Easy Way of Translating PDF on Mac

One of the banes of translation is certainly dealing with PDF. Introduced in the early 1990s, it was mainly used as means of prepress proofing. Containing information on its text formatting and inline image, the file format is intended to display the file properly without requiring the receiver to have any desktop publishing software, and not meant to be edited. Its convenience and popularity, however, gave rise to clueless client, and agencies, sending PDF files to be translated.
Back in my Windows days, my favorite tool in handling PDF is Iceni's Infix PDF Editor. It's a cool program that lets you edit PDF file directly, making it easy to correct typos. And in addition to editing PDF, Infix also makes it easy to translate PDF while retaining its original layout. Another good news is, especially for Mac translator, like yours truly, Iceni now has Mac version of Infix.

Translator's Best Friend

While a man's best friend is a dog, a translator's best friend is, as a ProZ.com poll shows, a CAT. Mind you, CAT here refers to computer-assisted translation tool, not a feline, a small domesticated carnivorous mammal with soft fur, a short snout, and retractile claws, which is widely kept as a pet or for catching mice.

So, what is this CAT tool?

If you're new to the translation industry, CAT tool is a software used by translator to support and facilitate the translation process. This software usually, at least, includes translation memory and terminology management programs.

Benefits of CAT tool

CAT tool, specifically the translation memory (TM) part, is deemed beneficial that most language professionals are using it, and many translation projects require its use. Personally, CAT tool was the main reason I got started translating professionally. The followings are the benefits I find most useful:

• Translation acceleration
CAT tool helps accelerate translation by providing exact and/or fuzzy matching from previously translated materials. This feature is especially valuable when translating a document with many repetitions. On average, translators believe that CAT tool improves their productivity by 20-30%.
• Terms consistency
Through the terminology management, CAT tool provides a means of automatically searching for a term when translating a document. Most of the time, though, I just manually search for the previously translated term in the translation memory.
• File formats support
CAT tool also enables translation of documents in a wide variety of formats without having to own the softwares required to process these formats. The formats extend from the ubiquitous office files to desktop publishing files to files generated by other CAT tools.

Photo by kitty.green66 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, modified from its original.

Batman Contacted Me for Translation

I woke up this morning surprised to find out that Batman, the Dark Knight himself, invited me via email to help him translate his site.

#Batman emailed me this morning, asking for #translation. #JustSayin pic.twitter.com/Y0jwXHL0Hw

— Mulyadi Subali (@msubali) July 18, 2014

That made my day, more than my daily dose of fresh Mandheling iced coffee.

Photo by Abel Bascunana Pons, modified from its original.

GIF by CelebQuote.