How to calculate the price of translations?
Translations of English and many other foreign languages are very popular in Poland. Many people wonder what determines the exact rates determined by individual translators. In today’s article, we advise you on how to calculate the price of translations.
How much should a professional (non-sworn) translation cost?
In Poland, when determining the price for a translation, it is standard to consider one page. One page usually contains approximately 1,800 characters, including spaces. The easiest way to check the number of characters is by pasting the text into Word. Then we will get full information about the number of characters without spaces, with spaces, the number of words and so on.
There are also translators and translation agencies who pay for the 1500-character rate. In these types of situations, you should always check carefully whether they are characters without spaces or characters with spaces. It is better to check it carefully so that no unpleasant misunderstandings arise later. How to “by eye” verify how much text is on the printed piece of paper and what will be the price for the translation service?
1800 characters with spaces takes up about 2/3 of the printed A4 page with Arial or Times New Roman font 11 size. A full printed page of this format will have about 4000 characters.
How much do sworn English translations cost?
Sworn English translations are settled in a different way. When carrying out sworn translations, the standard page each time has 1125 characters including spaces. The standard is assumed that a page has 25 lines, and each of them has 45 characters. All pages started, on which the sworn translator has to stamp, must be settled according to the same, maximum rate. This is true even when there is only one word on a given page.
English translations made by sworn translators have clearly defined rates, if they are provided for state institutions. If sworn English translations are provided to the prosecutor’s office, police, court or any other public institution, the rate for such a service is determined in advance with a special Regulation of the Minister of Justice. On the website of the Polish Society of Sworn and Specialized Translators, you can read the details about rates and data.
Of course, the issue of rates is completely different in the case of sworn English translations carried out for individual clients and enterprises. The final price for the implementation of this type of service depends, of course, primarily on the provisions of the contract, which will be specified in the contract. It is up to the parties to the contract to jointly set a rate that will be acceptable to both parties.
What factors affect the final translation price?
The final price for translating English or any other language depends on a number of different factors. Of course, the set date has the greatest impact on the price increase. The shorter the term, the final price will be much higher. In most cases, professional translators translate 6 standard pages every working day. If they have a larger number of pages to be translated at short notice, a special price for express translation may apply. Supplements for accelerating service delivery can be as high as 100 or 200% of the rate set at the very beginning.
The poor quality of the document may also affect the increase in the rate for translation into English or another language. This applies in particular to sworn translations. The price for an English translation will increase significantly if the text to be translated is handwritten, which is illegible and has a number of elements that are difficult to read.
Another issue that may have a significant impact on the final price of English translations are inadequate file formats, which may cause more problems with their launch. We are talking about files that require, for example, knowledge of DTP programs. After the translation is completed, in such cases it may be necessary to make corrections, align the text, fix graphics or lost links, and so on.
If the text intended for English translation contains many specialized, difficult phrases, this issue may also have a very strong impact on the final amount of the cost of such a service. Specialized vocabulary will require more work from the translator – searching the literature, finding the necessary information on the Internet, etc. The prices of translations of this type of texts may be higher by as much as 50 to a maximum of 100%.
In turn, the fact of constant cooperation with a given client may affect the reduction of the price for English translations. In such circumstances, the price for the service may be much lower than the standard price specified in the price list.
