PDF files fall into two categories: true and "scanned" PDFs. A "scanned" PDF file is a file in which the PDF format merely serves as a convenient container for scans of hard copy pages. Often, these scans contain text for translation. There is no way of translating a scanned PDF file other than to recreate the text, either by typing it out again or by OCR (optical character recognition), and to recreate the file layout from scratch. (https://omegat.org/howtos/iceni_infix)

Effectivity depends on tools: professional translators use fine tuned software called Computer Assisted Translation (CAT) tools and tweak their office applications with plugins and macros (even coding their own PC applications) to save time, thus keeping prices fair.

CAT works on pure digital texts. The ideal source text is a properly segmented, grammatically correct Word file with consequent formatting. CAT tools go mad with seemingly identical - but slightly different - text formatting, mostly inherited from different systems in which colleagues and business partners (or lawyers, clients from abroad, etc...) edited earlier text versions. People from other countries make certain "national mistakes" and fall into traps for "false friends" - thus the final version is to be cleaned from such mistakes, inconsistent formatting, styles, numbering etc. Even true PDF-s are somewhat harder to process with a CAT tool, when compared with properly formed and proofread Word texts.

WHY ME?

I was properly trained in different trades, I read literature (in foreign languages as well) to keep my knowledge fresh. I learned the science behind translation, holding a degree. My theses at translation school (college degree, third diploma) compared common mistakes in English texts or translations delivered by legal professionals not formally been trained to translate, and by highly trained linguists never properly trained in law (i.e. w/o pre-bar clerkship). 

LANGUAGES:

My mother tongue is HUNGARIAN. I learnt a few other languages: the strongest one is ENGLISH (schools, expat missions), second best is GERMAN (first words as a toddler from Grandma). I am a freelancer providing translation (Ge-En, Ge-Hu, Hu-En, En-Hu), drafting (En, Hu), proofreading (Ge-Hu, En-Hu, Fr-Hu, Hu-Hu). I compel to improve i.e. French but at present I do not translate other language pairs.

FIELDS OF EXPERTISE:

My basic field is LEGAL TEXTS including business contracts, General Terms for Web-shops (GTC), also data protection rules or notices (DP) among others, and of course court verdicts, litigation, or any legal documents made by or for a solicitor, attorney, judge, forensic professional, notary, executor.... Such experience I collected as qualified pre-bar LAWYER (holding title and degree from a good law school, having 6-7 yrs. experience with law firms and other professionals incl. approx 3-4 yrs. of pre-bar practice).

My second specialty is TELECOMMUNICATION with a touch of IT and localization. I gained qualifications and training from an Army school (college degree in microwave and satellite telecom). I navigate comfortably in diplomacy and MILITARY. All-in-all I have spent approx. 13 years in uniform (with Army units and with the MoD), including schools and expat services (NATO exercises, training events, a UN mission in Angola).

I am also interested in all kinds of SOCIAL SCIENCE, economic and political news/literature, psychology or sociology. My secondary school offered metal industry training and practice of which I performed well and hold appropriate school paper and have some experience (i.e. I fix my gas vehicles and bicycle, or install defective parts to be adjusted in specialized workshops). I am occasionally commissioned with assignments in PROGRAMMING, MOTORBIKE-, or car TOURISM, GASTRONOMY and OLD-TIMERS etc. 

PRICES:

The volume of SOURCE text per pages depend on formatting: EU standard A4 pages may contain 1500-3500 characters depending on size of character and other formatting (pictures, tables...). One word may contain 6 or 7 characters in my language pairs statistically. The target text has never the same quantity of keystrokes than the original text. Note, that many expressions are longer in Hu or even longer in Ge due to grammar structures differing from the En version. 

The fair price is standing around HUF 3.5 per keystroke (approx. USD 0.01 that is one dollar cent) for short assignments by professional freelancers in HUNGARY with degrees (also in translation), holding state licenses to work in their special field. This price not really changed since like 15 years, thanks to the ever evolving CAT tools like Trados or WordFast, saving time for a translator, thus working quicker for you. In other words: you got higher quality quicker when a pro buys an expensive license or learns how to use a less user friendly but cheaper CAT tool.

