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goranl19234833
goranl19234833
Known Participant
July 24, 2023
Question

Two languages = similar length of text?

  • July 24, 2023
  • 2 replies
  • 308 views

I have a 300-page book on the Serbian language.
And now I have to translate it into English.

 

I want to keep the same layout (two columns, pictures, tables in the same places as in Serbian) and just replace Serbian with English.

 

The problem, of course, is the length of the columns. How can I deal with this? How can I make the English version as dense as the original Serb version in terms of text box length?

 

I cannot reduce the font size. It is already small (Adobe Caslon Pro 10pt).

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

Robert at ID-Tasker
Robert at ID-Tasker
Legend
July 24, 2023

Like others said - it's up hill battle. 

 

If texts need to be 1:1 - then it may look pretty awful. 

 

First - you need to check which one is longer - then you can play with kerning and scale - find rough ballance. 

 

Then fine tune each part of the text. 

 

I'm pretty sure you don't have to keep corresponding paragraphs taking exactly the same space and location - so it shouldn't be a big deal if text will shift a little - but would be best if you can read and understand both languages to determine where and how much it can shift. 

 

 

jmlevy
Community Expert
jmlevyCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 24, 2023

Since the text lengths are different, I don't think it is possible. Technically, you could increase the leading of the shortest text and decrease the leading of the longest one, to find an average length, but it will be absolutely awful…

goranl19234833
goranl19234833Author
Known Participant
July 24, 2023

The Serbian version is printed. I need to make an English version. So only adaptations with English text are possible. Thank you for your reply

Peter Spier
Community Expert
Peter SpierCommunity Expert
Community Expert
July 24, 2023

If, as I expect, this is a case where they just want to change the plates for the text and not create new plates for everything else, then this is really an editorial problem, not a layout problem. The translators and editors need to make changes that will cause the two texts to be of similar lengths.

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