Translate a book
  • Vote Up0Vote Down doschdosch
    Posts: 7Member
    Hey,

    We are about to start writing a book we know will be translated into at least five other languages once ready.
    What is the best workflow to get prepared for translating the final book in booktype?

    And what do I do when the book is ready to be translated?

    Thank you for your help!
  • 5 Comments sorted by
  • Vote Up0Vote Down Daniel JamesDaniel James
    Posts: 844Member, Sourcefabric Team
    Hi,

    I suggest that you start by asking your translators which tools they use, if any. For example, some translators use add-ons for Microsoft Word, so if you need to use .docx format this will affect your workflow. If they use HTML based tools, that gives you more flexibility.

    In case the translators want to work completely in Booktype, they can export an EPUB from the original book and import it as a new copy to translate.

    Cheers!

    Daniel
  • Vote Up0Vote Down doschdosch
    Posts: 7Member
    In case the translators want to work completely in Booktype, they can
    export an EPUB from the original book and import it as a new copy to
    translate.


    Yes, this would be the idea.
    Somehow I thought that booktype had a more versatile way to duplicate books and help people translating content...

    But I am wondering; will the copy use the same imagery as the original? So that if we change an image in the original book, it will be updated in the translations as well?
    Post edited by dosch at 2017-07-07 10:23:45
  • Vote Up0Vote Down Daniel JamesDaniel James
    Posts: 844Member, Sourcefabric Team
    A previous version of Booktype did have a feature to clone books directly, that was removed in favour of EPUB import. When a book is cloned, it is a new independent copy, so any image changes in the original would not automatically take place in the translation. However late changes also take place in the original text which cannot be copied directly into the translation anyway. So the best way to manage late changes to the original is to use the Book History change tracker on the original.
  • Vote Up0Vote Down doschdosch
    Posts: 7Member
    ah, ok. Thank you for the extra information.

    We want to produce a series of small books (max 20 pages each) and have each one translated to 5 languages. I was hoping that booktype would be the best place to manage all these documents and their versions.

    But maybe we use it for the source text (English) and then use something else for the translations...
  • Vote Up0Vote Down Daniel JamesDaniel James
    Posts: 844Member, Sourcefabric Team
    It depends on which tools your translators use, and which input/output formats those tools require. It may be that you can use a third-party tool for the translation task, then use Booktype to manage and output the final versions of the translations.
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