Document Translation and Scanning

Scanning Documents for Translation

If you are considering using translation software it is preferred to have your documents in digital format or simply already available as a file you can open on your computer.

Many times this is not possible, so you must use a scanner to scan a document and then using OCR Software (Optical Charachter Recognition) to take a picture of the text then it converts the picture of the letters to text format. Once it is in text format then translation software can read the text and translate it for you.

When scanning documents you must use a good OCR software that can recognize the different accent marks or characters of the language. If you are translating European languages may use a different software than you would use with Russian or Asian languages.

During the scanning process the OCR software can introduce extra characters causing inaccuracies. Even a smudge on a document can cause the OCR software to add a few letters.

If you scan a document, you must make sure the text is accurate BEFORE you use translation software to translate the document.

Three Steps to prepare your scanned document for translation.

Step 1) Scan your document, use the cleanest copy you have, smudges or lines can cause the OCR Software to make errors.

Step 2) Instruct the OCR Software to convert it to text.

Step 3) Proofread the scanned document and correct any errors. The accuracy of OCR software can vary and they there are usually corrections that need to be made.

Step 4) Once the document is in text you can open it in your favorite word processor or text editor and perform translation. This Software can translate any text.

PDF Files

There are times when you might receive a scanned document that has been saved in PDF format.

There are basically two types of PDF files.

1) Text PDF: This type of PDF file actually contains text and is editable. If your PDF is editable you can select the individual words with your mouse, making it easy to copy and paste sections.

2) Graphical PDF: This type of PDF contains an image of the text, not actual text. Although both types of PDF files look the same, you can tell the difference by trying to select the text.

Once your PDF is in text format, you can easily translate the document with translation software.

Asian or Arabic PDF Files

If you have a PDF containing Asian, Arabic or another language uses this type of character set you may need to check and make sure you can convert your PDF to text, some of these languages require a different type of OCR software.

Languages: English - Spanish - French - Japanese - German - Portuguese -
Italian - Korean - Chinese - Dutch - Arabic - Dutch - Swedish - Russian