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Re: When to use screen shots (was: screen dumps in books)
Subject:Re: When to use screen shots (was: screen dumps in books) From:"Huber, Mike" <mrhuber -at- SOFTWARE -dot- ROCKWELL -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 21 Jan 1999 11:20:01 -0500
> Ron G.
> Don't forget that the more illustrations you use, the fewer words you
> will need. The fewer words you use, the less costly the translation
> will be. Besides, the screens have to be translated anyway,
> so why not use them?
Depends on the pictures involved.
If the pictures include text (and most screenshots do) the translated book will need translated pictures, which can be a problem. Getting to the appropriate screen and populating it is time consuming, particularly when the translation people are not familiar with the software being documented. I've worked with translation companies that didn't provide the translators with computers capable of running the software being documented, so the translators were not able to generate screenshots at all.
The scheduling can be a serious problem. The goal is to release the translated version of the product very, very quickly. That means translating the books and the software at the same time. Waiting for the software to be translated in order to get the screenshots introduces undesirable links in the timeline.
In some cases, it is actually quicker and easier for the translators to edit the screenshot graphic directly than to redo the shot from the software.
All of these issues are even stickier for maintenance than they are for the initial translation.
Graphics that do not include text do make translation easier, but there are often other issues. Some pictures mean different things in different cultures.
I like graphics, but I have to consider the cost of translation when I decide whether to use one or not.
One thing I do to reduce the cost is to crop the screenshot as much as possible. Text that I cut out of the picture doesn't have to be translated, and when a part I cut gets changed, I don't have to redo the picture.
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