Once upon a time the overwhelming majority of computerized translation was done in word processing or text formats. If there was any question about format it was maybe whether the source was in Microsoft Word or WordPerfect format (with the latter most often being the case!). Today, things clearly have changed. There are a host of formats out there and fewer and fewer translators, especially those who work in more or less technical fields, get by with just using word processing application(s).
While I have dealt with the more common office formats in earlier sections (see Office Suites on page 117), in this section I have attempted to categorize the most commonly required more advanced file formats. You will find descriptions of the programs for which these are written, how to distinguish between the translatable vs. untranslatable parts, and how these formats are supported by computer-assisted translation tools.
The categories of file formats are the following:
- Desktop publishing formats (formats for programs such as QuarkXPress, PageMaker, InDesign, FrameMaker, etc.)
- Graphic formats (pixel-based: .jpg, .gif, .bmp, .tiff, etc., and vector-based: .eps, .ai, etc.)
- Tagged files (.html, .xml, .sgml, etc.)
- Software development formats (binary formats: .dll, .exe, .ocx, etc. and text-based formats: .rc, .properties, .resx, etc.)
- Help systems (WinHelp and HTMLHelp)
- Database-based data
By Jost Zetzsche and internationalwriters.com