A name can appear in several forms across a book: a full name in narration, a title in dialogue, and a nickname between friends. A technical term may also carry a narrower meaning than its everyday equivalent. Preparing those decisions makes a whole-book translation easier to guide and review.
You do not need an exhaustive dictionary. A short, accurate brief is more useful than a long list that contains guesses or contradicts the text.
Make a small source-to-preference list
Choose names and terms that recur, define an important concept, or would confuse you if translated differently. Keep the original form beside your preference so you can locate it again.
| Source item | Preference to record | Context worth noting |
|---|---|---|
| A personal name | Established spelling or leave unchanged | Distinguish it from a title or nickname |
| An invented place | Preferred translation | Check whether similar words name different places |
| A specialist term | Standard target-language term | Include its subject or definition |
| An abbreviation | Retain or expand as appropriate | Identify the first definition in the book |
Once you have organized your terminology, enter the most important items into the translation instructions in PDF Craft. For example, if a character has both a given name and a nickname, you can explain their relationship and specify which form you prefer to keep. As you read through later chapters, having these notes gives you a clear reference to consult, making it easier to see if naming choices have shifted.
When you encounter a term you are unsure about, note down the original word along with its paragraph, and decide on a translation once you understand how it is used in the book. For interdisciplinary terms in particular, adding a brief definition often communicates your preference far better than providing a single translated word alone.
Add subject and voice without retelling the book
State the field or genre and the audience. An economics textbook, a historical essay, and a contemporary novel need different choices even when they share words.
A hypothetical technical brief might say:
This is an introductory economics book. Use standard economics terminology and clear English. Keep personal names, product names, and code identifiers unchanged.
For fiction, you can provide extra context about the narrator's tone, character address, and titles that carry special connotations. For instance, whether a term of address suggests warmth or distance directly shapes how dialogue reads. Stick to background details you have already verified in the source text so your instructions remain consistent with the story.
Regional preferences can be useful too: British English, American English, or a particular Spanish audience. Keep the request consistent with the book's intended voice rather than asking for both word-for-word syntax and a free adaptation.
Keep only instructions that change a decision
Focus on specific choices that truly affect your reading: how a particular character name should be rendered, which field a term belongs to, or what tone the narration should sustain. Stating a preference once is enough, and keeping instructions concise makes it much easier to review key details later.
Before upload, check spelling in the preference list, look for conflicts, and verify that each request applies to the actual source. Keep a copy with the original EPUB. See translation instruction examples for a concise submission brief.
Before uploading, click through a few chapters and table-of-contents links to make sure your source file is complete and reads properly. Keeping your terminology notes alongside this version makes it much simpler to check names and passages later.
Submit the complete EPUB with a clear output choice
In the EPUB translator, upload the file, select the target language, and choose translation-only or bilingual output. Bilingual output places each original passage before its translation, which can make terminology review easier.
Add your brief and inspect current task limits and Pricing before submitting. New users receive trial credits and translation is charged by usage. Download the completed task and keep the original separately.
Check recurrence and meaning together
Search an important name in early and late chapters. Compare its title and nickname as well as its spelling. For a technical term, inspect the definition and a later application. A consistent word can still be wrong if its meaning changes with context.
Record differences by chapter and a distinctive source phrase. Do not use global replacement as the first correction when a word has multiple meanings. Check whether the variation is justified before treating it as an error.
It pays to read terms together with nearby negations, numerals, and pronouns. A concept might appear in both a definition and a counterexample using identical vocabulary while arguing the exact opposite point. When preparing a text for publication, share these critical passages alongside your terminology notes with your editor for review.
If a file fails to open or text displays incorrectly, consult the EPUB Troubleshooting Guide. Your terminology notes help guide phrasing and meaning, while the troubleshooting guide helps you restore a smooth reading experience—use each resource according to the problem you face.