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Sean P Brennan
05-11-2018, 12:15 PM
I tried the search feature first but did not find what i needed. Not sure if I worded it correctly or not. So here goes...

Was approached by a friend who works at a metal fabrication shop. They produce components that are shipped all over the world. He said that if we were able to produce plastic as well as anodized aluminum tags for them in foreign languages he will have some work for us.

We are BRAND new to using Corel and to laser engraving. Been making some assorted tags, etc., so using the machine isn't an issue. Just looking for the easiest way to translate then engrave the tags. Is there a program, font package, etc., we might need?

Has anyone done something like this before? Any help would be great. Thanks.

Mike Chance in Iowa
05-11-2018, 12:22 PM
I personally would require the person/company requesting the engraving to do the translation. Once I know what it is supposed to look like, then I would search for font sets or create the graphics on my own. If you do the translation, any errors are on your part.

John Lifer
05-11-2018, 2:46 PM
Absolutely the BEST advice that Mike gave you.
"Yes, I can produce in ANY language you want, provided you give me a Word Document with the text in the correct language.
I can then convert into your tag......"

William Adams
05-11-2018, 3:00 PM
My suggestion would be to require that they provide the text in a plain UTF-8 encoded text file, ideally CSV.

You will want to use a font which has good support for Unicode --- Hypatia Sans Pro is one notable example for having pretty much everything

(this assumes CorelDraw properly handles Unicode --- it's been ages since I had to use it)

Then import the text file into CorelDraw --- then use its merge feature to lay things out automatically.

Kev Williams
05-11-2018, 4:28 PM
I've run into this issue several times over the years. You can do this without every re-typing a single character :)

The second easiest way to approach this that I've found is I have my customer supply a copy of their engineer's prints in DXF. Typically plates needed are all drawn up in actual size with the text just how they want it to look. AI and PDF files with text and vectors intact will also work. A little time is needed to arrange the items to your liking, but Corel's 'snap to' objects and guidelines makes quick work of re-positioning plates-

The third easiest way is to have the customer supply the text in simple form, such as in Excel or notepad. You'll have to layout plate sizes and such, but you can import the text directly into Corel print merge, and once the matrix is drawn up you're ready to go. Any changes needed, such as making a 2-line plate a 3-line plate can be done in Excel or Notepad and then run the merge again. Also works the same with Gravostyle and probably any other program with matrix capabilities.

Many times my customers will 'build' all the signage themselves, then I just need to import arrange, fire... I have one customer who knows all my machines and material dimensions, and supplies me with ready to run Corel files! This is THEE easiest way :D

Mike Null
05-12-2018, 8:50 AM
Mike chance has the best answer.

Sean P Brennan
05-12-2018, 9:15 AM
Thanks for all the info. Although some of the technical terms provided are still unfamiliar to us, it gives us something to research on how to do. Was hoping that someone had used a foreign language font package or program before so we would know a good one to get. Oh well...back to Google. Let you know how it goes.

Mike Null
05-12-2018, 12:24 PM
Way back in the late 50's when we were using IBM's there was already a term "GIGO" (garbage in, garbage out). That applies to what you're trying to do. Put the burden on your customer to give you good info then there are plenty of options to do the job.

Kev Williams
05-12-2018, 3:47 PM
I'll put this another way:

Like nearly all my customers, your metal shop guy is a middleman; you supply parts to him that he ultimately supplies to HIS customer....

My middlemen fabricate big and small things they sell to their customers all over the world....

My job is to supply my middlemen with labels, signs, panels, etc with words and graphics engraved on them, and/OR to add words and graphics to items supplied to me...

It's NOT my job to figure out how to convert "EMERGENCY HYDRAULIC SYSTEMS OVERRIDE" into French, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, Russian or German. That task is the middleman's customers job, and the middleman's job is to supply me with a translated list of text and coherent instructions...

As I noted above, having full-on translated turnkey digital blueprints is pure gold, after a few minutes in Corel you're ready to rock. And in the past 10 years every foreign language job I've gotten (but one) has been supplied to me this way- the end customer knows what they want so it's the norm rather than the exception to be furnished with ready to import jobs. The one job that didn't include digital blueprints, was engraving several hundred lighted button caps in Chinese. The job came to me printed on paper sheets 12 buttons to a sheet. (I won't even work that way with English!) -- So I requested the text for each button to be supplied in Excel. Got it later that day, and I simply created a 1-button layout with text variables and imported the Chinese text from Excel. Note that I DID need to install the font used to create the Chinese text onto my computer, and they furnished the font- easy peasy...

So if full-on digital prints aren't supplied, then it IS my job to translate the job parameters, such as what exactly is needed; name plates, signs, basic labels, hang tags... what material is needed; stainless, brass, aluminum, acrylic... how will it be mounted; rivets or screws, 2-sided tape, stainless wire, imbedded screws... And sizes needed, and any restrictions. In the case of the buttons, that was pretty easy, I "built" the job, and made a PDF of the Corel matrix layout of every button, and emailed them as proofs.

All the hard stuff should be taken care of beforehand. If it's not, you don't want that job.

Sean P Brennan
05-12-2018, 5:38 PM
Like it was suggested, I guess the best way to approach this is to have the manufacturer provide the files, etc., they want produced. Translated already and in a format that we can convert in Corel (somehow) then engrave. I will wait to see what they can offer before going too crazy trying to figure this out. Once I know what we have to work with we can try to figure out the best method from there. Thanks again for all the help.