Check Translation Status and Retrieve Translated InDesign Files

After you've submitted InDesign content for translation, you'll need to check on the status and apply the translations to your designs. You can monitor the translation progress and apply translations to InDesign from Smartling from the Translation Status page.

Alternatively, a Smartling user can download the translated files from Smartling and manually import them into InDesign. 

How to Check Translation Status

To check translation status and to apply your translations, follow these steps:

1. Launch InDesign Desktop App
2. Open the InDesign file that was sent for translation
3. Click Window > Extensions > Smartling
4. In the Smartling window, click Menu on the top left-hand corner
   
5. From the options listed in the menu, select Translation status
   • Here you can find details about the Job created and what percentage of translations are complete

How to Create a Translated InDesign File

1. Open the InDesign file that was sent for translation
2. Click Window > Extensions > Smartling
3. In the Smartling window, click Menu on the top left-hand corner
   
4. From the options listed in the menu, select Translation status
5. Select the language you want to create a translated file in
   • The status should be Completed
6. Click Apply Translations

Considerations

• The percentage displayed next to the target language indicates the number of strings that have reached the final step in Smartling—Published. Ideally, you should wait until the Translation Status shows that each language is Completed and all translations are published before applying translations.
• Applying translations before a language is fully completed may result in untranslated strings appearing in your InDesign document.
• Each time you apply translations, a new page is created for each language. The target locale is appended to the page name to indicate it is a translated page (e.g., Dashboard Login [German (Germany)]). Each translated language is treated as a new page within InDesign. You can add new content, make changes, or modify translations without impacting the source page.
• Different languages require varying amounts of space, with most European languages typically taking up more space than English. If the translated text exceeds the text node bounds set in the original InDesign file, the plugin will not apply the translations, leading to untranslated content.
• Before requesting content for translation, consider pseudo-translating your file to identify text nodes that may need resizing to accommodate translations. Additionally, you can suggest that linguists shorten translations wherever possible. For instance, for English to French, use “2M” instead of “2 millions.”

How to Cancel Translations

Although not recommended without speaking with your translation provider, you can cancel translations from the plugin:

1. Open the InDesign file that was sent for translation
2. Click Window > Extensions > Smartling
3. In the Smartling window, click Menu on the top left-hand corner
   
4. From the options listed in the menu, select Translation status
5. Select the language you want to cancel
   • The status should be In progress
6. Click Cancel Translations