HOW I CALCULATE MY FEES
The fees I charge for my services depend on the following
factors:
The length of the text
The most accurate way to measure the length of the text in a document is
calculating the amount of words it contains, as this suppresses the biases due
to spaces without text, different page sizes, different letter sizes, etc. The number of lines can also be a good
measurement, but this value can also be biased by letter size, margins,
etc. My quote can be based on any type
of measurement, as long as it can be homologated to my output, measured as
number of words per hour or per day.
The difficulty of a text
If a text is highly specialised, a specialist in that field should be able to translate it effectively and quickly, but he must charge for the intellectual assets that allow him to perform with that speed and effectiveness. A non specialised translator, but that has some practice in that field and has suitable resources, might produce a similar output, but it will take him more time, charging for the time it might take.
The format of the document (file type)
Some formats are easier to work on, and others can double the amount of time needed to translate a text, if you want to produce a translation with above average quality:
- Word processor: this is the best format
for translating with translating tools, allowing faster
translation and easier terminology consistency. Some of these tools allow us to translate without modifying the layout or style of the text.
- Spreadsheets(i.e.: Excel): most of the
translating tools can extract Excel texts, aiding translation,
but as each cell often includes phrases without sufficient context, the translation can become very slow.
- PowerPoint: when the Powerpoint has been
built with extractable texts (text boxes) its translation
is not more difficult than translating an Excel. But when it has been built with images, it can only be translated with an image editor (i.e. Photoshop) or re-building the PowerPoint, something much slower
than translating with WORD.
- Images: any text embedded in an image
(.jpg; .bmp; .gif; etc.) must be translated with the aid
of an image editor or delivering a double column word file in the pair of languages. Some image boxes created with WORD can be edited directly in WORD.
- PDF: when a pdf has been created with
images the text cannot be extracted and the whole file must be converted using OCR software, or transcribed by a bilingual secretary or using voice recognition software. When a text can be extracted from a pdf file and is pasted to WORD it acquires a text format
that must be edited, specially tabs, so that translating tools may work properly.
- Printed material: one can translate printed
material just as fast as a Word document, without the use of translating software, but it will be much more difficult to ensure terminology consistency and apply quality assurance. It usually is desirable to convert the printed material to a Word document.
Quality assurance
There are various ways of assuring the quality
of a translation. I perform a routine quality check in all my translations. This check involves the critical review and comparison of both texts in parallel (in English and Spanish) at the end of the translating process, segment by segment, and a review of the
final monolingual version the next morning. During these reviews I examine and amend the following elements:
- That all parts of the text have been translated.
- Grammar, spelling and punctuation.
- Concept-based errors.
- Style consistency.
- Terminology and localization (Language and punctuation adequate for a country or language variant).
- Consistency of text format with the customer’s requirements.
- Verify the naturalness and fluency of the text in reading.
In some cases, when it’s required by the client or it’s necessary due to the kind of document, I can offer double quality assurance checks. Once the document is translated it’s sent to a second translator who reviews it and assesses the precision of the translation. This has an additional cost. Double checks are advisable for very sensitive documents or documents that carry legal responsibilities, and/or include complex texts covering three or more specialty fields.
Responsibility
The use that a document will be given, and its legal, economic and emotional consequences, are also factors that shape a translators fees and his professional reputation, as those consequences can depend on the accuracy of the translator.
Additional services
If the final text must include layout or style parameters that are not transferred automatically by the translating tools or if the file format doesn’t allow this transfer, it will have to be done by hand, something that means work and has a cost.
Delivering a translation in print form
At present most of the work done by translators is done online. Sending out a printed sample of the translation is not the usual way we work, so if you need a printed copy you must state that when you ask for a quote, as it can have an additional cost, in materials and in transport.
Certifying a translation
If the customer needs the document to be certified, either through a simple statement or with signature authorized by a notary public, he must state that when asking
for a quote. I DO NOT CERTIFY THE TRANSLATION OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS unless the
recipient declares that he will accept a simple statement or with the translators signature
attested by a notary public. I DO NOT CERTIFY EDUCATIONAL DEGREES OR ACADEMIC TRANSCRIPTS.
Urgency
A job is considered urgent when the translator must postpone any other activity, work overtime and/or hire additional staff, so a job can be completed before a tight deadline. I consider 8 hours to be a normal working day, with adequate breaks as any desk job. The amount of work that can be put into 8 hours (number of translated words) depends on the efficiency of the translator, the difficulty of the text, its specialty, the file format and the additional services required. I do not deliver my translations without quality assurance (at least two reviews).
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Procedures 
