The How-To Library

Localization Life Cycle

To perform the localization jobs professionally, achieve a high degree of quality, and satisfy the clients’ needs, we follow strict procedures throughout the localization cycle.

1. Managing localization project

In this phase, the localization request is received from the client and assigned to a project manager.

• Analyzing the project and identifying its scope (translation, reviewing, DTP …etc).
• Checking all the sources and files (DTP/Translation) are complete and not corrupted.
• Allocating resources to the project.

2. Pre-translation Language Engineering

In this phase the files are prepared for translators in the needed format according to client input and required output.

• Checking if there is any code in the files and protecting this code.
• Generating Multiterm Glossary to assure the consistency of terms.
• Generating Translation Memory (TM).
• Applying any previous TMs to the files and protecting the matches in order to assure the consistency with the ongoing long-term projects.

3. Translation

In this phase the translators proceed with the given job according to the given instructions. Files are distributed to the translators and they work on the shared TM.

4. Reviewing

The professional reviewers check the translation for invalid or inconsistent terminology, invalid amount of space characters, duplicate dialog hotkeys, duplicate menu hotkeys, inconsistent format string, invalid amount of new line characters, invalid amount of tabulation characters, missing punctuations, and other inconsistencies.

5. Linguistic Check

A Linguistic Check Specialist reviews the target language for grammatical mistakes.

6. Language QA

A Language QA Specialist reviews all the files considering style, grammar, cultural issues and any other language-related issues.

7. Pre-DTP Language Engineering

After finishing all the translation and QA phases, the files are sent back to the Language Engineer to re-convert them back to the desired format in order to be editable on the DTP tool. This phase includes:

• Checking if there are any problems with code in the files and debugging them.
• Converting the files to the required extension.
• Converting the files to the desired operating system (PC/Mac).

8. Desktop Publishing (DTP) — initiation

In this phase, the DTP specialists perform a number of procedures to organize the general appearance and formatting of the translated material. It includes

• Adjusting the layout and master pages according to the language specifications.
• Generating default character styles and paragraph styles.
• Applying the language specific conventions.
• Creating a draft PDF for QA and proofreading purposes.

9. Quality Assurance (QA) — checking

In this phase, the QA specialists perform a QA check on the draft PDF file against the DTP standards, language needs, and client's request. It includes:

• Checking the Master Pages and the consistency of the layout.
• Checking Bookmarks, Crop Marks, Bleeds, Cross References and Hyperlinks.
• A copy of the draft PDF is sent to the Language QA specialist to check the correct appearance of text, overlapping problems, and special characters.

10. Desktop Publishing (DTP) — solving

All the reports of the QA phase are sent back to the DTP specialist to apply them in the original files and regenerate a PDF for checking. This loop continues till the final result of the file is satisfactory.

11. Quality Assurance (QA) — finalizing

In this phase the QA specialist checks the DTP standards, TOC, Indexing, Printing Options, and Color Separation.

12. Language Sign-Off (LSO)

The final files are sent to the Language QA Specialist to apply the language sign-off on the content of the file.

13. Testing

Having finalized all phases, the final files are sent to be tested on various platforms (Mac, Windows XP, Windows 98, etc) to assure the compatibility of the files on different conditions. Then the properties of the files are edited according to each language and to the client needs.

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At this point, we all have the relief and the pleasure to send the files to the client, hoping that these little endeavors satisfy the needs.

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