[Framers] Authoring and distributing a manual for US and non-US customers

[Robert Lauriston]

If you do hire a translation company, be sure the contract requires
them to deliver their translation memory files along with the
translated files.

You should consider migrating from FrameMaker to a topic-based tool
with translation management, such as Paligo or Flare + Lingo. That
would also make it easier to deliver both US Letter and A4, if
necessary.

On Fri, Nov 8, 2019 at 1:51 PM <tammyvb at spectrumwritingllc.com> wrote:
>
> A longtime client who initially distributed their product only in the US was
> acquired by a large international firm and now will be required to have
> their manuals available to customers in Europe, Asia, and A-Pac. Currently,
> I am developing in FM V12 and producing a PDF that is available online.
>
> The only information that I can gather right now is that this new customer
> base will also require PDFs.
>
> 1.      I need to consider that I might be the one handling the logistics of
> the translation process to an outside vendor versus any in-house staff.
> (They do have folks that deal w/ this issue but they are overworked and
> understaffed and right now, can't guarantee that they can take on another
> division's translation requirements.)
> 2.      The current source is manual is classic US-approved layout - 8.5 x
> 11 w/ crop marks for printing specified but my client briefly rattled off
> their concern about the A4 requirement for Europe.
>
>
>
> So, my questions:
>
>
>
> 1.      How does A4 and any other non-US requirements impact/affect my
> template in FM? What do I need to do/plan for/change the layout of so that I
> have one single source guide that serves all customers - US and on-US?
> 2.      I know I can learn the logistics of the translation process but
> first, any one company/person that you would recommend and what do I have to
> be aware of in my FM template knowing that the source will be translated?
> Any insight into the translation process/logistics of (what files I have to
> provide, what I get back, etc.) would be sincerely appreciated.