Translating PDF to English - #AudDev Reporting Season
October 07, 2018
Q. What do you can someone who speaks more than one language? A. Bi-lingual.
Q. What do you can someone who speaks many languages? A. a Polyglot.
Q. What do you can someone who speaks only one language? A. English!
I am passionate about audience engagement and developing structures to understand the needs and behaviours of what makes up audiences. These structures often emerge from projects undertaken through collaboration with academics and stakeholder culture practitioners working artistically, educationally, communally, managerially or administratively in the Arts, Culture and Entertainment industries and their various sectors.
In the last 12 months, I have seen the rise of the term Participation enter the crucible of audience conundrum.
For many years now I have followed the work of several senior cultural institutions stakeholders and executives as well as the projects produced and delivered by partners and associated organisations. These have been predominantly funded by Creative Europe and Arts Council England. It easy to forget that the audience facing part of these projects are not the full picture for those undertaking these funded projects. The programmes in which that participate demand results and evidence the money was used to further to ideals of the originally proposed project application.
Two reports out today (2 Oct 2018) both being in receipt of EU or regional funding.
BespectACTive eBook's concluding and analytics report is published in English. This appeared in my Facebook News Feed.
So why this post? Translating PDFs to English? The Nordic nations nature of audiences dialogue is particularly authoritative. During my time working with Audiences Europe Network, two stakeholder partners were Audiences Norway and DCAI (The Danish Centre for Arts & Interculture). I became involved with Arts & Audiences a 'Nordic meeting point for culture leaders and audience developers' producing PCM's first Extend The Audience 'Digital Audience Experience' live stream event in 2014.
Today I received a newsletter containing the second report. Thank goodness I had the Gmail configured to translate. These newsletters from previous Audience Europe connections are always super informative and well written contains great insights and resources. I have collected these project report for some years often receiving them from the project organisers to share to the residual Audiences Europe Network. (If anyone is wondering Audience Europe is dormant, not dead. In a state of prolonged deep space stasis, in no way parrot-like!)
So This...
Became this...
So far so good. Report number two translates... no problem. The text converts but the eBook cover does not. I realise the book will most likely be is Sweedish. I then ask myself. Can I translate a PDF into English? There is probably an app for that? I discovered recently that opening a PDF in GoogleDocs convert the content into editable text. Can I translate a Book and it still be formatted as the book?
Google Translation...
Just in time for the conference was our book audience - an anthology of art, culture and development, completed and launched at the Grand Theater August 23.
In it, we have invited thirteen writers who can express their thoughts, concerns, and comments on the concept of audience development. There is considerable variation, texts thoughtful, critical, pepper spirit, questioning, critical social and descriptive.
We hope and believe that you are interested in these issues will be able to enjoy using it.
It is free and you can order it by contacting [email protected] or [email protected]
You can also download it here
First I tried Google Translate on the PDF but the document was too large. I was also looking for a solution where I could resave the document as a PDF with the formatting intact. I knew Google Translate would offer that offer but I have to get a baseline for the possibility of a translation at all.
My second attempt was DocTranslator a free online document translator with a headline to " instantly translate and preserve the layout of any document format into any language. Free." A bold claim. What can I say it worked, job done!
Download the translated PDF using the link below.
AUDIENCE - An anthology of art, culture and development in English
Here's how
https://www.onlinedoctranslator.com/en/
Once the online document translation service offers you a download. Save and ... forget the embarrassment you feel when you come up against another language! I love my European and Scandinavian colleagues and audience development peers even if a suitable name to label the sector is elusive for mutual agreement. Reading this eBook I'm indebted by their knowledge sharing.
To you, especially my fellow English mono-linguists. There is indeed an app for that!