Localization - Automated Screen Captures?

[Jared Hess]

Hi RHelpers,

I'm wondering how many of you localize your projects, and if you do, do you use or know of any tools to automate the screen capture process? Our RH projects contain thousands of images of our UI in them and we simply can't keep up with our standard process of getting the localized .htms back from localization and then trying to get screen captures on the backend. We support 15 non-English languages and will likely add more. There's just no way to keep up without such a tool. Just wondering what you all use or if your translators take care of the images along with the text.

Thanks,

Jared

RH 7.0.3

Win 7 - 64 Bit

HTMl Help (.chm) Output

[Peter Grainge]

What you need is something if fed an image can repeat the capture in the translated version. That would require memory of the area to be be captured, its position and other such details. Sounds very tricky. Might be worth contacting TechSmith, the SnagIt people.

It is haunting me that I did see something that is supposed to run through an application and collect images. I have been unable to find anything on it though. If I am right it was this year. Can anyone else recall this?

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Jared Hess]

Thanks for responding Peter.

Yes tricky. Especially since dialog boxes and other similar UI elements may not be in the same position or size in a target languages due to changing string lengths in various languages. We also have some captures where we capture at the group box or button/icon level. What we need is something that knows the internal UI identification for whatever element was initially captured and can capture that specific element once it's open on the target language. I do have access to some macro tools, but was hoping there was some industry tool out there that someone may have heard of or used.

[Peter Grainge]

I have since recalled the tool I was thinking of was an authoring tool and the problem I had when I looked at it was I couldn't write the topics the way I wanted and I couldn't use it as a tool to extract the images. I might have used it just for that purpose.

Take a look at http://www.indoition.com and download the PDF there. It lists lots of tools and may you will find something in that.

If you do find something that works for you, don't forget to post back here.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge