🇪🇸

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Spanish Guidelines for Transcriptions and Subtitles – esES, esLA

Scope

1. General Information

2. Flavour

3. Style & Tone of Voice

4. Text Reduction

5. Interjections

6. Consistency

7. Special Content

8. Special Formatting

9. Language-specific Items

10. Terminology

11. Notation Tags

12. Transcription Specifics

13. Subtitles Specifics

14. Useful Tools

15. Reminders

16. Version Log

Language specific updates

💡 🏄🏿‍♂️QUICK-SURFING HACK🏄🏼‍♀️
The CTRL+F (or Command+F) function works in open toggle lists.
If you want to quickly close all the toggle lists to check the list of the sections at a glance
click on CTRL+Alt+T (Command+Alt+T).

Each section is completed with a list of search keywords in your language to facilitate
your navigation.

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Scope
‣
Welcome to Happy Scribe Guidelines, a set of rules and hacks for granting consistency and
delivering high-quality transcription and subtitling projects.
✨Take the most out of them! ✨
How to read the Guidelines?
‣

Sections 1-8 → Generic information applicable across languages

Section 9 → Language-specific rules

Section 12 → Transcription specifics

Section 13 → Subtitles specifics

⚙ Looking for extra information or some useful tips?

💡 introduces further details on a topic.
💯 introduces useful hacks.
🔑 introduces localized search keywords.
How to use the Guidelines?
‣

1st time → Check all the sections thoroughly before starting working on your first
assignment.
Following times → Use CTRL+F (or Command+F) to find the solution to your issue.

💡 You are not expected to read the Guidelines every single time you work on a file.
However, you are expected to be aware of the latest additions all the time.
The latest additions will be highlighted in pink from time to time.
💯 Quality tip: Use the guidelines efficiently.
Are you working on a file with no audio? Run a search for “no audio” and you will
know what to do with that.

How to improve the Guidelines?

‣

The Guidelines have been designed to be a dynamic tool to fulfil your needs.

Feel free to share your feedback to expand, enrich and improve them.
Add a reliable source reference any time you make any suggestions.
💡 Share your feedback in the Discord Channel of your language.
Please note that when customer-specific instructions are available, they prevail over these
Guidelines and any other rules.

What languages do these Guidelines refer to?

‣

🇪🇸 🌎

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The following Guidelines include specifications for the following flavours:

Spanish for Spain

Spanish for Latin America

Flavour-specific rules will be noticed accordingly. If no flavour is specified, the rule is

meant to be applied across all variants.

1. General Information
‣

i. Service Level
‣

What type of transcription/subtitles does Happy Scribe offer at the moment?

Happy Scribe does not provide Verbatim transcription at the moment.

We currently offer clean-read transcripts and subtitles.
A clean read transcript aims to make the text legible, concise, and clear, without changing
the meaning or definition of speech, or the speaker's intention. Stutters, or false starts are
left out.
Repetitions are allowed if the speaker is intentionally repeating certain words for emphasis
or because they are said that way, but left out when the repetition happens due to the
speaker correcting themselves or when the speaker is in a state of emotion, like fear,
anger, sadness or shyness.
Examples:

True repetition False repetition

Happy– happy birthday by the

Happy birthday, happy
way. (stutteringly) —> Happy
birthday, happy birthday to you
birthday by the way.

Pull, pull, pull as much as you Pull, I mean, pull the door. —>
can! Pull the door.

You must be ver- very lucky

You must be very, very lucky. (stutteringly). —> You must be
very lucky.

The speech continuity should be granted by using the proper punctuation sign.

💯 Quality tip: Check the “Text Reduction” section for further details on how to edit
the text accordingly and “Punctuation” to know how to report long pauses.

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💡 If the file you are transcribing or subtitling has some embedded subtitles in your
language, please DO transcribe the speaker’s speech. DON’T mirror the
embedded subtitles even when they are slightly different from the speech spoken
by the speaker.
🔑 Search keywords: verbatim, type of transcription, tipo de transcripción, transcripción
de sonidos, onomatopeyas

ii. No Speech in File or Poor Audio

‣

You claimed a file but it:

Has no audio.

Has very poor audio.

What should you do?

1. Post the file name on the channel unworkable-projects on Discord.

2. Report the file as “unworkable” on the Editor and select either “No speech: there is
nothing to transcribe” or “Inaudible: it is impossible to transcribe because the audio
cannot be heard”.

3. Unclaim the job. Never submit it as “Done”.

💡 If a file with no/little/very poor audio is submitted as “Done”, no payment will be
processed.
💡 If there is very little audio in the file (less than 20% of the total length), please
flag it to the Happy Scribe team.

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🔑 Search keywords: no speech, poor audio, unworkable, bad audio, inaudible, no hay
discurso, poco discurso, mala calidad de audio, no hay audio, no se escucha bien,
baja calidad, inviable, no factible, no se puede trabajar

iii. Songs
‣

You claimed a file but more than 80% of the audio is a song or lyrics only.

What should you do?

1. DON’T transcribe the lyrics of the song and DON’T submit the file.
2. Post the file name on the channel unworkable-projects on Discord.

3. Report the file as “unworkable” on the Editor and select “Song: the majority of the
audio is a song (80%+)”.

4. Unclaim the job.

💡 If less than 80% of the audio is a song:
- If the song takes less than 10 seconds, transcribe the words to the song. Use
italics.
- If the song takes more than 10, use the proper tag. Check the section “Notation
Tag” below to know how to use the right one!

🔑 Search keywords: song, singing, lyrics, unworkable, canción, cantando, letra de

canción, canción entera, solo canción, no se puede trabajar, inviable

iv. Foreign Languages

‣

Scenario DO

Report the file by selecting “Foreign

The file contains at least 80% of the
language[...]”.
foreign language in the spoken part.
Unclaim the job.

The file contains both Spanish and a

Please don’t copy the subtitles.
foreign language but the video has
Transcribe the Spanish part only.
Spanish subtitles embedded in it.

Don’t transcribe the foreign part.

The file contains both Spanish and a
Use the proper tag and transcribe the
foreign language but without
Spanish part only in both
embedded subtitles.
transcriptions and subtitles.

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💯 Quality tip: If the speaker says «Los niños juegan con… ¿Como se llama? El
qìqiú». when they mean «Los niños juegan con la pelota», DO type it as «Los
niños juegan con… ¿Cómo se llama? El [otro idioma 00:00:00]». DON’T type
«Los niños juegan con la pelota».
In this example, the interviewee is using a word from his native language that is
not known to the interviewer: it is not a case of code-mixing or loan word, but a
case of communication loss. Even if you were to speak Chinese and know the
word, please don’t add it as it is not relevant in this specific context.
🔑 Search keywords: foreign language, foreign speakers, foreign tag, otro idioma,
idioma extranjero, otro hablante, hablante extranjero, orador extranjero, etiqueta de
otro idioma, etiqueta de idioma extranjero, texto en otro idioma, palabras de otro
idioma

2. Flavour
‣

Depending on the geographical area in which they are spoken, some languages can have
locales, also known as “flavours”. In Dutch language, for example, there are two flavours:
Dutch for Belgium and Dutch for the Netherlands.
Always follow the flavour as selected by the customer and displayed on your job dashboard.

💡 DON’T confuse the flavour with the accent. The speaker can be speaking Dutch for
Belgium with an English accent.
💯 Quality tip: Before claiming your job, check the flavour requested. This will help you
anticipate some of the challenges of the file you will be working on and apply the
relevant linguistic conventions for that specific flavour, like the appropriate spelling
and punctuation preferences, accent, and other factors.

💡 In Spanish, there aren’t major differences in spelling and punctuation rules between
Spain and Latin America variants.
For more insight or any queries regarding Spanish grammar and punctuation, we
suggest checking the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (https://www.rae.es/dpd/) or
Fundéu - Fundación del Español Urgente (https://www.fundeu.es/)

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🔑 Search keywords: locale, flavour, localisation, adaptation, accent, local, variedad del
idioma, variante del idioma, variación del idioma, localización, adaptación, acento

3. Style & Tone of Voice

‣

The style and tone of voice of speakers should be reported faithfully. This doesn’t refer to the
intonation, but rather to the usage of a formal or informal language (i.e., the register).
Stick to the following pillars when working on a file:

Be Avoid long sentences/paragraphs. Look for natural points in the speech,

concise like shifts in topic, emphasis, or references, and start a new sentence.

Be
Never add content, paraphrase, or rearrange the order of speech.
accurate

Never reflect informal contractions.

e.g.: if the speaker says “Nos fuimos pa’l pueblo” it should be corrected
to “Nos fuimos para el pueblo”.
Be proper The same applies to other grammatical contractions like na’ (correct:
nada), comprao (correct: comprado), etc.
Also, never reflect phonetic variants that alter the speech like ceceos,
seseos and yeísmos.

💡 What should I do when speakers use non-standard informal contractions when

speaking?
Always use expanded forms as per standard conventions:
me vo’ a → me voy a
pa’ allá → para allá
na’ → nada
pa’ qué → para qué
’tá bien → está bien
nojotros → nosotros
normá → normal
💯 Quality tip: Before completing your job, run a quick search looking for unnecessary
filler words using CRTL+F (or Command+F).

🔑 Search keywords: contractions, contracted forms, informal tone, formal tone,

formality, contracción, contracciones gramaticales, contraer palabras, contracción de
palabras, discurso oral, discurso formal, discurso informal, formalidad

4. Text Reduction
‣

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Unless otherwise specified, DON’T use unnecessary filler words, feedback words,
interruptions, false starts, and repetitions.

DO DON’T

Ella dijo que no Ella d-d-dijo q-q-que no

Stutters &
deberíamos invitarlos. Así deberíamos in-in-invitarlos.
Stammers
que no los invité. Así que no los invité.

Mmh pues ella dijo como que

Ella dijo que no
Unnecessary no deberíamos invitarlos y
deberíamos invitarlos. Así
filler words tal. Y fue en plan de...
que no los invité.
Bueno. Así que no los invité.

-Ella dijo que no deberíamos

Ella dijo que no
Feedback invitarlos.
deberíamos invitarlos. Así
words -Claro.
que no los invité.
-Así que no los invité.

Self
Ella dijo que no Ellos dijeron que... Ella dijo
interruptions,
deberíamos invitarlos. Así que no deberíamos invitarlos.
and false
que no los invité. Así que no los invité.
starts

Ella dijo que no, no

Ella dijo que no
deberíamos invitarlos. Así
Repetitions deberíamos invitarlos. Así
que no los invité, no los
que no los invité.
invité.

💡 What if an “unnecessary word” is the only answer of a speaker to a question?

In that case, the word cannot be considered unnecessary and it should be included in
the text.

DO DON’T

Persona 1: ¿Fuiste al cine? Persona 1: Fuiste al cine.

Persona 2: Sí, anoche. Persona 2: Hum. Sí, anoche. Hum.
Persona 1: ¿Y qué tal la película? Persona 1: Mmm. ¿Y qué tal la
¿Te gustó? película? ¿Te gustó?
Persona 2: Ajá. Persona 2: Ajá.
Persona 1: Hoy no estás muy Persona 1: Hoy no estás muy
conversador. conversador, ¿eh?

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Text in red should not be included, text in green should be.

These are the accepted spellings for the following:
Affirmative answers: ajá
Negative answers: mmm-mmm/nanay/hum

💡 If a short false start includes the crucial meaning, like the speakers correcting
themselves, be sure to include it.

Queremos incluir partes más claras, es decir, convenciones

DO
lingüísticas a estas directrices.

If conjunctions don’t work as such, but rather as fillers, please remove them. The
same applies to any other connectors (relatives pronouns, adverbs, etc.) when they
don’t work for the purposes they should.

DO DON’T

-No sé si sigo enamorada.

-No sé qué ponerme para la fiesta.
-O sea, ¿qué sugieres? ¿Que
-O sea, ¿y el vestido rojo?
deberíamos terminar?

This conjunction doesn’t connect

The conjunction connects the
the sentences, grammatically
two sentences in this case.
speaking. It should be omitted.

Truncate further content exclusively where reading speed and synchronicity to the audio
are causing you issues in subtitles. Never omit meaningful content.
💯 Quality tip: If you spot an unnecessary filler word, run a quick search throughout the
file by using CTRL+F (Command+F) functionality and remove them all.
Interjections should not be treated as filler words. Check out the relevant section
below for further details.

🔑 Search keywords: text reduction, filler words, stutters, stammers, repetitions,

interruptions, reducción de texto, muletillas, palabras de relleno, relleno, tartamudeo,
tartamudear, balbuceo, balbucear, repeticiones, interrupciones

5. Interjections
‣

As part of speech, interjections are exclamations that express speakers’ reactions or feelings.
They are grammatically independent of the rest of the sentence where they appear.
Only the interjections below are allowed in transcriptions and subtitles:
¡Dios mío!

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¡Vaya por Dios!

¡Madre mía! or ¡(Ay,) mi madre!

¡Vaya!

¡Guau!

¡Hala!

¡Ay, no!

¡Buah!

¡Ah!

DON’T use any interjections currently not included in the list or the reference.

DO reach out to add new interjections that you consider missing.

In the case of subtitles, interjections can be omitted to meet character constraints, if their
omission does not imply any loss in meaning.
💡 Exclamation marks can be used only for interjections and shouts. Check the relevant
section about punctuation to discover when they are forbidden.
💯 Quality tip: How to distinguish filler words from interjections?
If the phrases work as a reaction from the speaker, they should rather be considered
interjections.

