While Windows is the preferred platform for translators, Apple is the preferred platform for graphic artists and studios. There have been huge improvements in cross-platform compatibility, but not everything always works smoothly and care is essential for some languages.

Here’s a summary of the most important points to bear in mind when translations created in Word for Windows are headed for applications such as Illustrator, Freehand, QuarkXPress and InDesign running on Apple Macs.

Western European languages

Files in Western European languages created in Word for Windows can usually be opened without any problems in Apple versions of Word.

Where the Mac operator does not run Word, the file can be converted to Mac format and delivered as a Mac ‘simple text’ file. This needs to be specified when you issue the order.

Languages using the Cyrillic alphabet – Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Serbian

Russian language files created in Word for Windows can generally not be opened correctly in Mac versions of Word. Most Russian fonts available for Mac are not compatible with those used on the Windows platform.

Where Russian is required in Apple Mac format, we can supply the text as either a Mac ‘simple text’ or as a Word file, along with the appropriate Russian fonts. Times and Helvetica styles are available for Apple. Again, please let us know what you need, when you order.

Greek

Similarly, Greek language files created in Word for Windows can generally not be opened in Apple versions of Word.

Where Greek is required in Mac format, we can supply the text as either a Mac ‘simple text’ file or as a Word file with an appropriate Mac Greek font. Times and Helvetica styles are available for Mac. Please specify your requirement at the time of ordering.

Polish, Czech, Hungarian and Romanian

Microsoft Central European fonts are available for Apple and Windows, but they are not compatible with each other and files created on one platform cannot be transferred easily to the other via Word.

Chinese

Two sets of Chinese characters are used – one in the Peoples’ Republic of China (Simplified Chinese) and one in Taiwan and most other Chinese-speaking areas outside mainland China (Traditional Chinese).

Text can be transferred between Windows and Mac platforms in the two main Chinese versions of ASCII (‘GB code’ for Simplified Chinese and ‘Big Five’ code for Traditional Chinese).

Most graphic artists will not have access to the very large-sized font families required for Chinese on their Macs. Where clients require Chinese in Mac format, it is best to have the text supplied as EPS files, where the text has been converted to paths.

Japanese and Korean

Japanese and Korean present similar problems to Chinese. The most commonly adopted method for supplying Japanese and Korean in Mac format is to deliver files in EPS format, where the text has been converted to paths.

Vietnamese

While Vietnamese uses the Latin alphabet, it has a large number of diacritics that are not usually available in standard fonts. Vietnamese fonts are available for Windows and Apple formats. However, they are not compatible with each other and you must specify which version is required.

Thai (and other South-east Asian languages)

Mac Thai fonts are available. However, setting Thai can be very difficult, and we recommend that clients requiring files in Thai have them set by our art department and receive the files in EPS format, or laid out correctly in the appropriate Apple application.