Kit creation for localization submission

There are many options available to you as you prepare a localization kit, so your choices influence whether you use a two-step or one-step process for obtaining your kit.

A localization kit can be your single source for all the related objects you submit for translation, which includes the following potential content:

  • The source map
  • All map dependencies
    Note: Images in the map are included in the kit with all formats that are in the image object library such as lowres, highres, and source, with an additional object using the .image file extension
  • Any source submaps
Important: While it is possible to create separate kits for each language from each language manifest, it makes for more overhead on your side and will require more rigor on your part to track. For example, you could create a separate kit for images, but as you do this, your work to manage your localization jobs increases in complexity.

Suppose you are a translation coordinator. You have five technical writers submitting content on multiple projects, and two of them: A-1 and B-2, are both working on content for the new WidgetPro project. The business plan is to initially release WidgetPro to just two European countries: France and Spain. Your business requires you to obtain competitive bids from a minimum of three translation agencies.

A-1 notifies you that her topics and images have an Authoring:done status and are ready for localization. B-2 tells you that his topics and images are almost all at Authoring:done, but he is still waiting on final design lock for one of his topics. He's marked it as Authoring:done for now, but may need to update it.

Here is what your kit creation looks like:

  1. Create the translation manifest snapshot immediately. See Create a translation manifest and skip the optional steps.
  2. Generate the localization kit with its French and Spanish language manifests after B-2 tells you that there are no changes to the topic in question. See Generate a localization kit.
Note: Had there been updates to the topic, you would create a new translation manifest, since each translation manifest is a snapshot of the map and its dependencies.

Suppose the new WidgetPro project is on the fast-track and the Product Manager has requested you to obtain a bid and proceed with immediate translation if it does not exceed a specified amount.

Here is what your kit creation looks like:

  1. Immediately create the translation manifest and generate the localization kit with its French and Spanish language manifests in the same step. See Create a translation manifest and include the optional steps.
  2. Obtain competitive bids from three translation agencies, then submit the localization kits to the approved agency.