Unless you have been instructed otherwise, ask yourself “Would omitting this item
impact the core message the speech is conveying?”. If the answer is “No”, it should
be pretty safe to omit it.

🔑 Search keywords: interjections, exclamation marks, filler words, omission, omitting,

interjecciones, puntos de exclamación, exclamaciones, exclamación, muletillas,
palabras de relleno, omisiones, omitir, omitir palabras

6. Consistency
‣

Consistency means taking decisions on how to tackle specific items and applying the same
approach throughout a file.
What items should you apply consistency to?
Punctuation, capitalization, numbers, dates, spelling, symbols, terminology, interjection
rendering... Be sure to stick to these guidelines to ensure the highest level of consistency!
The more the consistency, the greater the user experience.

💡 By keeping the consistency, Scribes will be able to increase precision by reducing

ambiguity and preventing loss of meaning in case the transcriptions/subtitles are
going to be translated into other languages.
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💯 Quality tip: You run a search for a proper name and you want to be sure the correct
spelling is applied also when files on the same topic arrive in bulk, do you? Or do you
opt for one out of several accepted spelling for a single word?
Then use the “Glossary” option and add some specific terms there to help grant
consistency. Check the section “Terminology” for more details.

To check internal consistency in the file you are working on, use the CTRL+F
(Command+F) option to navigate through the file and check all instances by typing
the first three characters or potential variants.
💡 Still in doubt with some specific items? Post your issue on the Spanish Channel on
Discord. Sharing is caring!

🔑 Search keywords: consistency, consistent rules, consistencia, normas de

consistencia, garantizar consistencia, consistencia del texto

7. Special Content
‣

i. Proper Names & Titles

‣

◦ Capitalize them accordingly.

◦ In case of transliteration from non-Latin languages,
check the most common transliteration and use that
Proper names
consistently throughout the file.
◦ Diacritics should be kept in proper nouns and
names.

Company/brand/product ◦ Use the correct spelling and capitalization – some

names of them might stray from standard conventions.

◦ Run proper searches to transcribe them accurately.

Titles (books, movies, etc.) ◦ Use italics.
◦ Use sentence case.

💯 Quality tip: The rule of thumb is always to check for spelling

company/brand/product names by doing a quick search. Always refer to the
official websites to be sure to use the correct names. In the case of book/movie
titles, check them on the main online catalogues.

If several different spelling/formatting alternatives are available, choose one and

be consistent throughout the file. Add it to the Glossary!

🔑 Search keywords: proper nouns, spelling proper nouns, titles, product name,
company name, brand name, capitalisation, capitalise, nombres propios, cómo
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escribir nombres propios, ortografía de nombres propios, títulos, nombres de

productos, nombres de emos, nombres de marcas, mayúsculas, minúsculas

ii. Profanity & Curse Words

‣

DON’T censor profanity or curse words. If they appear in the audio, transcribe them word
for word. Use an exclamation mark (!) if the curse word is an interjection.

DO DON’T

¿Qué coño está pasando? ¿Qué c*** está pasando?

🔇 2 exceptions for censoring

The N-word
If spoken in full, the N-word can be fully written out in casual contexts, ending with
-a.
When referring to the word in meta language, write it fully out and use its intended
spelling (casual: -a, derogatory: -er). (”The word n - - - er is a racial slur”. “They
were saying “n - - - a” to each other”).
If the word is used as an insult, you should use the -er form and astericize it
(n***er).

Beeped audio
If the curse words are censored and beeped in the audio, DO use asterisks in the
transcription/subtitles.

🔑 Search keywords: profanity, curse words, blasfemia, groserías, palabrotas,

ordinariez, tacos, decir tacos

iii. Incorrect Grammar

‣

DO type the correct spelling in case of mispronunciation of words in the speech.

DON’T fix incorrect grammar or words as spoken if the message is not altered.

DON’T use the [sic] tag and don’t edit the speech.
Audio: «Linda, no me dijistes que tenías tres hijos».

Audio: «El coso era enorme» (but they meant «oso»).

Audio: La dije que viniera.

DO DON’T

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Linda, no me dijiste que tenías

Linda, no me dijistes que tenías tres hijos.
tres hijos.

El oso era enorme. El coso era enorme.

La dije que viniera. Le dijera que viniera.

🔑 Search keywords: incorrect grammar, grammar issues, grammar violations,

error gramatical, problemas gramaticales, mal uso de la gramática

iv. Acronyms & Abbreviations

‣

DON’T hyphenate acronyms.

DON’T use periods in abbreviations where it is not needed.

DO DON’T

Me dijo de estar aquí a las 5:00 p. m. Me dijo de estar aquí a las 5pm
¿Puedes apagar la TV? ¿Puedes apagar la T.V.?
Las noticias sobre la UNESCO no eran Las noticias sobre la U-N-E-S-C-O no
del todo ciertas. eran del todo ciertas.

💡 Etcétera and its more common abbreviation, etc., are used to show that a list of at
least two items is incomplete. Either form can be used. However, choose an
option and stick with the same one throughout the file for keeping consistency.

🔑 Search keywords: acronyms, abbreviations, abbreviated words, acrónimos,

abreviaciones, palabras abreviadas

v. Websites & E-mail Addresses

‣

Websites should be transcribed as they are written normally in the URL.

E-mail addresses follow the same rule.

DO DON’T

happyscribe.com happy scribe dot com

[email protected] scriby at happy scribe dot com

💡 What if the speaker spells out their e-mail address? Follow the rule for spelt-out
items under the section “Capitalization”.
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💯 Quality tip: Stick to “e-mail” hyphenated spelling.

🔑 Search keywords: websites, email, e-mail, páginas web, correo electrónico

vi. Onomatopoeias
‣

Since we are currently providing clean transcriptions and subtitles, we do not include
onomatopoeias in the text unless they convey a meaningful message.

We do not write onomatopoeias when:

You hear a sound, such as when you hear a bee buzzing or a dog barking (instead, write
nothing).
The speaker imitates that sound, such as when they pretend to be barking (instead, write
nothing).

We do write onomatopoeias when:

The speaker mentions the sound. Use italics in that case.

Said DO

-¿Qué dices, Frank? ¿Crees que es -¿Qué dices, Frank? ¿Crees que es
buena idea? buena idea?
-¿Acaso lo dudas? Es como... bum. -¿Acaso lo dudas? Es como... bum.

DO spell the onomatopoeias as per the list in the link below:

https://www.wikilengua.org/index.php/Onomatopeya
💡 Check out the “Text Reduction” section for more details on how and when to
reduce the text being compliant with our service level.
💯 Quality tip: Onomatopoeias should be in italics.

