Adaptation or rewriting is a finely-tuned form of translation in that, above and beyond an accurate and precise translation of the contents of a text, the professional seeks to adapt the text to a given public. This adaptation, or rewriting, implies adapting the historical or cultural references, adapting the degree of technicity, the idiomatic expressions and the plays on words, puns or other witticisms. It is difficult, nearly impossible, to clearly demarcate translation from adaptation, however one clear distinction is that adaptation seeks a certain effect more than it does a certain word. Adaptation is involved in the film Matrix, in translating the line “Buckle your seatbelt Dorothy, ’cause Kansas is going bye bye!” which clearly refers to the cult film The Wizard of Oz and its famous line “Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”. Such a line was not translated per se in the French version, but adapted, replacing the English-language cultural reference with a reference to Alice in Wonderland, better understood in French–speaking cultures. The French-language version of Matrix has Cypher saying: “Mets ta ceinture Alice, et bon voyage au pays des merveilles!”. Localization is the adaptation of an IT product to a given region in the world.

For Athenea Omnilang adaptation is a service in and of itself. Adaptation is particularly suited to advertising content and advertising catch phrases, and to press releases. Any content intended for an audience that differs culturally from the public targeted by the source language document, or that speaks a linguistic variation of the source language (for example English for the United States, or English for Great Britain. The process for an adaptation project is similar to the process for a translation project and is also covered by a set of specifications.

Editing consists in checking and if necessary correcting the translation by comparing it to the source document so as to verify the relevance, coherence and quality in terms of both form and substance. This comparison of two texts, most often written by different persons requires strict methodology and intense concentration. It must be performed by an experienced translator with solid qualifications in the field of the original document.
Athenea Omnilang strongly recommends including a phase of editing in all translation project processes, and especially in the cases of translations intended for publication and when the document content is highly sensitive (for example: instructions for the use of medical equipment).

As expressed in the word itself, proofreading means re-reading a document or a translation, without referring to the source document (see “editing” above), for a final control of the orthotypography, the fluidity, logical articulation, the lexical relevance, etc.