Metrics & Calculations
This translation calculator page documents all the metrics, rates, and calculation used in the L10N Estimator translation tool. All estimates are based on industry-standard localization rates and best practices.
Estimates are approximate only. Final costs depend on project complexity and review of source files.
Word Count Calculations
Desktop Publishing Tools
- • Pages: 350 words per page (FrameMaker, InDesign, Word)
- • Slides: 150 words per slide (PowerPoint)
- • Graphics: 30 words per graphic (editable + uneditable)
- • Canva/Figma Text Boxes: 25 words per text box
eLearning and Video Tools
- • OST Wordcount: 65 words per slide/block/instance
- • Graphics Wordcount: 30 words per graphic
- • Audio Wordcount: 150 words per runtime minute
Other Services
- • Redaction: 350 words per page
- • Voice Over (Human/TTS): 150 words per runtime minute
Desktop Publishing
FrameMaker
Revision Rounds: 2 revision rounds
File Preparation:
- • Pages: 100 pages/hour (DTP Prep)
Breakdown:
- • Desktop Publishing (pages/hour): Latin = 20, Asian = 15, BIDI = 10
- • Desktop Publishing: Graphics (Editable) = 10 graphics/hour, Graphics (Uneditable) = 5 graphics/hour
- • Revision 1 (pages/hour): Latin = 40, Asian = 30, BIDI = 20
- • Revision 2 (pages/hour): Latin = 80, Asian = 60, BIDI = 40
InDesign
Revision Rounds: 2 revision rounds
File Preparation:
- • Pages: 100 pages/hour (DTP Prep)
Breakdown:
- • Desktop Publishing (pages/hour): Latin = 15, Asian = 10, BIDI = 10
- • Desktop Publishing: Graphics (Editable) = 10 graphics/hour, Graphics (Uneditable) = 5 graphics/hour
- • Revision 1 (pages/hour): Latin = 30, Asian = 20, BIDI = 20
- • Revision 2 (pages/hour): Latin = 60, Asian = 40, BIDI = 40
Word
Revision Rounds: 2 revision rounds
File Preparation:
- • Pages: 100 pages/hour (DTP Prep)
Breakdown:
- • Desktop Publishing (pages/hour): Latin = 15, Asian = 10, BIDI = 10
- • Desktop Publishing: Graphics (Editable) = 10 graphics/hour, Graphics (Uneditable) = 5 graphics/hour, Screenshot Replacement = 20 screenshots/hour
- • Special: Desktop Publishing includes TOC adjustment (1 minute per page) if Table of Contents is enabled
- • Revision 1 (pages/hour): Latin = 30, Asian = 20, BIDI = 20
- • Revision 2 (pages/hour): Latin = 60, Asian = 40, BIDI = 40
PowerPoint
Revision Rounds: 2 revision rounds
File Preparation:
- • Slides: 100 slides/hour (DTP Prep)
Breakdown:
- • Desktop Publishing (slides/hour): Latin = 15, Asian = 10, BIDI = 10
- • Desktop Publishing: Graphics (Editable) = 10 graphics/hour, Graphics (Uneditable) = 5 graphics/hour
- • Revision 1 (slides/hour): Latin = 30, Asian = 20, BIDI = 20
- • Revision 2 (slides/hour): Latin = 60, Asian = 40, BIDI = 40
Canva
Revision Rounds: 2 revision rounds
File Preparation:
- • Text Boxes: 15 text boxes/hour (DTP Prep)
Breakdown:
- • Desktop Publishing (text boxes/hour): Latin/Asian = 15, BIDI = 5
- • Desktop Publishing: Graphics (Editable) = 10 graphics/hour, Graphics (Uneditable) = 5 graphics/hour, Screenshots = 20 screenshots/hour
- • Revision 1 (text boxes/hour): Latin/Asian = 30, BIDI = 15
- • Revision 2 (text boxes/hour): Latin/Asian = 60, BIDI = 30
- • Word Count: 25 words per text box, 30 words per graphic
Figma
Revision Rounds: 2 revision rounds
File Preparation:
- • Text Boxes: 15 text boxes/hour (DTP Prep)
Breakdown:
- • Desktop Publishing (text boxes/hour): Latin/Asian = 15, BIDI = 5
- • Desktop Publishing: Graphics (Editable) = 10 graphics/hour, Graphics (Uneditable) = 5 graphics/hour, Screenshots = 20 screenshots/hour
- • Revision 1 (text boxes/hour): Latin/Asian = 30, BIDI = 15
- • Revision 2 (text boxes/hour): Latin/Asian = 60, BIDI = 30
- • Word Count: 25 words per text box, 30 words per graphic
eLearning Tools
Storyline, Captivate, Rise
File Preparation:
- • Project Files: 1 hour per project (Storyline/Captivate) or 30 minutes per project (Rise)
- • Graphic Extraction: 3 minutes per image (for graphic content extraction)
- • SRT Creation: 10 minutes per runtime minute (if Subtitling is needed)
- • Transcription: 2 minutes per runtime minute (STT Transcription)
Breakdown:
- • Graphic Localization: 1 hour / 10 images (Editable), 1 hour / 5 images (Uneditable)
- • Subtitling: 10 minutes per runtime minute
- • Audio Recording: TTS = 4 minutes per minute of runtime (TTS + QA), Human = 1 hour per 6 minutes of runtime
- • Note: Studio rates for Human Audio Recording might be different than regular localization rates
