OUR PRICES

When asked if we have a "standard price per page" or how much we charge for "jobs in InDesign", or how much we charge "per hour", we tend to answer the same way a used-car dealer would if asked if he has a standard price for used cars: that depends on a number of things. In order to keep our prices competitive, we need to charge differently according to types of contents and processes. Similarly, people having very different levels of skills, charging per the hour is neither practical, nor necessarily fair. Our prices are therefore fixed by a quotation for each project.

DTP localisation

By "DTP localisation", we mean producing a foreign version of an existing document (brochure, catalogue, technical manual, user guide, etc.) by reusing the original artwork files (InDesign, Quark XPress, etc.) of the original source-language document and replacing the text in pages and illustrations with its translation in a target language, and usually amending a few passages such as postal addresses, phone numbers, date of publication, document reference number, and sometimes replacing a few pages to adapt the document to a foreign readership.

The best way to get a precise price for a DTP localisation job is to request a quotation by sending us a reference document in PDF format (either the same document in a different language, or a similar document from a previous period) and telling us briefly what is needed and any other relevant information, so we can at least give an estimate on that basis, while waiting for other artwork files, as the case may be.

Our prices for this type of service start as low as £1.60 or €2.00 per page, but they can be significantly higher, depending on the following four criteria:

• Target language: Although the translation itself is not part of the DTP service, the target language (the language into which the document is translated) is an important factor in DTP, because whereas common European languages present no problem, languages using complex scripts such as Arabic, or special line-breaking rules such as Japanese or Thai, for example, require more work and may need special applications, and are therefore more expensive.
• Number of pages: Small documents require comparatively more work because some of the tasks that need to be done take almost the same time whether the document is 4 pages or 50 pages long, so our price per page is always comparatively higher for smaller documents.
• Complexity of layout: Documents with many diagrams or illustrations containing text needing replacement generally require more work, as well as documents with a dense multi-column layout and many inserts, such as most corporate newsletters.
• Format of translation: If the translation is only available as regular text (e.g. in Microsoft Word), it will need to be manually pasted (or "flowed"), bit by bit, into the artwork files (such as the InDesign files, for example). This can take a lot more time than if the same translation has initially been typed within tagged files (i.e. files containing page formatting data), as in that case the translation can be imported into the original artwork files automatically using special software, which usually saves us a lot of time and allows us to offer discounts to our clients. Using special software, we can prepare tagged files for translators, provided we receive the original artwork files at the start of the project. In other words, we can extract the text for translation from the artwork files, in a special cost-effective format. These tagged files can then be translated either in Microsoft Word, or in Trados Studio or some other compatible computer-aided translation software. Note: This workflow only works if the artwork files (e.g. InDesign files) are available before translation starts. By artwork files, we mean the DTP files that were used to create the document originally, not some PDF files.

Other services

For all other services, please contact us.