🔑 Search keywords: onomatopoeias, sounds, atmospherics, onomatopeyas,

sonidos, sonido atmosférico, expresiones con sonidos

vii. Atmospherics & Sounds

‣

Since we are currently providing clean transcriptions and subtitles, atmospherics and
sounds should not be included. If the speaker is interrupted by either of them, only the
spoken speech should be typed.

🔑 Search keywords: onomatopoeias, sounds, atmospherics, onomatopeyas,

sonidos, sonido atmosférico, expresiones con sonidos

viii. Religious References

‣

Use numerals and follow conventionally written formatting for chapter/verse references of

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religious texts.

DO DON’T

Hechos 27:1
Hechos 27 dos puntos 1
(Audio: Hechos 27 versículo
(Audio: Hechos 27 versículo 1)
1)

🔑 Search keywords: religion, religious, verses, religión, religioso, versículos

8. Special Formatting
‣

Italics, Bold, and Underline

Happy Scribe Editor supports Italics formatting only. Stick to the charts below for its correct
usage.

Narration and off-screen appearances

Italics Regular

◦ Voice-over or narration fragments: usually these are bits

where the speaker is clearly off-site and you can hear a
◦ When the speaker is in the sc
studio voice.
they’re out of shot, hidden or ot
◦ Dialogue that is heard through electronic media, such as
◦ Documentaries or reportages
a phone, television (especially if we see the television and
entirely off-screen or when the
hear the audio), computer, loudspeaker, non-sentient
voice-over.
robots, robotic voices or AI, etc. This includes when the
speaker is sharing their computer screen.

Words and song

Italics Regular

◦ Onomatopoeias (when the speaker is quoting the ◦ Proper names

noise) ◦ Foreign loan words which
◦ Unfamiliar foreign words and phrases which do not appear in your language’s
appear in the nominated dictionary for your language nominated dictionary, e.g. okey,
◦ Titles of books, periodicals, works of art, albums, marketing, kite surf, etc. for
movies, TV shows, radio shows, video games, etc. Spanish
◦ Songs
◦ Referring to specific words said by the speaker

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(metalanguage instances), e.g.: la misma palabra

vértigo me genera mucha ansiedad

💯 Quality Tip: In case of doubt about how to format a common foreign loan word, don’t
forget to consult your fellow scriber on the Spanish Channel Discord. Sharing is
caring! 🙂

🔑 Search keywords: italics, titles, book, movie, italics, when to use italics, cursivas,
títulos, títulos de libros, libros, películas, cursiva, cuándo usar cursivas

9. Language-specific Items
‣

i. Punctuation
‣

Punctuation Sign Usage DOs & DONT’S

… Ellipsis ◦ Speaker’s trailing off or ◦ Use the ellipsis symbol

pausing significantly or three dots
◦ Speaker’s cutting off and ◦ Use a capital letter after
changing direction an ellipsis when the
previous sentence is
finished. Otherwise, leave
it uncapitalized.
◦ Do not put any space
before the ellipsis
◦ Do not use the ellipsis to
introduce a paragraph
after a video editing cut
(the video is edited in a
way that it interrupts the
speaker and the next
paragraph starts in the
middle of a different
sentence).
A hyphen should be used
to mark the interruption.
The video cut should be
considered as someone
else interrupting the
speaker and no ellipsis is

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needed to introduce the

next scene.

◦ Capitalize the first word

of the quote when
followed by a “dicendi”
verb and a colon, e.g.:
Juan dijo: «Me voy».
◦ If a quote is nested
within another one, use
English quotation marks
“”. And if there’s another
quote within the second
quote, use quotation
marks ‘’. The rule would
◦ Direct speech (spoken, be as follows: «”’...’”»
thought, or written) ◦ Don’t use quotation
«
Quotation Marks ◦ The speaker is on the marks on several subtitles
»
screen and is reading out events in case of
loud continuous subtitles (just
at the beginning)
◦ Don’t use quotation
marks for titles, unless
they are part of the title
itself
◦ Don’t use quotation
marks for referring to
specific words said by the
speaker (metalanguage);
use the italics instead: la
misma palabra vértigo me
genera ansiedad

◦ Put them inside the

quotation marks if they
belong to the quoted
¿ Question & ◦ Questions
sentence
? Exclamation ◦ Interjections and shouts
https://www.fundeu.es/rec
¡! Marks only
omendacion/interrogacion
-y-exclamacion-usos-de-
los-signos-ortograficos/

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◦ Use the Ortografía de la

RAE comma in lists of
more than three items
◦ Put it outside the
◦ Lists quotation marks
◦ Addressing someone https://www.fundeu.es/rec
, Commas directly omendacion/comillas-
◦ After interjections uso-de-este-signo-
◦ Improving reading flow ortografico/
◦ Don’t use commas for
marking parenthetical
clauses (see Em-dashes
below)

◦ Put it outside the

quotation marks unless in
the case of abbreviations
https://www.fundeu.es/rec
omendacion/comillas-
uso-de-este-signo-
ortografico/
. Periods ◦ Ending sentences
◦ Don’t add another
period to names or
brands if they end a
sentence
e.g., I work at Yahoo Inc.
NOT Yahoo Inc..
◦ Don’t use in acronyms

◦ Introducing lists or ◦ Use to introduce direct

: Colons
explanations speech

◦ Linking closely related

sentences
; Semicolons ◦ Don’t over-use it
◦ Complex lists with
commas within items

- Hyphens ◦ Compound names ◦ Don’t use it for line

◦ Abrupt interruptions and breaks
cutoffs of speakers – no ◦ Never use en- and em-
space should be added dashes for all this
afterwards.
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◦ Separating letters in
spellings
e.g., Happy is spelt H-A-P-
P-Y
◦ Introducing two speakers
in subtitles (no space)
◦ A hyphen should be used
to mark the interruption.
The video cut should be
considered as someone
else interrupting the
speaker and no ellipsis is
needed to introduce the
next scene.

◦ Marking parenthetical ◦ Never use en-dashes or

clauses that are grammar- commas for this
independent ◦ Don’t add any spacing
e.g., Cogí el coche de mi before and after an em-
— Em-dashes hermana sin preguntarle — dash
ella siempre toma prestada Ref.:
mi ropa sin preguntarme https://www.fundeu.es/es
antes— y me fui a la cribireninternet/la-raya-
ciudad. tambien-exist/

◦ Look for double spaces

and delete them
◦ Separating parts of the
Single space ◦ Don’t include any space
speech
after hyphen for
introducing two speakers

💡 What punctuation to use with interruptions?

Scenario Punctuation sign

The speaker interrupts

Ellipsis
themselves

The speaker is interrupted by Hyphen (no space before)

someone else or the video is Persona 1: Me preguntaba si-
edited in a way that the Persona 2: Estoy ocupada, no puedo hablar
speaker is interrupted ahora.

