Well, it was back in 1990 

It marked the end of manually creating colour separated artwork, the end of CS10 and tedious paste-ups. Indeed, it marked the end of a whole bunch of carefully honed skills. 

But it introduced an amazing world of new opportunities, and the pace of development has never stopped since. 

It introduced a need to develop new skills, adopt new techniques and importantly it introduced the term ‘workflow integration’. 

Why is workflow integration important? 

We can sum it up in three words: 

• Speed 
• Accuracy  
• Cost 

When the need to translate brochures, booklets, data sheets or multimedia and training assets is a key part of your brief, being able to integrate your production workflow with that of your translation provider is the key to all three.

And integration doesn’t need to be complex. 

Here are a few insights that may prove useful when planning your next project: 

InDesign 

Adobe have done all of the hard work for you. Your InDesign file will readily export as an IDML. 

The IDML file can be ‘read’ by our translation management tools, and we can then translate directly into your IDML file. Neat. 

We return the translated IDML for you to carry out final layout revision. 

No faffing trying to make sure all content gets copied into a Word file, no pasting an unknown language back into your InDesign files and no missed content. 

Result is: 

• It’s faster. Simple as that. 
• It’s more accurate. Less repetitive work for your creative team, but more time to focus on what they do best – create a quality result. 
• Because there is less time spent on the ‘mechanics’ of the job, it’s usually more cost effective. 

Illustrator 

Does the same process work for Illustrator files?  

In principle, yes.  Illustrator doesn’t have the same export capability as InDesign, but by using a plugin such as Sysfilter, tagged content can be exported as XML.  

Just like your IDML file, we can translate directly into the XML file. The translated content can then be imported back into your Illustrator files, retaining all of your original layout attributes. 

Your advantage is exactly the same as for InDesign files.  

So, if you have Illustrator files with a lot of text content, maybe to be translated into multiple languages, this process will save you time and prove more cost efficient than copy and paste routines. 

30 years experience is yours when you need it 

Here we’ve outlined just two, basic workflow enhancements.  

With 30 years’ experience, we accumulated a wealth of productivity knowledge that can help you achieve your multi-language publishing goals. 

If you have a complex publishing project in one or more languages, our expert studio teams can deliver the solution that works for you. 

Our studio resource 

We have multi-language typesetting and production resources on three continents. With the capacity to deliver any size of project in one or many languages, we are the ideal partner for your multilanguage publishing needs. 

Need more information? Call or email. 

Ken Mealing. Solutions Architect. My experience lends commercial understanding to the marketing communication needs of established global brands, expanding domestic brands and advertising, marketing and creative consultancies.