- • Audio Dubbing: 10 minutes per runtime minute
- • OST Localization: 1 hour / 30 Slides (Simple), 1 hour / 20 Slides (Average), 1 hour / 10 Slides (Difficult), 1 hour / 20 Screenshots (Storyline/Captivate) or 1 hour / 30 Blocks (Rise)
- • Output: 30 minutes per project file
- • Revision: (Total time - File Preparation) × 33%
- • Word Count: 65 words per slide/block, 30 words per graphic, 150 words per runtime minute
Video Tools
Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro
File Preparation:
- • Video Files: 30 minutes per video file
- • Graphic Extraction: 3 minutes per image (for graphic content extraction)
- • SRT Creation: 10 minutes per runtime minute (for SRT creation)
- • OST Extraction: 5 minutes per OST instance
- • Transcription: 2 minutes per runtime minute (STT Transcription)
Breakdown:
- • Graphic Localization: 1 hour / 10 images (Editable), 1 hour / 5 images (Uneditable)
- • Subtitling: 10 minutes per runtime minute
- • Audio Recording: TTS = 4 minutes per minute of runtime (TTS + QA), Human = 1 hour per 6 minutes of runtime
- • Note: Studio rates for Human Audio Recording might be different than regular localization rates
- • Audio Dubbing: 10 minutes per runtime minute
- • OST Localization: 1 hour / 10 OST (Simple), 1 hour / 5 OST (Average), 1 hour / 2 OST (Difficult), 1 hour / 20 Screenshots
- • Output: 30 minutes per video file
- • Revision: (Total time - File Preparation) × 33%
- • Word Count: 65 words per OST instance, 30 words per graphic, 150 words per runtime minute
Subtitles (Burned-In)
File Preparation:
- • Video Files: 30 minutes per video file
- • SRT Creation: 10 minutes per runtime minute (for SRT creation)
Breakdown:
- • Subtitling: 10 minutes per runtime minute
- • Output: 30 minutes per video file
- • Revision: (Total time - File Preparation) × 33%
- • Word Count: 150 words per runtime minute
After Effects
File Preparation:
- • Video Files: 30 minutes per video file
- • Graphic Extraction: 3 minutes per image (for graphic content extraction)
- • SRT Creation: 10 minutes per runtime minute (for SRT creation)
- • OST Extraction: 5 minutes per OST instance
- • Transcription: 2 minutes per runtime minute (STT Transcription)
Breakdown:
- • Graphic Localization: 1 hour / 10 images (Editable), 1 hour / 5 images (Uneditable)
- • Subtitling: 10 minutes per runtime minute
- • Audio Recording: TTS = 4 minutes per minute of runtime (TTS + QA), Human = 1 hour per 6 minutes of runtime
- • Note: Studio rates for Human Audio Recording might be different than regular localization rates
- • Audio Dubbing: 10 minutes per runtime minute
- • OST Localization: 1.5 hours / 10 OST (Simple), 1.5 hours / 5 OST (Average), 1.5 hours / 2 OST (Difficult), 1 hour / 20 Screenshots
- • Output: 30 minutes per video file
- • Revision: (Total time - File Preparation) × 33%
- • Word Count: 65 words per OST instance, 30 words per graphic, 150 words per runtime minute
Transcription
Human Transcription
- • Transcription: 5 minutes per 1 minute of runtime (12 runtime minutes/hour)
STT (AI Transcription)
- • STT: 1 minute per minute of runtime (60 runtime minutes/hour)
- • QA: 1 minute per minute of runtime (60 runtime minutes/hour)
Voice Over
Human Voice Over
- • Input Parameters: Audio Files, Audio Minutes
- • File Management: 30 seconds per file (applies when more than 15 audio files)
- • Audio Recording: 1 hour per 6 minutes of runtime
- • Word Count: 150 words per runtime minute
- • Note: Studio rates for this item might be different than regular localization rates
TTS (Text-to-Speech)
- • TTS / AI Voice Over: 1 minute per minute of runtime
- • QA: 3 minutes per minute of runtime
- • Word Count: 150 words per runtime minute
Other Tools and Services
OCR
- • Low Complexity: 1 hour / 6 pages (6 pages/hour)
- • Medium Complexity: 1 hour / 3 pages (3 pages/hour)
- • High Complexity: 1 hour / 1.5 pages (1.5 pages/hour)
Redaction
- • Redaction: 30 pages per hour (2 minutes per page)
- • QA: 33% of Redaction time
- • Word Count: 350 words per page
Translation Rates (Per Word)
The following rates are used to calculate the Estimated Translation Cost:
• Latin Script: $0.12 per word
• Asian Languages: $0.18 per word
• BIDI (Bidirectional): $0.22 per word
Note: Translation turnaround time is calculated at 2,000 words per business day (translators work 6 hours per day).
Tools & Services
Click on any tool or service below to learn more about localization best practices, workflows, and requirements.