Professional translators' work can be fairly measured through the quantity of TARGET KEYSTROKES. That may be a bit less or more than the price estimated depending on language direction. I.e. Ge-Hu translations are a bit shorter or almost the same as original, Ge-En translations tend to be even shorter. En-Hu translations tend to be longer (approx 10-15%) than the En original. According to Hungarian traditions and fairness (you are a fair businessman, right?) the 7 USD cents or 6 EUR cents per source word serves to estimate the scale
of work, while the final cost depends on the ACTUAL work done by the translator (that is measured by target keystrokes).

Unless otherwise agreed, my INVOICE CONTAINS A DETAILED CALCULATION BASED ON TARGET LANGUAGE KEYSTROKES. Target language texts will always be CLEANED FROM UNNECESSARY CHARACTERS and will follow EXACT FORMATTING (or approximate if non-digital) as in the source text.

An hourly rate of approx. USD 19 (approx EUR 17 that is HUF 5000) applies for text portions that can't be fairly measured in keystrokes (reconstruction of complicated formatting other than simple bold/italics/bullets, photo handling, graphics, tables, text boxes, processing image files or poorly converted PDF, looking up rare or unconventional or out of area acronyms and abbreviations, etc.).

50% 'urgency' surcharge applies for the text portions concerned if the workload exceeds 8 hours per day (40 hours a week regarding HU or EU labor-free days). Such case emerges i.e. when another client booked me, and you still wish a job done the same day.

50% applies for weekend assignments (text portions related). An overtime fee only applies in the weekend when the job is so urgent that you want me to work over 8 hours (maximum of 100% surcharge for text portions concerned).

MAX DAILY OUTPUT:

Convenient daily output from professional freelancers is 6-10 pages Daily when quality check is important. In 'burst mode' we MAY exceed 10 pages a day (i.e. 15 000 - 20 000 target keystrokes a day). That is only recommended when you have someone to manage your document and proofread my daily output. In 'normal mode' I always proofread my own work at the end of the project to provide highest possible quality (find issues globally that one may have missed in daily portions).

Badly converted or low-quality pdf (or photocopy) may dramatically DECREASE the daily output, and may cause a surcharge in some cases (management of tables and graphics, notwithstanding the quality of other portions of the source material).

If you want speed and price that can be reached through CAT tools. The source text shall be clean, grammatically correct, 100% digital and properly segmented. Performance highly differs on source text: whether true PDF or photocopies were sent, whether the topic matches my former education and professional experience, if there is a need to prepare form 'parallel texts' for consistent terminology, if a specific sub-knowledge is involved (i.e. medical portions in legal text or terms from other legal systems). 

If your organisation  requires a specific standard terminology, that should either be collected in a file, or the 'parallel texts' should be provided. A centralized term base or translation memory (i.e. glossaries and/or sentence collections for the CAT tool) will ACCELERATE the work and may serve as base for repetition allowance - if fair enough for both of us. 

CAT TOOLS:

At present I use OmegaT and WordFast with Olifant as it can flexibly be tailored to special needs of a specialized translator. I gained formal training and used Trados with MultiTerm for a while (like 2 years), and tried other CAT tools some years ago (software i.e. MemoQ). I am open for server-use if requested and access granted, or you can buy me a license that we deduct from my bill, when it is reasonable.

OTHER SERVICES:

With law firms my common tasks was to listen lectures and trials either personally  (note taking then composing presentations) or form digital recordings (transcription or composing reports). In such assignments the technical background is to be matched with yours. I can make myself available for online
training to learn your preferred method.

I also proofread non-Hungary-based (born and educated) translators within my fields of expertise to find typical mistranslated parts, including false friends. I check scientific texts and technical descriptions/manuals among others, including subtitles and movie scripts when source language is German or English, and the target language is Hungarian.

ONLINE CONTACTS:

I have Office 365 prepaid with Skype. Other services, like Zoom, WhatsApp, Wiber, etc is at your risk and expense. I have Google account.

EXTENDING TRANSLATORS NETWORK:

You may be interested in multilingual outputs. I am not an agency, but cooperate with other professionals. I do proofreading for their outputs falling in my areas. French, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian, Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian translators are available. Their rate and surcharges may slightly differ from mine. If you want to be billed only once, their fees will accurately be detailed in my invoice.