Light vs. Full Post-Editing: What’s Important to Know

Post-editing is a great tool for refining machine translation output, offering a balance between speed and accuracy. However, the question is: how much human intervention is necessary? Is light post-editing sufficient, or do you need full post-editing to achieve your goals? In this blog, we will explain what Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE) is, the differences between light and full post-editing, how to choose the right level of intervention for your objectives, and the benefits each approach offers. Get to know the details of MTPE to ensure your translations meet professional standards and achieve your communication goals.

What Is Machine Translation Post-Editing?

Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE) is the process of examining and improving translations generated by machine translation systems. This step improves the accuracy, legibility, and uniformity of the initially automated translations, transforming them into content that is suitable for professional publication.

The Importance of Post-Editing

Machine translation technologies, while advanced, often struggle with nuances such as idiomatic language, technical precision, complex sentence structures, and contextual subtleties. Post-editing addresses these deficiencies, assuring that the machine-translated content meets stringent quality criteria and is appropriate for its intended audience. By incorporating Machine Translation Post-Editing (MTPE) services, organizations can utilize the quickness and cost benefits of machine translation while ensuring the final product remains professional, contextually accurate, and tailored to the audience.

Light Post-Editing

The primary goal of light post-editing is to make the machine-translated text understandable and minimally acceptable. It ensures that the text is coherent and does not contain any major errors that affect comprehension.

Focus:

• Correcting basic grammatical and spelling mistakes.
• Ensuring the text is coherent for readers, even if it may not fully align with stylistic preferences or terminological consistency for the target audience.

Full Post-Editing

Full post-editing aims to produce a text that is indistinguishable from a text originally written in the target language. This level of editing ensures the translation is accurate, stylistically consistent, and fully adapted to the target audience.

Focus:

• Correcting basic errors and refining style, tone, and flow to match high-quality native writing.
• Ensuring correct and consistent terminology, especially in specialized fields like legal, medical, or technical translations. It often involves using a termbase to maintain accuracy.
• Adapting content culturally and contextually through localization to resonate with the target audience.

Choosing the Right Level of Post-Editing

When choosing the right level of post-editing for machine-translated content, consider these important factors:

• Content Purpose: Evaluate the intended use of the document. Is it for casual internal communication or formal external release? The purpose will determine the necessity for accuracy and style.
• Audience: Who are the readers? Documents for a general public audience or for stakeholders require a higher level of editing to ensure clarity and professionalism, unlike internal documents which may be more forgiving.
• Budget Constraints: Full post-editing is more resource-intensive than light post-editing. Consider your financial resources and determine if the budget allows for a comprehensive editing process or if a more economical approach is required.
• Time Constraints: How urgent is the need for the translated document? Full post-editing, while thorough, takes more time than light editing, which could be an important factor in fast-paced environments.
• Risk Level: Assess the risk associated with potential translation errors. High-risk industries (like legal, medical, or technical fields) demand more precise translations to avoid costly mistakes.
• Quality Standards: Determine the quality standards required for your document. High-quality standards often necessitate full post-editing to ensure that the translation is not only accurate but also aligns well with the stylistic and cultural nuances of the target language.
• Cultural Sensitivity: Consider the cultural aspects of your target audience. Misunderstandings in translation can lead to unintended offenses or misrepresentations, especially in culturally diverse settings.
• Brand Reputation: How important is the brand's image in the content being translated? For brand-critical documents, maintaining a consistent and professional tone through full post-editing could be crucial.
• Long-term Use: If the document is intended for long-term use or broad distribution, investing in full post-editing might provide better value in maintaining its usability and relevance over time.
  
  

To resume, light post-editing is sufficient for internal documents, basic website content, or any other situations where quick comprehension is more important than stylistic perfection. It's cost-effective and faster, suitable for content that doesn't impact your brand’s public image. Full post-editing, however, is crucial for high-stakes documents like user-generated materials, technical manuals, healthcare reports, official communications, and publications. This ensures precision, style, and contextual nuances are maintained, accurately conveying the intended message and preserving the brand's voice, despite requiring more time and resources.

Benefits of Light Post-Editing (LPE)

• Quick Turnaround: LPE is faster because it focuses on correcting only significant errors.
• Lower Costs: It's less costly than full post-editing since it involves less detailed work.
• Appropriate Clarity: The text is understandable and devoid of major mistakes, suitable for less critical content.
  
  

Benefits of Full Post-Editing (FPE)

• Greater Accuracy: FPE ensures translations are both grammatically and contextually accurate, closely mirroring the original content in meaning and purpose.
• Professional Quality: The text is polished to meet professional standards, suitable for publication or official use where errors or inconsistencies are unacceptable.
• Cultural Appropriateness: Edits include adjustments for cultural nuances, making the content appropriate and sensitive to the target audience's cultural expectations.

A Leading Provider of Light and Full MTPE Post-Editing

At PoliLingua, we offer both light and full post-editing services for various industries. Our expertise covers sectors such as IT, healthcare and biotech, legal, gaming, fintech, e-commerce, and more. This specialization guarantees that industry-specific terminology and jargon are accurately applied and that the final text aligns with the professional standards of each field.

Regardless of your location or languages you need translations for, PoliLingua connects you with experts who can effectively convey your message. As an ISO 18587:2017 certified provider, we assure the utmost quality in Machine Translation Post-Editing services.

Our clients benefit from customized post-editing solutions that improve machine-generated translations, making them suitable for any audience and purpose. Trust PoliLingua for expert MTPE services that deliver precision and speed.

Understanding the difference between light and full post-editing in MTPE is essential for businesses looking to optimize their translation processes. Light post-editing provides fast and clear results, making it ideal for time-sensitive or less critical content. In contrast, full post-editing ensures thorough accuracy, stylistic consistency, and cultural relevance, which is crucial for high-stakes documents. PoliLingua, as a reliable partner, offers both types of post-editing to meet your specific needs.