Services · Desktop Publishing
Translated, and print-ready.
We rebuild your translated documents in their original design, so every language version looks like the source and is ready to print or publish. Consistent look and feel, without loss of meaning, in 300+ languages.
Multilingual desktop publishing (DTP) recreates your translated documents in their original design, so every language version looks like the source and is print- or web-ready. It's needed because translation changes text length, and, for some languages, text direction, which breaks the original layout unless it's rebuilt.
Why it matters
Translation changes more than the words
You can't just drop a translation into the original file, here's what breaks, and why the layout has to be rebuilt.
Translated text breaks the layout
Word length shifts between languages, German commonly runs about 30% longer than English, while Chinese, Japanese, and Korean often use fewer characters but need more vertical space. Copy that fit perfectly in English overflows text boxes, distorts graphics, and leaves uneven spacing once translated.
Wrong typesetting is unusable
Right-to-left languages like Arabic and Hebrew need the whole layout mirrored and the text direction reversed; CJK and complex scripts need correct line-breaking, justification, and shaping. Get it wrong and you get broken layouts, garbled characters, and, in a manual or IFU, a document that can't be used.
What's included
Every language version, print-perfect
The typesetting and engineering that turn a translation into a finished document.
Layout recreation
Rebuilding each translated version in its original design, so look and feel are preserved across every language.
Text-expansion handling
Reflowing copy that grows or shrinks between languages, so nothing overflows or leaves awkward gaps.
RTL & CJK typesetting
Mirrored layouts and correct direction for Arabic and Hebrew; proper line-breaking, justification, and shaping for CJK and complex scripts.
Fonts & encoding
Fonts with full Unicode coverage for every target script, embedded and checked so no glyph is missing or garbled.
Graphics & callouts
Localizing and repositioning images, diagrams, captions, and callouts that contain or point to text.
Print- & web-ready output
Paginated and quality-checked, widows, orphans, hyphenation, and page flow, exported for professional print or digital use.
DTP is the final step after translation and linguistic review, the stage that makes the finished page match the original.
What we lay out
Design-heavy, or structured and technical
From a marketing brochure to a 400-page manual, in the tools each was built in.
Marketing & design
Brochures, catalogs, packaging, and collateral rebuilt in Adobe InDesign and Illustrator.
- Adobe InDesign & Illustrator (IDML)
- Brochures, catalogs & packaging
- Datasheets & marketing collateral
- Brand-accurate across languages
Technical & business
Manuals, instructions for use, and everyday business documents in FrameMaker, Office, and PDF.
- Adobe FrameMaker & QuarkXPress
- Manuals, IFUs & datasheets
- Word, PowerPoint & PDF
- Structured, long-form documents
Formats we work in
Your source files, returned ready to use
We work from your native design files, no rebuilding from scratch.
- InDesign (.indd / .idml)
- Illustrator (.ai / .eps)
- Design-heavy collateral
- Packaging & catalogs
- Microsoft Word
- PowerPoint (.ppt / .pptx)
- Reports & presentations
- Adobe FrameMaker (.fm / .mif)
- QuarkXPress (.qxp)
- Long manuals & IFUs
- Structured documentation
- HTML / XML
- E-learning & training modules
- Digital & online delivery
- Responsive layouts
Working in a format not listed? Send it over, we'll confirm we can deliver it print- or web-ready.
Have a document to lay out?
Send us your design files and target languages, we'll return them typeset, print-ready, and true to the original.
Why MLT
Why the finished page matters to us
Translation + DTP together
The same team translates and lays out, so the words and the finished page stay in sync, no hand-off gaps between vendors.
RTL & CJK expertise
Proven handling of Arabic and Hebrew mirrored layouts and CJK typesetting, the parts that trip up generalist designers.
Any format
From InDesign and FrameMaker to Office, PDF, and web and e-learning source files.
20+ years, 300+ languages
An ATA-member language partner with two decades of multilingual production experience.
Why it matters
Pasting the translation in yourself vs. professional DTP
| Without DTP | With professional DTP | |
|---|---|---|
| Result | Overflow, cut-off text & broken graphics | Clean layout that matches the original |
| RTL & CJK | Reversed, garbled or unreadable | Correctly mirrored & typeset |
| Ready to | Fix by hand | Print or publish |
FAQ
Desktop publishing questions
It's recreating your translated documents in their original layout so each language version looks like the source and is ready to print or publish online. It's needed because translation changes text length and, for some languages, text direction, so the design has to be rebuilt for each language, or the layout breaks and the document looks unprofessional or becomes unreadable.
Translated text rarely fits the original space, German can run about 30% longer, CJK languages often shorter but taller, so pasting causes overflow, cut-off text, distorted graphics, and broken spacing. DTP reflows and reformats everything to fit correctly.
Yes. RTL languages require the entire layout to be mirrored, the text direction reversed, and correct fonts, ligatures, and shaping applied, which we set up in tools built for bidirectional and complex-script text.
Adobe InDesign/IDML, Illustrator, and FrameMaker; QuarkXPress; Microsoft Word and PowerPoint; PDF; and web/e-learning formats such as HTML/XML. We work from your native design files and return them ready to use.
DTP is the final step after translation and linguistic review. We take the approved translation, rebuild the document layout, run quality checks, and deliver print- and web-ready files.
Brochures, product manuals and instructions for use, catalogs, packaging, datasheets, marketing collateral, presentations, and e-learning and training materials.
One US-based partner for interpreting, certified documents, and AI-assisted translation, verified by professional human linguists.
Every language, print-perfect.
Send us your design files and target languages, you'll get a clear, itemized quote and documents typeset ready to publish.