[Gimp-user] Translate the Windows installer packages of GIMP 2.8.x

[Michael Schumacher <schumaml gmx de>]

Hi,

some of you might have noticed that the Windows installers for GIMP 
2.8.x, available from http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net, offer a few more 
language options than previous releases -  Deutsch, English, Italiano 
and Slovenski.

This is due to the installer's language files, available at 
http://git.gnome.org/browse/gimp/tree/build/windows/installer/lang?h=gimp-2-8 
(Polski has been added recently) - all of them contributed by users who 
want to make GIMP easier to install for their fellow countrymen.

But there's still much work to do - GIMP itself has been translated in 
many more languages.

So here is what you have to do in order to translate the installer to 
your language:


1. Get the original English language file
-----------------------------------------

http://git.gnome.org/browse/gimp/plain/build/windows/installer/lang/en.setup.isl?h=gimp-2-8

(if you know how to use Git, then you may want to get the gimp-2-8 
branch of git://git.gnome.org/gimp and work on the file in there)



2. Translate the file
---------------------

Use a reasonably complete text editor (notepad probably won't cut it), 
and translate the messages to the desired language. Choose a suitable 
file name, have a look at

http://git.gnome.org/browse/gimp/tree/build/windows/installer/lang?h=gimp-2-8

to see how the existing ones are named.

The file contains lots of key=message lines, you want to translate the 
message parts only and leave the keys intact - this is how the installer 
will find the correct messages for its dialog windows.

You may also give the following application a try (I've never used it 
myself, though:

http://www.freewebs.com/valarry/downloads.htm


In any case, pay attention to the codepages you use when saving those 
files - Unicode is not supported here. If in doubt, check the language 
files of the Innosetup installer software, they specifiy the correct 
codepages:

https://github.com/jrsoftware/issrc/tree/4af6f8f9fd9e6da2e5a8adf36c1a4fd324c64013/Files/Languages

But please *do not* copy anything from them into your own files - those 
settings only belong there.


3. Contribute your translation back
-----------------------------------

You got several possibilities to do this:

a) If you're using Git, then you can either commit and push the change 
directly, or provide a properly formatted patch.


b) You can attach the new file or the patch created to a new bug in 
GNOME Bugzilla:

https://bugzilla.gnome.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=GIMP

Choose the Installer component for this, not the Localization


c) You can attach either the file  or the patch to a message to the 
gimp-developer list.


We will check the file, and if all is well, your translation will be in 
the next Windows installer for GIMP 2.8.x - and your name will be in the 
list of GIMP contributors forever :)



P.S.

If you need help, please do not hesitate to ask - either on the list or 
in our IRC channel #gimp on irc.gimp.org

P.P.S.

Bug https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=683710 is a request for 
using gettext for these translations. If you want to help with that, 
read the comments of the bug and contact us.


--
Regards,
Michael