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Ellipsis (no spaces before, only after)

The speaker is interrupted by Persona 1: Me preguntaba si...
someone else and then Persona 2: Estoy ocupada, no puedo hablar
resumes with unaltered ahora.
grammar Persona 1: ... te gustaría acompañarme a
comer algo.

💡 Air quotations should be written as punctuation signs as well as any mention to

“quote unquote”.
When you stop “working”, would you mind come and give me a hand with all this
mess?

💯 Quality Tip: While hyphens should be used for compound names, be careful with
prefixes and suffixes. Check it out the exact rule here below:
https://www.fundeu.es/recomendacion/prefijos-seis-claves-para-una-buena-
redaccion-817/

🔑 Search keywords: punctuation, interruptions, spacing rules, space, puntuación,

interrupciones, interrupción, regla de espaciado, espacios

ii. Capitalization
‣

When to use upper case

‣

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Item 💡 Further Explanation DOs & DONT’S

Vamos a volar un cometa

First word of a Standard sentences
Ella dijo: «Vamos a volar
sentence Sentences in quotes
un cometa».

People Pablo Neruda

Countries España
States Castilla y León
Counties Ciudad Lineal
Provinces Burgos
Cities Madrid
Proper nouns Rivers Nilo
Lakes Lagos de Covadonga
Falls Salto Ángel, but: Las
cataratas del Niágara
Vessels Titanic
Institutions Unión Africana
Genus Homo sapiens

Carolina del Norte se

When referring to specific
encuentra al norte de
Compass Points geographic areas or part of
Carolina del Sur y al este
proper names only
de Virginia Occidental.

Variables referred to in a
sentence (NOT in an
Variables La X marca el punto.
equation, in that case, use
lower case)

When to use ALL-CAPS

‣

Capitalized Item 💡 Further Explanation DOs & DONT’S

OST On-screen text Match OST capitalization

(On-screen text) Forced Narrative and avoid using all-caps
in the following cases:
◦ Handwritten notes
◦ Excerpts from
books/papers
◦ Social Media messages

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◦ Text messages
◦ Long passages of OST

When a speaker spells Happy is spelt H-A-P-P-

Spelt-out words
out a word Y.

When to use Lower Case

‣

Capitalized Item 💡 Further Explanation DOs & DONT’S

Job titles (check upper- Debe ser difícil ser el jefe

Titles
case section) ejecutivo.

Variables in an equation
(NOT referred to in a Audio: 3 veces x
Variables
sentence, in that case, use Typed: 3x
upper case)

Proper noun Ethnic group mayas, finlandés

Tables
apéndice C
Charts
Names of capítulo 13
Figures
charts/sections diapositiva 3
Bigger sections (NOT
página 100
smaller divisions)

When to use Special Capitalization

‣

Capitalized Item 💡 Further Explanation DOs & DONT’S

Books
Titles Use sentence case
Movies

Yahoo!
AirPods
Brand-relevant Company names
Items Product names 💯 Check on official
websites/reference material
the proper capitalization

Acronyms Institution acronyms AfD

Product types UNESCO
Diseases Saas
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COVID-19

💯 Always check the proper

capitalization on reliable
resources

iii. Numbers
‣

1. General Rules
‣

Item Rule DO

Trabajé en cuatro proyectos de

0-9 Numbers 0-9 are written out.
subtitulaje el mes pasado.

Numbers above 10 are written Trabajé en 14 proyectos de

+10
in figures. subtitulaje el mes pasado.

Million The above rules apply.

El mes pasado procesaron
Billion Descriptors are kept.
tres millones de actas por un total
Trillion Add unbreakable space after
de 59 mil millones en todo el año.
and above the figure.

Numbers at the beginning of a

Starting a sentence are written out Sesenta y seis nuevos Scribes se
sentence regardless of the actual amount unieron al equipo.
or number.

Always after a figure.

Shortcut MacOS: option+space
Unbreakab La inflación subió un 15 %.
bar
le space El teléfono me costó 300 €.
Shorcut Windows: alt+space
bar

1.1 Exceptions
‣

Item Rule DO

Decimals Always in figures and 3.14 es el valor aproximado de pi.

preferably with a dot El valor aproximado de pi es
Ref.: 3.14.
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https://www.fundeu.es/rec
omendacion/decimales-
coma-y-punto-son-
ambas-validas/

Days and years always in El 9 de noviembre de 1989 fue

Dates
figures una fecha crucial para Europa.

La mayoría nació a principios de

los 90. /
In figures or written out, La mayoría nació a principios de
with an unbreakable los noventa.
Decades &
space after the article, but
eras
never with an -s at the Los 90 fueron una gran década. /
end Los noventa fueron una gran
década. / La década de los 90
fue una gran década.

Always in Roman
Centuries Estamos en el siglo XXI
numerals

Measuremen Always in figures with an Medía 1,80 m. Era tan alto que
ts unbreakable space tapaba el sol.

Vivo en Calle de Santa Teresa 6.

Addresses Always in figures
Mi código postal es 08012.

Name of a
Always in figure El número 5 es mi favorito.
number

List of El puntaje de sus páginas web

Always in figures
numbers fue de 2, 5, 7, 23 y 28.

Es un genio. A los 3 años ya

Combination sabía leer, escribía poemas a
Always in figures
of numbers los 9 y resolvía problemas de
matemática avanzada a los 12.

Repeated Always in figures -Su empresa tiene 2500

numbers in empleados-
consecutive -3500.
sentences/c -¿Perdón?
apsules

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-3500. Tenemos 3500

empleados.

Religious Hechos 27:1 (Audio: Hechos 27

Always in figures
references versículo 1).

Phone Always in figures with an Nuestro número de teléfono es

numbers unbreakable space +34 600 000 000.

Always in figures and with

El 5 % del público no estaba
Percentages an unbreakable space
escuchando.
after the figure

Always in figures unless

Range of Los niños entre 1-12 años tenían
at the beginning of a
numbers la entrada prohibida al evento.
sentence

Always in figures unless

”y media”, “en punto”, “de Dijo que llegaría a las
la tarde” or “de la diez en punto.
mañana” is included. Me tomé un café a las cuatro de
la tarde.
Use the format chosen by Me desperté muy temprano, a las
Time the speaker (12 or 24 h). tres de la mañana.
Audio: Son las cinco y veinte
In case several formats Type: Son las 5:20
are used (”siete y media” Audio: Son las diecisiete y veinte
and “siete y treinta”), use Type: Son las 17:20.
the numeric format and Ellos trabajan 24/7.
apply consistently.

Time Nos tomó como mil años

Always written out
estimation encontrar el libro adecuado.

