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I don't know what is preferred, I think it would depend on the readers,
the design, and layout.
When I was writing for translation I did one of two things:
1. Callouts with numbers on an area, with a table underneath the
picture. I made it LOOK like the picture and table were all one figure,
so it was Figure 1, Figure 2, with the table as text underneath - it was
easy to translate. We never had complaints about this, and reviewers
felt it was easy to follow.
2. LARGE schematics were handled on facing pages, figure X on one page,
callouts were numbers; Table X on facing page with the explanation
Text can always refer to the numbers, but unless there are very few
numbers/arrows, I would have the key separate, as people like to look at
figures and immediately understand what they are looking at.
For example, I had the two pager mentioned above. Later on, I was
talking about a particular item in the screen and added in parentheses
(#2 in Figure 4), this is acceptable.
What would be difficult on the reader, is looking at the picture with
numbers, there is no legend, and a page or so later to read:
In figure 2, note that 1 marks the entry area, 2 marks the command
buttons, 3 indicates the menu bar.... (or whatever).
I believe if you keep user accessibility foremost in your mind, you
can't go far wrong.
Nancy Allison wrote:
> Two questions about writing for translation:
>
> 1. I once knew of a PDF prepared by, I dunno, a translation company maybe, that was all about how to write with translation in mind. It was book-length and was highly recommended (at an STC meeting, Boston chapter, a few years ago). Does anyone know of it, and, if so, can you send me a link to it, assuming it is still available?
>
> 2. Specific, immediate concern: Callouts in figures. My client still has callouts (in Framemaker text boxes, if it matters) in the figure itself. What is the preferred format of callouts for translation? Put only numbers and arrows in the figure, and then have the key separate, in the main body text? Or have the key in a separate text frame, but within the anchored frame (that would be for Framemaker)?
>
> Thanks.
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
> Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
> 2009 tips, tricks, and best practices.
>http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/
>
> Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Free Software Documentation Project Web Cast: Covers developing Table of
Contents, Context IDs, and Index, as well as Doc-To-Help
2009 tips, tricks, and best practices. http://www.doctohelp.com/SuperPages/Webcasts/
Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/
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