Frequently Asked Questions (Pricing)


■ Always working with a line price?

Billing on a line basis is the general practice in Germany.  When translating with CAT Tools (translation assistance tools) or on request, however, a word rate may also be agreed.

 

■ What is a line?

A standard line contains 50 strokes (including spaces). To ensure maximum transparency, source texts are counted for translations into Japanese and target texts for translations from Japanese.

 
■ Certified translations offered?

We will gladly also handle translations that need to be certified. In close cooperation with a team of sworn translators, we will at all times try to deliver your document just in time when it is needed. Bear in mind, however, that a certified translation cannot be delivered electronically and hence, the time required for postal delivery should be taken into account when ordering.

 

■ I want to translate only a few lines.

A minimum charge of 16 EUR is applied.

 
■ How do you bill for text supplied as fax or hardcopy?

When the source text is used as the billing basis (i.e. when translating into Japanese), the number of characters in the fax or hardcopy will be counted using an OCR (optical character recognition) program to determine the number of lines. In the opposite case (i.e. when translating from Japanese), the number of lines in the output file will be counted with a line counting program.

 
■ Can you overwrite a PowerPoint file? What does it cost?

Overwriting ppt/pptx files is time-consuming as it requires constantly adjusting font sizes and text boxes to conserve the given layout.  A surcharge of 10 % or more (depending on the layout) for this extra work applies. The number of lines is counted after extracting the text from the ppt/pptx file using add-on software.

 
■ I want to translate a list.

When translating a list of definitions, every entry is counted as a line. On the other hand, a parts list e.g. may contain many repetitions. In that case, we will grant a discount based on the amount of repetitions in the text.

 
■ The source text is quite repetitive.  How do you calculate the price?

When the file is suitable for translation with a CAT tool, a discount may be granted as a function of the repeat frequency. We are happy to make an individual offer based on your document.

 
■ Can you overwrite an html file?

An html file can be translated using CAT tools (e.g. TRADOS).  The number of lines can be determined by a special text counter which excludes tags from the count.

 
■ I need a new translation only where the text was changed.

If the changes in the file or hardcopy are marked, the usual line price applies.  If the changes are unmarked, the entire text needs to be cross-checked line by line. The considerable extra labour will be billed separately at an hourly rate of EUR 46.