2. Number Separators
‣

Item Punctuation Sign DO

Decimals . Dot 3.14

Thousands of
Altogether 3000
four figures

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Thousands of
Altogether with an 120 000
four figures or
unbreakable space 15 500
more

Dot in all figures 09.11.1989

.
Dates No commas or dots El 9 de noviembre
,
if the month is written out de 1989

Phone
Unbreakable space 1 508 555 2232
numbers units

Prefix () Rounded parenthesis (+39) 333 00 00 000

Ranges - Hyphen 1-12

💯 Quality tip: You found a number in the audio track of the file you are working on,
but you don’t remember how to handle that. Quickly surf the Guidelines by using
CTRL+F (Command+F) and search for the number type that is causing you
troubles.

Warning: Use an apostrophe for truncated decades instead of a single quote

mark.

🔑 Search keywords: numbers, decimals, million, date, time, measurements,

números, decimales, millones, fecha, hora, medidas

iv. Date & Time Format

‣

Forma
Rule DO
t

Audio: La empresa fue fundada en enero

de dos mil diecisiete, uno del uno de dos
◦ Follow the format used by
mil diecisiete para se exactos.
Date the speaker(s), also in the
Typed: La empresa fue fundada en
case of centuries
enero de 2017, 1.1.2017 para ser
exactos.

◦ Follow the format used by Audio: Ella siempre se despierta a

the speaker(s) las siete a. m.
Time
◦ “a. m.” and “p. m.” with Typed: Ella siempre se despierta a
unbreakable space las 7:00 a. m.

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🔑 Search keywords: date, time, fecha, hora, escritura de fechas, escritura de

horas

v. Symbols & Currencies

‣

Special rules apply to symbols and currencies as per the chart below:

Item Rule DO

J&J es uno de los grupos de

◦ Use only if part of a
Ampersand empresas más grande.
proper name or a common
& El equipo de R&D se han expandido
acronym
notablemente.

◦ Use only if included in the

speech.
◦ Use the currency
symbols with figures only. Me costó solo 50 céntimos.
◦ Symbols should go after No me importa la fluctuación del
the number with an euro o del yen.
unbreakable space. In Son 17.45 $ cada uno. (DON’T type
Currencies case of currencies with the 17.45 dólares cada uno.)
same symbols (like
Mexican pesos and Exception:
dollars) happening within Son 17.45 pesos por esta cartera, y
the same project, we 40 dólares por la maleta.
should write out the
currency.
◦ Don’t convert.

◦ Use the percentage

El porcentaje que mostraron no era
symbols with figures only.
Percentage real.
◦ Add an unbreakable
% El 5 % del público no estaba
space between the symbol
escuchando.
and the figure.

🔑 Search keywords: symbols, percentage, currencies, unbreakable space,

símbolos, porcentajes, divisas, monedas, espacio indivisble

vi. Mathematical Items

‣

Please stick to the rules below, unless otherwise specified:

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Item Rule DO

Use figures for numerals

Math
and spell out math 20 más 4 veces 0.5 es igual a 22.
equations
operators.

Alfa, omega y pi son símbolos muy

Greek letters Spell them out.
comunes.

Spell them out, but: use Dibuja un ángulo de 270 grados.

cm, m, km, gr, and kg Los radianes de pi son muy
Measurements
abbreviated when complejos.
preceded by figures. La mesa mide 85 cm.

Dos tercios de la población están

Fractions Spell them out.
desempleados.

Trigonometric
Spell them out. Calculemos el coseno de 1 radián.
functions

Use symbols and don’t Audio: 3 veces x más 4 veces y

spell out the math igual a 23
operator. Typed: 3x más 4y igual 23
Variables

Check capitalization rules La X marca el punto. Añade un

here. ejemplo y habla con CS.

Use Audio: x a la sexta

Superscript/Su superscripts/subscripts Typed: x⁶
bscript (the Editor allows its Audio: H2O
usage). Typed: H₂O

🔑 Search keywords: numbers, math, mathematical, números, matemáticas,

cálculos, ecuaciones, ecuaciones matemáticas

vii. Reference
‣

Use the following references in case you have any doubts on items not included in these
language guidelines:

Fundéu - Español Urgente: https://www.fundeu.es/

Diccionario panhispánico de dudas: https://www.rae.es/dpd/

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10. Terminology
‣
i. Domain Relevance
‣

Always refer to the context to catch the appropriate words or phrases.

This is especially important for proper nouns or industry terminology.
Lack of proper research might lead to accuracy issues and impact the final quality of
your job.
💯 Quality tip: Some foreign words have become part of the common terminology
for specific verticals.
Depending on the industry, it is not uncommon to see how certain loan words
have become part of a specific industry domain.
DON’T use tags for loan words or any foreign word that is domain-specific.
Example:
The English term influencer is part of the specific terminology of Social Media
almost across all languages. If the video that you are transcribing/subtitling is
about Social Media, then you needn’t use any italics or tags when typing the
term influencer. If the video you are transcribing/subtitling is not about Social
Media, and the term influencer is used, then it should go in italics.

ii. Glossary
‣

The Editor allows customers and Scribes to add a specific set of terms that should be
used in one or multiple files.
Why should you stick to the glossary? Because this will:

Ensure terminology consistency – internally and across related files.

Speed up your task – you won’t need to search elsewhere.

Minimize accuracy issues.

iii. On-screen Text

‣

Stick to the terminology of the on-screen text, unless:

The on-screen text has typos. In this case, flag this to the Admins.
The glossary provided by the customer includes options that differ from the on-screen
text.
The instructions state otherwise.

🔑 Search keywords: terms, terminology, glossary, loan word, términos, terminología,

glosario, préstamos

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11. Notation Tags

‣
If the file you are working on has unclear portions of audio, audio in a different language, or if
there is a significant amount of singing, you can use one of the notation tags listed below,
including a timestamp of the audio location.
If there is no dialogue during the event, only use the tag once per event and leave it on for
however long the event takes. Re-introduce the tag only if the event re-appears after regular
speech again.

Scenario Tag DO

Unintelligible or
inaudible words are [inaudible hh:mm:ss] [inaudible 00:01:32]
stated.

Multiple people
speaking over each [diafonía 00:00:52]
other causes any one of [diafonía hh:mm:ss] Transcribe what is
the speakers to become discernible.
unintelligible.

[otro idioma 01:02:02]

Indicate where they begin

with a timestamp and the
tag “otro idioma”.
Portions of audio in a Don’t transcribe non-
[otro idioma hh:mm:ss]
foreign language. Spanish audio.

If a file is mostly or
entirely in a foreign
language, check “Foreign
Language” section.

[canción 01:59:02]

The speaker starts

If it takes less than 10
singing and it is more [canción hh:mm:ss]
seconds, transcribe the
than 10 seconds long.
words to the song in
italics.

