Translation and Desktop Publishing of Technical Drawings

The client

Our client is a German engineering office offering comprehensive services from technical consultation via planning and construction to machine and plant engineering and construction.

The project

We received 33 technical drawings in DWG format which were to be translated from English to Russian. The “flow diagrams” were prepared in the AutoCAD technical software and consisted of a total of 18,000 words. Our team had 10 working days in order to deliver the completed translation in the source format.

The challenge

In addition to the project’s tight schedule, the translation of flow diagrams requires in-depth technical understanding. The drawings mainly consisted of code numbers, symbols and formulas. There was very little text which gave additional information about the context. Furthermore, it was not possible to simply integrate the completed translation into the drawings due to the difference in length between the two languages.

The implementation

• Step 1: By means of a suitable converting program, we extracted the content of the drawings to be imported to the CAT tool (computer-assisted translation). Technical drawings contain a lot of identical terms. By using the tool, we ensured a consistent translation.
• Step 2: We engaged a Russian specialized translator with more than 18 years of experience in the technical field. Revision of the translation by a second native speaker was done directly in the CAT tool.
• Step 3: After exporting the file, the completed translation could be transformed back to its source format by using the same conversion program. The texts were automatically inserted at the correct place. Thus, our desktop publishing specialist simply had to align the longer Russian texts to the existing layout in the AutoCAD files.

The result

Especially in the technical area, our clients benefit from our longstanding experience in processing complex, technical formats and our expansive network of specialized translators. Thanks to the efficient project process, our client received all 33 flow diagrams in due time, translated consistently and in the source format.