given below the graphic. A typical parts diagram for a piece of equipment labels each part in the graphic. Although this is convenient for the reader, if the diagram is even slightly cramped it might be difficult to fit the translation in the graphic. Using a key or legend, however, reduces the number of graphics that need to be localized and allows a single graphic to be used in multiple language versions. Depending on the layout of a translation, it might even be possible to use a keyed graphic once for several languages, whereas a graphic with translated labels would need to be repeated for each language version.



5. DO store graphics for localization in a logical manner. It is a good idea to store all graphics in one folder or in a hierarchy within one folder. If localizers have to hunt through many folders to locate graphics, the chances increase that graphics may be missed or inconsistently translated as similar graphics discovered at different times might be routed to different translators.



6. DO NOT include captions in graphics. Captions (for example, "Figure 1. Removing the carriage restraint") should not be stored in the images themselves. As a general guideline, the less text is stored in graphics, the easier localization will be.



7. DO NOT make assumptions about the layout of graphics. Rather, be sure to allow space for needed changes. In European languages, it is common to put important information on the left-hand side of an image. Hebrew and Arabic users, however, would expect to find such information on the right side of the image. An image that does not respect this convention could be confusing or misleading for users from certain backgrounds, so the physical location of text in the image might need to be altered.



8. DO NOT rely on fancy Photoshop text effects. While a graphic in English may look wonderful with warped or puckered text, the same effect in another language might be illegible or just plain ugly. These effects should be used sparingly and with discretion.



9. DO NOT use duplicate images. It is quite common for a project to have multiple copies of the same image in various locations (for example, in a folder for each document, rather than in a common graphics folder). This should be avoided as it adds to the localization cost-generally, each image has to be separately translated and DTPed to avoid any potential for error. Instead, where software allows, multiple occurrences of the same image should be linked to a common master copy.



10. DO NOT use table-based graphic layouts when possible. This is specific to websites. It is quite common for web-pages to have complex graphical elements made from "slices" in complex tables. If you intend to localize a graphic, look for alternatives to table-based sliced images, as translating the images will often require not only translation, but redesign of the tables and slices in the HTML. Even in cases where this process is not complex, it is an additional step that can create problems.

Following these guidelines will help make your localization projects more consistent and will help ensure the quality of your localized products. By carefully internationalizing your images in advance, you will help your localization partners deliver the best results to you.

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PROBLEM: Now I know that I need to save my graphics in a format that preserves text as editable. What is the best way to do this?

SOLUTION: The best way to save graphics is as layered Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator files (or their equivalent), because these formats can not only store text in an editable format, but can also be used to output files in almost any needed form. In addition, when multiple graphics are made by modifying a single source graphic, each version can be saved separately prior to localization so that the localizer does not need to recreate them from scratch.

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Question:
There have been many occasions where I have needed to move tags or text, add new tags, or other similar things. Are there any easy ways to do this?

Answer:
There are several "shortcuts" to creating, moving, or changing tags or text. The following is a list of a few ideas:

1. To move a selected block of text, hold down the left mouse button and drag the text to the desired location.
2. To move an entire segment, hold down the right-mouse button and the "Ctrl" key, then drag the segment to the desired location. This will not only move the entire segment, but will also renumber the segments automatically.
3. To move a format or font tag, hold down the left-mouse button and the "Alt" key, then drag the tag to the desired location.
4. To add a segment number tag, move the cursor to the desired location, then double-click the right-mouse button. This will also renumber the segments automatically.
5. To remove a segment number tag, move the cursor on top of the segment number tag, then double-click the right-mouse button.
6. Although generally not suggested, to modify or delete a tag, use "Alt" + "P" to toggle the tag protection on and off.
7. If you need to modify a segment number bracket manually, the ANSI character codes for the open ("«") and close ("»") brackets are Alt+0171 and Alt+0187, respectively. The Transit regular expression representations for the open and close brackets are "\o" and "\c" respectively.