General DON’Ts

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DON’T leave out the timestamp. [inaudible]

DON’T use upper case/all-caps in any notation tags. [Otro idioma 02:03:55]

DON’T use your own notations. (diafonía 02:03:55)

DON’T include the name of the foreign language even though you spot it. [polaco
02:03:55]

DON’T use [otro idioma 02:03:55] for loan words.

💡 At Happy Scribe we currently DON’T use any [guess] tag. When you are struggling
with some words, it’s safer to use the [inaudible hh:mm:ss] tag.
💯 Quality tip: Do you want to use a tag accurately? Type [ on the Editor at the exact
point you want to add a tag and choose from the drop-down menu.
Windows shortcut: Alt+0091
Mac shortcut: Alt+Shift+ ^ key

Punctuation and Tags

When the tag is replacing a word, a phrase or a portion of a sentence, DO use
standard punctuation afterwards.
However, when a tag is used to replace a whole sentence or paragraph, DON’T
include any punctuation sign after the tag.

🔑 Search keywords: foreign, foreign language, inaudible, crosstalk, singing, notation

tag, loan word, extranjerismo, otro idioma, diafonía, canción, música, etiquetas,
préstamos

12. Transcription Specifics

‣

i. Multiple Speakers
‣

In the case of multiple speakers, a labelling strategy should be followed.

Refrain from creating your own descriptive labels and rather stick to the following rules
based on different scenarios:

Scenario Rule DO

The speaker’s name can

Pablo Neruda
be reasonably inferred Use speaker’s name label
Profesor Neruda
from the audio/video.

The speaker’s name Use job title or role labels Entrevistador(a)

cannot be reasonably Profesor(a)

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inferred from the Estudiante

audio/video, but the job
title or role can be.

The speaker’s name

cannot be reasonably
Use sequentially numbered Persona 1
inferred from the
labels Persona 2
audio/video, nor can be the
job title or role.

There are too many Use group labels.

Estudiantes
speakers to consistently Don’t use it as a substitute for
Público
track who says what (e.g. reasonable speaker
Grupo de
classroom discussion, identification.
camarógrafos
focus group). Don’t include any number.

💡 What to do in case of crosstalk? Check the “Notation Tag” section.

What to do in case of interruptions? Check the “Punctuation” section.
💯 Quality tip: Remember you must assign a speaker to all paragraphs, even if
there are multiple consecutive paragraphs from the same speaker.
If the client provided the list of speakers, be sure to stick to it.

🔑 Search keywords: multiple speakers, various speakers, varios hablantes, varios

interlocutores, muchos hablantes, muchos interlocutores, muchas personas
hablando, varias personas hablando

ii. Segmentation
‣

Avoid writing excessively long paragraphs, even if there is only one speaker in the file.
Look for natural points in the speech, such as a shift in topic, emphasis, or reference,
to start a new paragraph.
💡 How to assess whether a paragraph is “too long"? Check this out.
💯 Long paragraphs are now warned by the quality check tool!

🔑 Search keywords: long paragraphs, párrafos largos, largos párrafos

13. Subtitles Specifics

‣

i. Multiple Speakers
‣

When subtitling, DON’T add any speaker label.

Use hyphens (not followed by any space) to separate speech uttered by two speakers
speaking at the same time, or speaking too closely to each other – putting them in one

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capsule preserves CPS limits and avoids fast transition from one capsule to another.

Only one speaker per line is allowed.

DO DON’T

-Hola, mamá. - Hola, mamá. - Hola, Pablo.

-Hola, Pablo. ¿Cómo te fue ¿Cómo te fue
hoy? hoy?

🔑 Search keywords: multiple speakers, various speakers, varios hablantes, varios

interlocutores, muchos hablantes, muchos interlocutores, muchas personas
hablando, varias personas hablando

ii. Segmentation
‣

1. Line Treatment
‣

Subtitles can have at most two lines, even in the case of multiple speakers.
Try to always stick to 1 line unless the character per line (CPL) limit is exceeded.

DO DON’T

-Hola, mamá. -Hola, Pablo.

-Hola, mamá.
¿Cómo te fue
-Hola, Pablo. ¿Cómo te fue hoy?
hoy?

2. Line Breaks
‣

Ideally, try to seek subtitles balance by keeping the first line shorter than the second
line. You can call it the “Egyptian pyramid” distribution (/\).
However, remember that logical line breaks override subtitles balance.

Lines should be broken at logical points, matching a punctuation sign like a period,
comma or colon whenever possible.

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If the break has to be elsewhere in the sentence, avoid splitting the parts of the
speech in the chart below.
DON’T sacrifice logical line breaks to keep a pyramidal text distribution in subtitles.

Parts of the
DO DON’T
speech

Ellos han organizado Ellos han organizado una confe-

Noun
una conferencia en Roma. rencia en Roma.

Ellos
Subject/Prono Ellos han organizado
han organizado una conferencia
un and verb una conferencia en Roma.
Roma.

Parts of a Ellos han organizado Ellos han

complex verb una conferencia en Roma. organizado una conferencia en R

Article and Ellos han organizado Ellos han organizado una

noun una conferencia en Roma. conferencia en Roma.

Preposition
Ellos organizaron una
and the Ellos organizaron una conferenc
conferencia
following Roma.
en Roma.
phrase

Conjunction Ellos organizaron una Ellos han organizado una confer

and the conferencia pero
following item pero yo no fui. no fui.

Ellos organizaron una

Subordinate Ellos organizaron una conferenc
conferencia
clauses que no fui.
a la que no fui.

💯 Quality tip: Are you still struggling to understand what a logical point is?
Have a look at the sentences below for further examples.

The ideal break places are marked by green slashes.

The orange slashes indicate where it would be OK to break if breaking at the
green slashes were not possible.
Esta es una pieza/muy larga y verbosa,/de prosa/que nadie conoce/y que
nadie/recordará.

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María quiere/ir/a la tienda,/pero que yo sepa,/todas las tiendas/cierran/en el día de

la traducción.
Me desperté/con jet-lag/a las 4:00 a. m.,/en mi nueva cama,/y rápido llamé/a Annie
Jayaraman/para contarle/sobre mi entrevista.
Si no me hubieses dicho/no hubiera hecho/cita/para ir/a la clínica/que me
recomendaste.
Hay muchísimos pacientes/que tienen/otros síndromes/en el cuello/vesical/y no
tienen/dolor.
Es absolutamente/esencial,/porque muchas pacientes/tienen problemas/que ellas
no reconocen/como tales,/y muchas veces/hay antecedentes/de
absusos/sexuales/en la infancia.

