Visually adapting documents to different languages—taking into account cultural and any other differences that may exist—is much more important than it seems. Contrary to what you might think at first, translating the text is not the only thing that needs to be done to fully adapt the layouts.
Here a good DTP service (desktop publishing service) can use editing, layout and graphic retouching to ensure that the image and values of the brand continue to be reflected in the same way, regardless of the language in which the document is written. You can then print it out and distribute it or publish it on your multilingual website with zero worries.
Any visual adaptation of a document has a clear objective: to adapt the typographic style of a text to another language so that it occupies practically the same space and renders the same spacing and hierarchy. To do so, consider the following:
These are just a few examples of the importance of typographic adaptation in any translation, to achieve the best balance between a pleasing appearance and an easy-to-read experience.
Asian languages have a number of characteristics that are important to remember. Particularly noteworthy is the single-case (unicameral) alphabet, which means that all characters have the same height and width. So, the script is physically very different from the rest of the languages, which, at the graphic level, has several consequences:
As you've seen, the visual adaptation of documents in translation into other languages is fundamental. That’s why hiring our localization services and, more specifically, our DTP service is a very good idea to ensure the quality and effectiveness of all texts in all languages. It is essential never to forget about the visual and legibility component in these tasks, and at Linguaserve, we’re very aware of this.