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Poll: Is your rate higher for translating handwritten texts than for translating type-written texts?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 23:36
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Handwritten?? Mar 13, 2019

Haven't seen one of those since last century, and I'd likely not accept the job if one showed up today, unless the handwriting was VERY clear and legible, and with an additional fee, of course. Also, it would have to be worth the extra work, nothing like a letter or school work.
Plus, the client would have to trust me on the count of words only upon delivery.

[Edited at 2019-03-13 19:23 GMT]
 
Patrizia Cipolla
Patrizia Cipolla  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 04:36
Member (2013)
English to Italian
+ ...
What extra for handwritten source? Aug 11

Hi, I have been asked to translate handwritten medical reports (from Italian, that can be very tough), but I do not know what extra to charge for that.
Do you think 50% more is fine?
 
Kay Denney
Kay Denney  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 04:36
French to English
. Aug 12

Patrizia Cipolla wrote:

Hi, I have been asked to translate handwritten medical reports (from Italian, that can be very tough), but I do not know what extra to charge for that.
Do you think 50% more is fine?

If you're translating stuff written by doctors, you definitely need more than anything else to have someone confirm what the texts say otherwise huge mistakes could be made. In my experience doctors don't always bother to write the names of the remedies they prescribe in full, and they use all sorts of acronyms and abbreviations.
I would suggest transcribing the reports and having someone check your transcriptions before you even translate anything. You charge your usual hourly rate for the transcription then your usual per word rate to translate the transcriptions once the client has signed them off. It will probably work out as more than 50% extra. But we all know that doctors' handwriting is the worst. And surely accuracy is of the essence in medical reports.

Christine Andersen
Zea_Mays
 
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Poll: Is your rate higher for translating handwritten texts than for translating type-written texts?






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