Arabic desktop publishing and typesetting services

• Typesetting is also defined as: Typesetting is the process, the craft, of setting the type for a document, not to be confused with typography, which is the art of designing the type.
• Desktop publishing is also defined as The production of printed matter by means of a printer linked to a desktop computer, with special software.

Desktop Publishing tips when designing English materials for translation

1. In some designs the pages are simply filled with text, leaving no room for text expansion. Most languages (with some notable exceptions) run longer than English and some of them run much longer. This causes the localised versions to have to make some sort of compromise: either text becomes smaller or a condensed font is used, or some material is completely cut out for brevity. Neither scenario is ideal, so it is much better to consider this aspect of the task at the design stage.
2. Overuse of text formatting features like drop caps, CAPITALISED TEXT,  coloured text, bold text, and italic text, etc. can slow down the localisation process, as the formatting needs to be applied to the precise word or phrase in translation that is equivalent to the English. Sometimes, this does not work at all if the target language has a dramatically different word order. Some languages such as Arabic do not use CAPITALS.
3. Embedded, non-editable text in images require extra attention and can slow things down dramatically, especially when over the main part of the image. Where possible, the text should be made available for editing in InDesign. If not, we will require all of the PSD files to work with.
4. Avoid designing paragraphs or “word clouds” with mixed font sizes that look good in English but have no chance of being replicated in the target language: quite often they do not have the same impact when localised and can often be “lost in translation”. Furthermore, due to word order difference, keywords in English at the beginning of a sentence might end up in the middle or at the end of the sentence when translated.
5. One of the most frequent issues we encounter is the incorrect and inconsistent usage of style sheets, in particular where one style has been used but in some instances, bold text, italics or even different fonts have been changed manually. This can cause significant delays in the localisation process.
6. Sending the artwork to be typeset before it is signed off by the client is never a good idea, and neither are new design changes after we have already started the work. We can do nothing in situations like these where significant changes are requested mid-project but start again and present new figures for the work, delaying deadlines and incurring further costs for the client.

English to Arabic Voice-over Services

Note: Select the Arabic required under the dialect menu e.g Egyptian or Jordanian

Spotlight: Arabic Voice Artists

Professional audio editing

Adelphi offers professionally edited audio as a standard for all of our voice over projects. What exactly does this mean? Go here and we will have a look at what we do with the audio before delivering it to our clients, changing the ‘raw’ unedited audio data into professional, clean-sounding voice-over files. Included in our quality checks are, listening to the audio to check for any errors, that the pronunciation is correct, all segments have been recorded, timings are right and the files are correctly split and named; we take out any overly long pauses and normalise the levels so all the audio is of the same volume.

Arabic voice-over talents

We work specifically with professional talents so that we maintain our level of quality and professionalism. Each of our talents has their own rates that they work with, this being based on the region they are from, the nature of the project and if they are part of a union. In a one-hour recording session, our talents can record between 1,500 – 3,000 words of voice-over, which is 10 – 20 minutes of audio. This depends on the speed required for the project; e.g. slow for audiobooks and narrations, regular paced e-learning, or fast for commercials.

Voice-over usage fees

This is a complex subject as each of our talents has their own rates for the usage fees. Some talents will charge a fee and some will not. Things to consider with the buyout fees is where the material will be shown such as radio; is that local radio, regional radio or national radio?

The usage fee will also depend on the country the voice artist is based in as there is no international standard rate. We recommend you approach us first and let us know the nature of the project and the budget you have. We will then provide you with the talents that are flexible enough to work within your needs.

Arabic-accented English voice artists

English voice-overs with an Arabic accent. Our Arabic voice artists speaking English offer great options for your Audio project. Adelphi provides Arabic-accented English voice recordings to customers all over the world.

Arabic voice-over translations

Our experienced translation team will work with you to fully understand your project in order to effectively manage the workflow from concept to completion. Adelphi ensures that all our translators are professional and work only into their mother tongue. This ensures accuracy.

If the Arabic audio is going to be used over a video, then the voice-over translation could include time-codes to help the engineer sync up the audio to the video.

The style of translation is important for voice-over translations and should reflect the genre, e.g. if it is for marketing, public information, drama etc. The audio translator will have a copy of the video as a reference and is instructed to translate using a style to match the source material. All our translators have signed an NDA (non-disclosure agreement).

Transcription services

We also provide transcriptions from audio or video in any language, which can be used for processes like providing time-coded transcripts for translation. The length of many languages will expand when compared to the original English and care must be taken in the translation to keep the true meaning of the English, while staying within the time frames allowed in the audio/video. Depending on the language, we sometimes have to edit the English to make a more concise version of the original; this is because the spoken version of many languages is much longer than the English and may not fit in the allocated time slot. In these cases, we will, of course, discuss the edited English with you first before we begin translation into Arabic.

Subtitling option

Subtitling can often offer a cheaper alternative to voice-overs, at Adelphi we also produce English and Foreign language subtitles in over 80 languages. So if your not sure which is best for your project, voice-overs or subtitles give us a call or drop us an email and we will answer any questions you have.

Arabic Subtitling United Nations

English to Arabic Subtitle Localisation

Our Arabic subtitling services include:

The basic Arabic alphabet contains 28 letters. Adaptations of the Arabic script for other languages added and removed some letters. Kurdish, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, Sindhi, Urdu, Malay, Pashto, Arwi and Malayalam all of which have additional letters. There are no distinct upper and lower case letter forms. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the literary standard across the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa and is often used in subtitling.

Arabic Subtitling United Nations

Our subtitling and voice-over department, Adelphi Studio, is part of Adelphi Translations Ltd., a full-service translation agency producing not only Arabic translations and subtitles but also Arabic typesetting and Arabic voice-overs. 

Adelphi is an Arabic subtitling agency that aims to provide a full video localization service to our customers

Styles of Arabic subtitles

There are various styles of Arabic subtitles that we can offer. Not just the style of Arabic font but also whether or not to use an opaque background behind the text or even a stylised background for dramatic effect or no background at all. We can advise you on the options available to suit your video and even produce samples for you to consider.

Localisation of Arabic on-screen text

Localising any on-screen text and motion graphics on your video into Arabic. Depending on the individual graphics and the source software used to create them we could require the original data package it was produced in.

on-screen text localisation

SRT Translation and Transcription Services

Using Adelphi’s English to Arabic translation services for subtitling, quality and timing can be closely controlled throughout the project, ensuring that your subtitles will always be ready to publish on or before your deadline. We also provide Arabic subtitling for many translation agencies around the world and are happy to work with their translations. As some languages must use specific fonts in order to work with the subtitling software, we can consult with you about your needs and advise you of all of your options. Adelphi is a proud member of the Association of Translation Companies (ATC).

Our in-house subtitle translations department is experts in English to Arabic translations and subtitle/SRT files created specifically for subtitling projects. SRT files are time-coded transcripts that can be imported into the subtitling software that then displays the correct subtitle in the correct sequence.

We also offer a transcription service for those customers lacking a transcript of their videos. We provide time-coded scripts of your videos that are ready to be translated. We will then use those translations for the subtitle text, sending you the files at each stage of the process for you to review and assess.

Below are subtitle samples in various languages, click on the video you wish to watch.

Urdu Subtitling

Arabic Subtitling

Kurdish Subtitling

Farsi Subtitling