The human step after the automated one
Post-editing is not what it was three years ago, and we would rather describe the version that actually exists.
In a current process a machine translates, a model scores every segment, and an automated editing pass — what several providers now call agentic post-editing — resolves what it can. Only what is left reaches a person. We do full and light post-editing (still called MTPE in most briefs) on whole files, and we also take the residue that an automated pass could not resolve.
How we price it
By how much revision is needed, not by the word. Light revision at base rate, standard at a multiplier, heavy at a higher one. We will tell you which band a job fell into and why.
The quality floor
We ask for one clause in every post-editing agreement: below a defined quality level, a segment reverts to translation rates. When machine output needs rewriting rather than editing, the work is translation, and pricing it as post-editing means one of us is absorbing the cost of an engine choice neither of us controls.
We are explicit about this because it is the clause that keeps the relationship honest when an engine underperforms on a language or a content type.
What we measure
We log hours, word count, language pair and content type on every post-editing job we take, from the first one. That data tells us — and you — where post-editing genuinely saves time and where it does not.
The largest study on this, covering 90 million words, 879 linguists and 11 language pairs over two and a half years, found gains ranging from 130% faster for French to 7% slower for Swedish. For Polish it found post-editing 18% faster on average while being slower in 89% of individual jobs — a reminder that an average is not evidence.
A uniform post-editing discount across all languages is not supported by the evidence, and we would rather negotiate from numbers.
Common questions
Do you offer light post-editing?
Yes, defined properly: correct what is wrong or incomprehensible, do not polish. The failure mode we see most often is light post-editing quoted and full post-editing expected. We will agree which one you are buying in writing.
Is this the same as MTPE?
Yes. MTPE and machine translation post-editing are the older names for it, and most briefs still use them. The work has changed more than the label: an automated pass now resolves much of what a post-editor used to handle, and what reaches a person is harder than it was.
Can you handle our terminology and style guide?
Yes, and we would rather have them before we start than reverse-engineer them from feedback. If you have a termbase, send it; if you do not, we will flag the terms that need a decision.