Keeping a document’s format
When working on a translation project translators are often required to match the formatting of the original document in the target language.  One of the most common problems encountered during this process is the expansion or contraction of the text after translation.  Take the time before you start your translation project to consider a few important factors that can save you both time and money.

Understanding Expansion or Contraction of Text
European languages such as Spanish French German and Italian can take up to 25% more space than English therefore this additional text can completely change the design and layout of the original document. Languages that use double-byte or ideographic characters such as Japanese, Chinese and Korean will use less space than English text would.
Documents that were originally designed without considering the changes to the amount of text after the translation process will find it can be not only time consuming but also costly.  Consider if you have a 200 page training manual that was originally in English and you translate it to Spanish, this document now becomes a 250 page manual.  The price of printing the Spanish version will cost 25% more than the original English version.

Other Factors to Consider
Abbreviations should also be considered when working with translated documents.  Page breaks will also occur at different places than the original.  Hyphenated words may also cause problems in the target language.  Even the translator will be a factor in whether the text expands or contracts.  One translator may use four words to say a sentence while another may use six or seven.

PDF files can also cause a Problem for translators
PDF files are very popular in today’s business place.  One of the reasons for the popularity is the fact that it is cross platform compatible.  Basically this means that whether you are a Mac user or a PC user you can still open the document with an Adobe reader. 
There are two types of PDF files, Editable and non-editable.  An editiable PDF is one that actually contains text and can be edited.  For example, if you open a PDF file and try to select text with your mouse and it grabs all four corners of the document, then the computer only sees an image of text, there is actually no text.  This would be called a non-editable PDF.  Another form of a non-editable PDF would be one that is password protected or locked. Translators should always request an editable PDF or the original document from the client if possible.  This will make it easier if you need to run it through software to convert the document maybe to another format during the translation process.

Summary
Before starting any translation project you should look at what you will be doing with the document after it’s translated.  Will it be printed or published on a webpage, or is it just an internal document within your company and formatting is not even a consideration.