Captions: The backbone of translating a book
Captions are microtexts that have the function of explaining the images in a book. These textual strings must be translated and carefully reported by the editorial translator. Within a book, they can take on an explanatory or informative function regarding the type of illustration they are associated with. The caption is in fact a moment in which the textual work pauses and leads to a visual contribution, which must in any case be supported by a written comment.
The popularizer and the specialized editorial translator must elaborate each caption after having acquired the knowledge and awareness of the entire context of the work. To translate captions it is not enough to quickly read the short notes that accompany each image contribution. Anyone who is really competent in editorial adaptation and translation knows well that the activity must be carried out after a careful reading and based on a deep knowledge of all the implications of the text. Chronologically speaking, it is therefore certainly more professional to carry out the work of translating captions after translating an illustrated book.
The treatment of captions must be carried out by professionals. It is wrong to think that, since these are "only" captions, anyone is able to write 'a few lines' to accompany images in a narrative work: this means underestimating the task of editorial translators.