Multilingual typesetting – what is it and why it’s important
27th August 2021
Let’s say you had a text translated; you’ve added it to your page, but something just doesn’t look right. Your page formatting and layout of the document are off. So, what do you do?
Firstly, let’s take a step back and reiterate one important factor, during the translation process text expands and contracts, which means that the layout of your translated content is not going to match the original source file. This means your English page is going to look very different to your German page for example.
Readers don’t just read your content, they process the overall look of the page including text, videos, images, tables and much more.
Elements such as headings, hyphens, text direction and text space, line breaks, fonts and alignment of the page can influence the way the reader perceives the information presented to them.
This is where typesetting comes in handy. Typesetting is the process of arranging the text and images on the page. Multilingual typesetting is used when globalising or localising a product, website, or service.
By using typesetting services, you ensure your text will be received by your target audience seamlessly.
What does multilingual typesetting involves?
- Text space: as mentioned earlier, when translating from one language to the other, the length of text will differ. Generally, texts translated from English into European languages can be expected to expand from 130% up to as much as 300%.
- Punctuation: each language comes with its own set of punctuation rules. A typesetter will change the words of your text and adapt the grammar and punctuation.
- Accents and capitalisation: a misused capital or a missing accent can distract and confuse the reader from your text. Typesetting services will ensure your text uses the correct accents and capitals for the target language. For example, “Good morning” translates to “Dzień dobry” in Polish – a language with many accents.
- Hyphenation and line breaks: each language has its own rules on using hyphenation, when and how they used. Arabic has no hyphens, while they are widely used in English.
- Text direction: the layout of your document or page needs to be changed to suit the direction of which the words will be read. In English we read from left to right, but this is not true for other languages. In Arabic, Hebrew and Persian for example, text is read from right to left. So if you are translating a website page from English to Arabic, the entire layout of your document has to be adapted.
- Fonts: there are certain fonts that are only accessible in certain languages. This will depend on the alphabet they use. Also, do you know which fonts are suitable and preferable in certain cultures? A typesetter can help with that.
- Text size and spacing: the end aim is to get an easily readable text. To achieve this the font size and spacing may need changing to accommodate the new language. Languages such as Arabic and Thai have taller and more complex characters than Latin and will require more vertical space and space between the lines.
- Text alignment: standards on how to align text vary from language to language. For example, in Chinese, it is key that text is aligned precisely and justified on both sides. Meanwhile, Arabic is rarely ever aligned to the left.
- Numbers: some languages use commas in place of our decimal point and vice versa.
- Graphics: some graphics can be off-putting to your target audience. For example, the thumbs-up gesture in Africa is seen as the equivalent to giving the middle finger, whilst in China it signifies good fortune or luck.
Working with experienced translators and typesetters who understand the importance of correct and reliable translation is key for localising your campaign, product, or service.
Accurate translation is one thing, how it is presented on the page is another. Readers are impatient and even the littlest things such as font size, layout or punctuation can distract them from your message and have a large impact on the success of the translation.
When you use our typesetting services, we will ensure your words are translated and presented in a way that resonates with each culture and language. Contact us for a quote here.
