פרוטפרקסטTools For Translators
GETTING STARTED WITH PARATEXT TRANSLATION SOFTWARE AND PTXPRINT TYPESETTING AND DRAFT PRINTING
Paratext is quite accessible, and no formal academic credentials are required for a student to get started on their own.
Getting the software and a basic license
Anyone can register and install Paratext themselves. Paratext is completely free, and if you leave the organization field blank on your user registration, you immediately receive a code for the Basic Tier. That gives access to Bible study, research, or a personal translation project using any of the open-access resources — there is no check at this level.
If the student wants to do real Bible-translation work into an underserved language, 1) accessing a particular language community as to whether they can work with Scripture in a neighboring or trade language, or do they need their own, 2) estimating a language that's losing ground to a dominant language may get a different strategy (oral storying, a single Gospel) than a vital one getting a full NT, 3) visiting the places where the languages are spoken rather than working from secondhand data, 4) investigating phonology, morphology, syntax, and discourse structure — before or alongside translation itself, as documented in the classic Amele case study in Papua New Guinea. Therefore in registering for a license code you would need not the Basic Tier, but the Translator Tier, which requires declaring an organizational affiliation and contacting pgoble@gmail.com to get permission to use AFII as his or her declared organizational affiliation. These Translator Tier features — access to model Resource Texts in over 1,730 languages, project backup on the Paratext server, and team synchronization — are available when you select your organization during registration, or by registering a new organization. Since Artists for Israel International is already a recognized Bible translation/school organization, the student could simply select Artists for Israel International as his/her organization during registration and an AFII administrator could approve/sponsor him/her.
Getting started with Paratext
Getting Started for New Users — the full playlist page, in the exact sequence Paratext.org presents it:
🔗 https://paratext.org/videos/en/paratext-features-training-videos/new-user-videos/
The sequence on that page is:
Each of the above has its own thumbnail/video embedded directly on that page — clicking any thumbnail plays it in place.
Beyond this beginner set, Paratext also has a much larger structured curriculum needed next:
Full Paratext 9 Training series (deeper, feature-by-feature): https://paratext.org/videos/en/paratext-9/
Feature-Specific Videos (topic-by-topic reference, e.g. Drafting, Checking Tools, Biblical Terms): https://paratext.org/videos/en/paratext-features-video-training/
Written Training Manual: https://paratext.org/training-manual-en
the full Paratext 9 core training list — it's a large curriculum (70+ videos) that picks up right where "Getting Started" leaves off. Unlike the PTXprint series (which had a companion blog post with embedded direct links), this page's individual videos are loaded dynamically and don't expose separate clickable URLs per video — only the page itself is directly linkable.
Full series page: https://paratext.org/videos/en/paratext-9/
Sequence (grouped by topic, in the order presented):
Interface Basics
What is Paratext?
Why Change the Menus → How the Windows Work (
Pt 1 & 2nd Part of the video
Pt 2) →
Quick Reference Window →
Change User Interface Language →
Basics of Projects/Resources →
Finding Menu Items →
Arranging Windows →
Text Collections →
Scroll Groups →
Set Keyboard per Project →
Swap Text in a Window →
More Window Tips →
Viewing Non-Biblical Texts →
Navigate to a Reference →
Find HelpResources & SharingDownload/Install Resources →
What is Send & Receive →
Receive a Project First Time →
Keep Project in Sync →
Avoiding Conflicts →
Enhanced Resources Intro,
Linking,
short cut keys
Found/Problem Terms,
Biblical Terms List Setting,
Searching)
Drafting Basics
My Tasks → Understanding USFMs → Standard View → Formatted View → Basic View → Unformatted View → Preview → Backslash Key Workaround → Adding Verse Numbers → Non-Biblical Text Markers → Show All Chapters → Zoom/Text Size → Required Paragraph Markers
How to Use Checking Tools → Marking Tasks Complete → Conflict Notes
Footnotes, Glossary, also inserting. and editing Illustrations
Insert/Edit glossary entries Characters Inventory → Book Introductions → Punctuation Inventory
Spell Check
Approve Spelling of Common Words → Spell Check Current Book → Common Typos Check → Wordlist Tool Features → Edit a Verse from Wordlist → Display Spelling Errors
Biblical Terms Introduction → Identify a Rendering → Edit/Delete a Rendering → Comparative Texts → Achieving Consistency → Custom Filters & Guess Renderings
Print Draft with PTXprint.
Notes
Insert Notes → Comment/Assign/Edit/Tag/Delete → Show Changes/Resolve → Notes List → Filter/Sort Notes → Search & Hashtags → Reattach Note
Back Translation
What Is It / What Makes a Good One → Prepare & Create Project → Draft & Mark Finished → Status Boxes → Ready for Consultant
Interlinearizer
How to Start → How to Use It
Basic Checks (deep dive)
References → Quotations → Quoted Text (Footnote Quotes) → Unmatched Punctuation → Numbers → Capitalization → Repeated Words → Exceptions
Collaboration
Paratext Lite → Optional checks
Reference Tools and also Chorus Hub
Book Name USFMs → Parallel Passages Filters
Getting Started Printing a Draft of the Beginnings of Your Translation
Intro
Introduction to PTXprint — overview of printing draft translations, why to run basic checks first.
