Best Way to Translate InDesign Files (Avoid Copy-Paste)

The Agony of Traditional InDesign Translation

You've spent hours perfecting your InDesign layout. The typography is crisp, the images are perfectly placed, and the columns align flawlessly. Now comes the task of translating it into Spanish, French, and German. What do most people do?

1. Painstakingly copy all text content out of InDesign.
2. Paste it into a Word document or spreadsheet.
3. Send it off for translation.
4. Receive the translated text.
5. Copy the translated text back into InDesign, frame by frame.
6. Spend hours (or days!) fixing broken layouts, adjusting text frames, dealing with font issues, and correcting hyphenation because the translated text is longer or shorter.

Sound familiar? This manual process is not only tedious and mind-numbingly repetitive, but it's also incredibly inefficient and prone to errors. It completely undermines the design work you put in.

There Must Be a Better Way (And There Is: IDML)

Adobe created IDML (InDesign Markup Language) for a reason. It's an XML-based representation of your entire InDesign document – structure, content, formatting, styles, links, everything. It's designed specifically for interchange and automation.

The best way to translate InDesign files is to work directly with the IDML format.

Why? Because tools built to handle IDML can:

• Read the structure: Understand where each piece of text belongs.
• Extract only translatable text: Ignore non-translatable elements.
• Send text to translation engines (like DeepL): Get high-quality machine translation.
• Re-insert translated text: Put the translated content back exactly where the original text was, using the same styles and fitting it into the existing frames (within reason – massive text expansion might still need minor tweaks, but far fewer than manual methods).

Why Transl8ly is the Best Way for Most Users

While complex Translation Management Systems (TMS) can handle IDML, they often come with significant complexity and cost. For freelancers, designers, small agencies, and marketing teams who just need to get their InDesign files translated efficiently while keeping the layout intact, Transl8ly offers the optimal balance of power, simplicity, and affordability.

Here's the Transl8ly workflow – the best way for straightforward IDML translation:

1. Export IDML: In InDesign, simply go to File > Export... and choose InDesign Markup (IDML).
2. Upload to Transl8ly: Drag and drop your IDML file into our web interface.
3. Select Languages: Choose your source and target languages.
4. Translate: Click "Start Translation". Transl8ly uses the high-quality DeepL engine.
5. Download: In moments, download a fully translated IDML file, ready to open in InDesign.

Benefits of this approach:

• Massive Time Savings: What took hours now takes minutes.
• Layout Preservation: 99% of the time, your layout remains perfect.
• Simplicity: No complex software or plugins needed.
• Cost-Effective: Free trial and affordable plans beat expensive TMS subscriptions.
• Accuracy: Leverages DeepL's leading translation quality.

Conclusion: Stop Copy-Pasting, Start Translating Smart

If you're still using copy-paste to translate InDesign files, you're working harder, not smarter. Exporting to IDML and using a dedicated tool like Transl8ly is unequivocally the best way to handle InDesign translation efficiently, economically, and with respect for your original design. Make the switch and reclaim hours of your valuable time.