Re: Internationalizing screen shots for customizable software

[Wil Gaffga <wil_gaffga -at- gibbscam -dot- com>]

on 11/3/99 12:58 PM, Rob Steiner wrote:

> The re-wording is going well, but we're kind of
> stumped on what to do with the screen shots, which are
> all in English. Since the software will be
> customized/translated to the customer's needs/language
> once it's delivered, we can not get access to the
> translated software to get the translated screen
> shots.
> 
> So my big question is: How do we allow for
> multi-language screen shots in our internationalized
> documentation when the software will be customized
> when it's delivered to the customer?

If I follow correctly ... you are localizing existing items. The
localization of the manuals is going well and the software is still in
progress. You hope to deliver the software to your international clients as
soon as it is available but that leaves the documentation out in the cold.

Well, the way we do it is AFAFP, (As Fast As __ Possible). We generally do
not have simultaneous releases of English & localized software so we're
lucky in that respect. Generally the non-English software goes out with a
post-release update that fixes any bugs we might come across. This gives us
some time to crank out the screenshots, drop 'em into the translated files
and get 'em printed.

As for terminology ... be sure that the same translation team works on the
software and documentation to have consistency in terminology, especially
technical stuff.

Wil


Wil Gaffga
Documentation Manager
Gibbs and Associates
Wil -at- GibbsCAM -dot- com