The following are the basic checks:
How to Use Checking Tools →
Marking Tasks Complete →
Conflict Notes
Footnotes, Glossary, also inserting. and editing Illustrations
Insert/Edit glossary entries Characters Inventory → Book Introductions → Punctuation Inventory
Spell Check
Approve Spelling of Common Words → Spell Check Current Book → Common Typos Check → Wordlist Tool Features → Edit a Verse from Wordlist → Display Spelling Errors
Biblical Terms
1 — Install your software PTXprint
How to Install PTXprint — exporting a draft translation in Paratext, installing PTXprint, and initial setup
2 — Make Initial PDF
Print an Initial Draft — using Project menu > Export Draft PDF (PTXprint) to generate your first PDF and additional copies from Paratext's settings and fonts
3 — Adjust Settings
Adjust Settings in PTXprint — customizing margins, adding custom footer text, using the search function to find settings
4 — Booklet Printing
Print a Booklet — producing a ready-to-print booklet layout with correctly ordered pages
5 — Reopen PDF to Reprint
Print or Share Additional Copies — locating a previously created PDF to print more copies or share via email/USB
6 — Check for Updates
— "How to Update PTXprint" on the same Paratext blog post, which just points you to the update icon inside PTXprint and the download page rather than a standalone video.
All six-plus-intro are also collected as a playlist here: PTXprint Video Series.
Work That May Need to Be Done When the Translation is Finished
Digital Bible Library (library.bible / DBL) is UBS's archiving-and-licensing platform for Scripture assets. It does three core jobs:
- Metadata — every entry (text, audio, video, print, braille) needs a full metadata record before it can be uploaded. For text, this comes from the Global Bible Catalogue (GBC), which Paratext's uploader pulls from automatically; no text or audio product can be uploaded to DBL without an accompanying set of metadata, and archivists can add/edit it through GBC's web interface, or import it from an external XML file. Metadata includes things like completion percentage, translation history narrative, and promotional text for licensed partners.
- Storage — text is stored as USX (the XML form of USFM), with metadata as a separate XML document, packaged as a text release bundle: a compressed zip file containing the text and metadata for a scripture translation project. The bundle also carries publication metadata, language, versification, and style references, and is the package that can actually be licensed out to partners.
- Licensing — organizations contribute and maintain licensing documents that define the terms granted to publishers (Library Card Holders); these can be a locally-authored template or a reference to a third-party license like Creative Commons. Content can also be released for open access, meaning anyone can download it without a full per-recipient license agreement.
What Paratext work needs to get cataloged: Paratext, via the Paratext Registry, is the standard interface for uploading text content — configuration settings inside the Paratext project supply the metadata, and before upload Paratext validates that both text and metadata match DBL's required "text bundle" format. The Registry itself is where a project gets registered in the first place: it records the project name/short name, language, the managing organization and rights-holder, the visibility level (standard, confidential, or test/training), which books are being translated, and the users and their roles (administrators, translators, consultants, supporters). Newly registered projects go through an internal review period before that information becomes visible to other organizations. Practically: a project needs its GBC metadata record filled in (language, versification, book list, translation type/audience, etc.), correct Registry settings, and to pass Paratext's internal validation checks before the uploader will push it.
What PTXPrint work needs: PTXPrint isn't itself a DBL-uploading tool — it takes input either as Paratext USFM or as a DBL bundle to produce print-ready PDFs. So print/typeset output from PTXPrint isn't separately catalogued in DBL; DBL cataloging happens upstream (the USX text bundle), and PTXPrint just consumes that bundle to generate the publication layer.
Key reference links:
- paratext.registry — standard interface for uploading content
- library.bible — main site: catalog browsing, licensing, organization profiles, API.
- care.library.bible/article/193-paratext — explains Paratext's role as the text-upload interface.
- care.library.bible/article/228-terminology — glossary (IPC, LCH, bundle, entry, etc.).
- app.thedigitalbiblelibrary.org/static/docs/contributors/gbc.html — how GBC metadata entry works.
- app.thedigitalbiblelibrary.org/static/docs/entryref/text/metadata.html — full metadata.xml schema for text bundles.
- app.thedigitalbiblelibrary.org/static/docs/admin/licenses.html — managing licensing documents.
- app.thedigitalbiblelibrary.org/static/docs/contributors/openaccess.html — open-access release process.
- docs.burrito.bible (Scripture Burrito) — the newer, more general metadata/packaging standard DBL's schema is evolving toward, relevant if audio or non-Paratext workflows are involved.
- software.sil.org/ptxprint — PTXPrint homepage, confirms it accepts USFM or DBL bundles as input.
