Language versions of materials: presentations, catalogues and proposals in many languages without losing quality

A German catalogue where the text does not fit in the boxes, a French presentation with characters turned into squares, a Czech proposal with a Polish date format. Language versions of materials are not just text. They are layout, typography, photos and details that have to work in every language as well as in the original.

What does a language version of a material cover?

German text is about a third longer than Polish. If the design does not know that, the language version falls apart.

Preparing a language version is work on three levels. Content: localised, with the company glossary. Layout: adjusted to text length, special characters and writing direction, with correct hyphenation. Market details: units, currencies, date and number formats, the local branch's contact details, certificates recognised in the country. Only all three together give a material that a customer abroad sees as their own.

How do we prepare language versions?

1. We prepare the master material. A layout with room for longer texts, styles instead of manual formatting, text separated from graphics. This shortens every subsequent version.
2. We localise the content. With AI and the glossary a first version is created, which is then reworked by someone who knows the language and the market.
3. We typeset and adjust the layout. A designer places the text, fixes line breaks, hyphenation and lengths, and swaps in the market details.
4. We check the whole. Someone who knows the language reviews the version in the finished layout. Only after this check is the material ready for use or print.

What do you get?

• materials in the markets' languages, at the quality of the original,
• master material prepared for further languages,
• a company glossary for each language,
• files ready for digital use and for print.

When is it worth commissioning language versions?

• before international trade shows and entering a new market,
• when a catalogue or presentation is going to several countries at once,
• when existing language versions have layout or terminology errors,
• when the company is preparing a new material and knows it will be needed in several languages.

Frequently asked questions