Depending on your requirements, you can use linked File objects that point to an image file in an external folder, or embedded File objects stored in the Author-it database.
Important: This option is different from Linked File objects as it does not use a variant of the File object template to apply paths to external folders. This is because the images are stored in the Author-it database and not in an external folder.
When the translation job is created, variants of the embedded file objects are created automatically.
- If the image is updated by the service provider and kept in the zip file with the translated XML file, the image is updated in the variant File object when the job is imported back into Translations.
- If you're going to update the image yourself, do this in the library by opening the File object variant and adding your new image.
- If you don't need to use a localized variation of the image, then leave the original image in the primary and variant File objects. The variant File object will be used when you publish.
Acme's requirements
Acme has several embedded images that need to be updated for their localized content.
Solution: Use a variant of the embedded file object
When you're working with an embedded image, you need a localized version of the image file. After the translation job is created, and the File object contains any text (Caption or Alt Text), the variant File object is automatically created in the same folder as the primary File object. Be certain that the variant File object uses the image that will appear in the published output.
- If you localize the image, then make sure the localized image is used by the variant File object.
- If you don't want to localize the image, then make sure the original image is used by the variant File object.
A translation job only creates a local variant of the file object when the file object contains any text (e.g. Alternate text field on the Web tab).
Publishing
When you publish the content for the source language, Author-it uses the primary image. When you publish the book for a locale, then Author-it automatically uses the variant of the File object.