Is there any free software for product packaging and labeling translations?

Question

Suggested free software for product packaging and labeling translations

(This question was asked at the ‘Don’t get lost in translation’ webinar on March 11th 2016.)

Answer

Hi Eillen,

Im not sure if there is such software available but we have been helping exporters get their products labelled and re-packed for around 10 years now and in the time we have working with our customers to get the translations correct. Usually the end customer in the country you wish to export to will help as sometimes a direct translation from a website will not read correctly.

We label various products that go all over Europe but for instance the items we re-label for good that are exported to Belgium have to have both FR and NL translated ingredients, nutritional values as well as country of origin and who imported the goods.

We are a one stop shop that you can send us you goods we can re-work them and then arrange delivery to your customers all over the worls. If we can help with the re-labelling or need to chat further then please do get in touch.

Kind regards, Mark
www.contractpackers.net

Answer

Hi Eileen, there are two parts to answering this question. packaging and translation.
1) packaging: if you are looking to apply translations to packaging, there are companies that specialise in this market, depending on the nature of the product, they can apply databases of translations to create finished pack artwork. In general, the simpler the requirement, the easier this is. For example care labeling is possible by this method, but complex packaging design with differing fonts and layout requirements will be much more tricky. This won’t be free, as it is a design service.
2) Translation _ there are two ways to get translation, free software, such as Google translate, and professional human authored translation. Use Google, and you will have a disaster, even something as apparently simple as care labelling requires careful thought, and specialist knowledge on the part of the translator. It should also be independently checked.
So the answer is that packaging needs to be carefully prepared, and both the pack design, and the translation needs to be prepared professionally. When we translate food packaging for example, it isn’t just about words being understood in the target language, it needs to be legally accurate and correct for the target country.

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