TEP (Translation, Editing, Proofreading) is a three-stage professional translation workflow in which one linguist translates the text, a second edits it, and a third proofreads the final version.
Why TEP Matters
TEP matters because it spreads quality control across three independent linguists instead of one or two, catching errors that a single reviewer is more likely to miss. Each stage has a distinct job: the translator produces the first full version, the editor checks it against the source for accuracy and consistency, and the proofreader does a final pass for grammar, spelling, and formatting before delivery.
TEP is a superset of the ISO 17100 minimum requirement. ISO 17100 requires at least a translator plus an independent reviser — the setup Taia calls its Enhanced tier (from €0.09/word), where a native translator works from the source text and a second linguist independently reviews it. TEP adds a third, separate proofreading stage on top of that, which is what defines Taia’s Ultimate tier (from €0.12/word). At Taia, the translation stage of TEP is done natively by the assigned translator working from the source text, not by editing a machine translation draft — that draft-editing approach is what MTPE (used on Taia’s separate Essential tier) does instead.
Because it involves three linguists rather than one, TEP typically costs more per word and takes longer to deliver than a single-reviewer process, but it produces the highest level of quality assurance Taia offers.
A Concrete Example
A SaaS company expanding into Germany needs its Terms of Service and Privacy Policy translated for legal use. Because mistranslated clauses could create liability, the company selects TEP: a German legal translator produces the initial translation, an independent editor checks every clause against the English source, and a proofreader does a final read before the documents go to the company’s legal team.
How TEP Works in Taia
Taia’s Ultimate tier runs the full TEP process — translator, editor, and proofreader — plus a dedicated project manager, and is ISO 17100 certified. It is the tier Taia recommends for legal contracts, clinical trial documents, and other content where errors carry real risk. See professional translation services for how Ultimate compares to Essential and Enhanced.