Metrics & Calculations
This translation calculator page documents all the metrics, rates, and calculation methods used in the L10N Estimator translation tool. All estimates are based on industry-standard localization rates and best practices.
Use this for rough estimates only. Actual project costs depend on complexity, target audience, structure, level of detail, and other factors. Vendors, LSPs, and linguists need the full source files to provide an accurate quote.
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 = 2 minutes per minute of runtime, 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 prep) × 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 = 2 minutes per minute of runtime, 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 prep) × 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 prep) × 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 = 2 minutes per minute of runtime, 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 prep) × 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: 1 minute 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 to learn more about localization best practices, workflows, and requirements.
View Metrics & Calculations.