🔑 Search keywords: line break, number of lines, salto de líneas, número de

líneas, separación de líneas
3. CPL
‣

The subtitles CPL should not exceed 42 CPL. If the subtitle line is 42 or lower, always
try to use one line.
Whenever exceeded and thus over 42 CPL, it is marked in red in the Editor. In this
case, do the following:
Break the subtitle into two lines by pressing Shift+Enter

Is the second line also longer than 42 CPL? Split into multiple subtitles by pressing
Enter .

Omit content without altering the core meaning of the speech. Check the section
“Text Reduction” for further details.
Delete any blank space at the end of each line.

💯 Quality tip: Did you have to break many lines to meet the CPL and you are
afraid of having messed it up with line-break rules?
Be sure that no line ends with an article or a preposition and watch out for
those ending with an auxiliary verb – they might potentially contain issues.
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Remember to check the time sync as well.

💡 CPL for portrait mode is 32. For further details, check the section “Portrait
Mode”.

🔑 Search keywords: line break, cpl, character limit, salto de línea, separación
de líneas, límite de caracteres, caracteres por línea

iii. Time Sync

‣

1. CPS
‣

The subtitle CPS (Characters per second) is an indicator of the comfort of the
viewer. A high CPS indicates that the viewer will have to read faster, making the
experience less comfortable.
Values higher than 20 CPS indicate a degraded viewer experience, so you should
make an effort to try to reduce it when possible. Whenever exceeded, it is marked
in red in the Editor.

There is a slight tolerance in exceeding the 20 CPS soft limit if the speaker talks
too fast and it is not possible to reduce the subtitle further without losing meaning
or worsening the final user’s experience.
💡 If the content is for children, the CPS should not exceed 15.

2. Sync
‣

To be sure your text is synced with the audio and thus granting a great experience to
the final user, stick to the guidelines listed below (in order of priority):
Subtitle appearance should coincide with speech onset. Subtitle disappearance
should coincide roughly with the end of the corresponding speech segment.
Your subtitles should never anticipate the speech, so please avoid stretching the
subtitle event to the left.
If needs be, you can slightly stretch the event to the right. Remember that when
stretching the capsule to the right, it will be hanging up on the screen, so avoid to
leave it there for too long not to worsen the final users’ experience.
The end of the capsule should match the end of the speech as much as possible.
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The subtitles cannot stay on the screen more than 1.5 seconds after the speech
has stopped under any circumstances.
Avoid creating subtitles that straddle a shot change (i.e. a subtitle that starts in
the middle of shot one and ends in the middle of shot two).
You might need to split a sentence at an appropriate point or delay the start of a
new one to coincide with the shot change.

To meet the 20 CPS limit, you can:

split or merge subtitles or
slightly extend their timespan.
💡 Use the timeline interface located at the bottom of the editor to synchronize
the subtitles with the audio and extend or shorten their timespan.

💯 Quality tips: While you should aim to meet the CPS, please make sure to keep
these 2 rules in mind:

1. Subtitles can never appear more than 1.5 seconds before the speech and
after the speech. Even though there might be plenty of room and there are no
surrounding subtitles to worry about, dragging the subtitle event out for too much
compromises the readability. This “1.5 second rule” applies twice: to both before
and after the onset of speech.
Additionally, in general, it’s better to stretch the subtitle to the right ➡️.
Stretching the subtitle event to the left ⬅️might lead to a mismatch between the
start of the text and the start of the speech.

2. It is paramount that the text on the screen coincides with the speech – the
final user’s experience is worsened when they have to read something different
from what they are hearing.

Avoid pushing the text forward or backwards to meet the CPS if this leads
to a mismatch between speech and text.

In the example below, for instance, the third subtitle has been pushed back to

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meet the 20-character limit of the second one (boxes in green show where the
synced subtitles should be appearing). It means that a new sentence in the
speech would start while the previous subtitle is still on screen, this worsening the
final user’s experience, even though the CPS has been met.

We highly recommend watching this video to understand how to sync properly:

🔑 Search keywords: cps, time sync, sync, caracteres por segundo, sincronización,
sincronización de tiempo, sincronización temporal, temporización

iv. Portrait Mode and Square Videos

‣

Portrait Mode

In some cases, you might find the video has been recorded vertically.
This can be easily identified because the picture will not cover the entire screen.
Please follow the adjusted criteria (in order of priority):

Maximum 32 CPL
Keep 20 CPS

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Ignore the number of lines appearing on the video, the font size will be adjusted later.
Square Videos

In some cases, you might find the video has a square format (1:1).
Please follow the adjusted criteria (in order of priority):
Maximum 36 CPL, 38 CPL only if truly necessary

Keep 20 CPS
Ignore the number of lines appearing on the video, the font size will be adjusted later.
💡 How to adjust the criteria?
1. Open the subtitle Editor
2. Click on “Edit subtitle limits”
3. Adjust the CPL accordingly

🔑 Search keywords: vertical video, portrait mode, video format, square video,
vídeo vertical, video vertical, vídeos verticales, videos verticales, modo retrato,
videos moto retrato, vídeo cuadrado, formato de vídeo, formato cuadrado
💡 How to prioritise subtitle specifics?

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14. Useful Tools

‣

Here is a list of life-saving tools for transcriptionists and subtitlers:

Grammarly
Language Tool
Sound booster

Chrome extension
Background noise-cancelling extension

15. Reminders
‣

Always check if there are specific instructions from the customer for a file. In that case, the
customer’s instructions prevail over these Guidelines.
Never transcribe in an external editor (Word for example) and then paste the text into
Happy Scribe's editor.
Be sure to run a spell-check by using Grammarly or any other available extension available
for your browser.
If you struggle with some specific words or a part of the speech, be sure to run some
searches on the Internet. Check pages related to the topic of the file you are working on for
better results.
If you cannot find the answer, reach out to the Tribe on Discord and seek further support.
Please note, once you have submitted a file, you cannot alter and correct the text
afterwards.

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If you accidentally submit a file, please reach out to the Admins.

Be sure you have the spell-check option/extension/plug-in enabled on your browser.

16. Version Log

‣

Global updates

Date Update

3 August 2022 Clarifications on speakers reading out loud

23 August 2022 Prioritisation scale

20 September
Usage of hyphen and ellipsis in interruption due to video editing
2022

30 March 2023 Added time sync video to section 13.iii.

Updated section 8 on special formatting with more info about

28 April 2023
italicising narration.

28 April 2023 Improved section on CPS (see the quality tips callout)

Improved section on onomatopoeias and specified italics use in the

28 April 2023
special formatting section.

Slight additions to sections on breaking lines and pyramid

28 April 2023
distribution.

Added examples on what counts as repetition in the service level

10 May 2023
section.

29 May 2023 Specified the non-replicated use of notation tags per event.

Language specific updates

Date Update

13 October 2022 ¡Ah! added to interjections

Time format preference in

3 November 2022
case of different formats

27 April 2023 ¡Ay, mi madre! added to

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interjections

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