--- title: Translate a Document and Keep Formatting | Smartcat description: Translate documents and keep the formatting - tables, fonts, images, and layout stay in place across 80+ file types, so there is no rebuild after export. canonical: https://www.smartcat.com/translate-keep-formatting/ language: en updated: 2026-09-11 --- # Translate a Document and Keep Formatting | Smartcat ## Translate a Document and Keep Its Formatting Intact Smartcat extracts the text **segment by segment** — remembering where each one sits and how it's styled — translates it, and writes it back into the rebuilt layout. Your document is **never flattened to plain text**. Upload it to Smartcat's [AI document translator](https://www.smartcat.com/translate-document/) and the file comes back with its tables, fonts, images and columns where they were, exported in the format it arrived in, across **more than 80 file types**. - [Book a demo](https://www.smartcat.com/book-a-demo/?n-upl) - [Sign up free](https://smartcat.com/sign-up?n-upl) ## Translate a Document and Keep Its Formatting Intact Smartcat extracts the text **segment by segment** — remembering where each one sits and how it's styled — translates it, and writes it back into the rebuilt layout. Your document is **never flattened to plain text**. Upload it to Smartcat's [AI document translator](https://www.smartcat.com/translate-document/) and the file comes back with its tables, fonts, images and columns where they were, exported in the format it arrived in, across **more than 80 file types**. - [Book a demo](https://www.smartcat.com/book-a-demo/?n-upl) - [Sign up free](https://smartcat.com/sign-up?n-upl) ## How Does Smartcat Keep the Formatting? Most tools never keep formatting in the first place. They **flatten the file to plain text**, translate the text, and pour the result back into nothing. So: - the **pricing table** returns as one run-on paragraph; - **bold section headings** come back as body text; - the **caption from page 7** sits orphaned on page 8. Then language piles on: a Spanish or German translation **runs longer** than its English source, and text that no longer fits its old container overflows, shrinks or gets truncated. Smartcat works the other way round — the file is **parsed in its native format**, and the layout is rebuilt around the translation in **five steps**. ### Select and upload your file Drag in your Word document, PowerPoint deck, Excel workbook, PDF or IDML — more than 80 file types. The document is parsed in its native format rather than converted to text, so its structure is available to work with from the first step. ![Upload your files](https://gqucouwbfxremfdhdosu.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/sc-store/1733694209742Translate_documents_in_five_simple_steps01.webp) ### Select target languages Choose from over 280 languages. Expect the text to change length: German typically runs 20–30% longer than English and Spanish 15–25%. That expansion is planned for during reconstruction rather than discovered after export. ![Choose languages](https://gqucouwbfxremfdhdosu.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/sc-store/1733694222040Translate_documents_in_five_simple_steps02.webp) ### Segment extraction and translation Smartcat's [AI-powered document translator](https://www.smartcat.com/translate-document/) extracts each sentence or cell as a segment, with a record of where it lives and how it's styled: **which table cell, which text box, which paragraph style, bold or not**. Segments are then translated with your **translation memory and glossary** applied, so a heading that repeats across **40 pages** is rendered identically all 40 times. Scanned, image-of-text PDFs take a different route — select **pdfimageonly** as the parsing method at upload and each page runs through the **image pipeline**. ![Click AI translate](https://gqucouwbfxremfdhdosu.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/sc-store/1733694236073Translate_documents_in_five_simple_steps03.webp) ### Review and collaborate on the translation The editor shows every segment with its source alongside your translation, so you review the text before export. Invite your team, or hire a vetted linguist from the [Smartcat marketplace](https://www.smartcat.com/marketplace/) to check context and terminology on contracts, manuals or academic papers. ![Review your files](https://gqucouwbfxremfdhdosu.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/sc-store/1733694258982Translate_documents_in_five_simple_steps04.webp) ### Download the final document Translations are written back into the document structure, and boxes, cells and columns reflow to absorb text that runs longer or shorter than the source. The file exports in its original format. One expectation to set: target-language preview covers subtitle and HTML files rather than documents, so open the exported file in its own application to see the rebuilt layout — for IDML, in InDesign. ![Download your files](https://gqucouwbfxremfdhdosu.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/sc-store/1733442385341Image_01.webp) Try It on Your Own Document Free for 15 days with 15,000 Smartwords and full access to translation capabilities — no credit card. - [Translate a document free](https://smartcat.com/sign-up?main-12-translate-document) ## What Survives Translation, Format by Format? Each format has its own preservation profile — what is carried through, and what is worth a visual check in the export. Every card below links to that format's full workflow on [Smartcat](https://www.smartcat.com/). Text that is part of an *image* inside any of these files is a different problem: it needs OCR and the image translator, not document parsing. ### PDF Translator Digital PDFs are rebuilt: tables, columns and images are reflowed into the translated layout. Scanned, image-of-text PDFs run on the image pipeline instead — you select **pdfimageonly** at upload, and output quality follows scan quality. ### Google Docs Translator ### Google Sheets Translator ### Google Slides Translator ### PowerPoint Translator Slide layout, image positions and formatting are preserved, and speaker notes are translated by default. Text inside images is not translated with the deck — that needs a separate image pass. SmartArt and embedded Excel graphs can cause processing failures. ### Excel Translator Cell text, formatting and sheet structure, with upload toggles for sheet names, hidden cells and sheets, headers and footers, comments, graphics and shape text; translation can be restricted to column and row ranges (**A:H**, **1:50**) per sheet. XLSM macros are preserved but not translated. Formulas are not carried through as working formulas, and numbers, currencies and dates are left as authored. ### XLIFF Translator ### TXT file Translator ### HTML Translator Tags, attributes and document structure stay intact, and HTML is one of the two formats where the editor can show you a target-language preview. ### XML Translator Tags, attributes and structure stay intact — only the translatable text between them changes. ### Image Translator For text baked into an image, select a bounding box and use the formatting toolbar to set font, size, color and alignment, or use **Hide** to keep an element such as a logo out of the translation. ### JPG Translator ### PNG Translator ### SRT Translator Timecodes are untouched. Check line length against reading speed after expansion — subtitles are one of the two formats with a target-language preview. ### VTT Translator Timecodes and cue structure are untouched; only the caption text is translated. ### MP3 Translator ### MP4 Translator ### WAV file Translator ### MOV file Translator ### GIF Translator ## Why Teams Trust Smartcat With Layout-Critical Documents ### 9.6/10 for simple setup ### 9.3/10 for ease of use ### 1,000+ enterprise brands ### 280+ languages available Layouts You Cannot Afford to Rebuild by Hand Smartcat is SOC 2 Type II compliant: files are encrypted in transit and at rest, workspaces are isolated per account and access is role-based. Translation is metered in Smartwords — words, not pages or formats — and repetitions are discounted. See how expert-enabled [AI translation](https://www.smartcat.com/translate-document/) fits into your document workflow. - [Book a Personalized Demo](https://www.smartcat.com/book-a-demo/?main-12-translate-document) ## What Results Do Teams See? ### 50% ### Of Translation Costs Saved at isEazy isEazy, the e-learning platform, saved 50% of its translation costs in 2023 — on the most layout-critical content there is: slides, embedded quizzes and captioned media ([case study](https://www.smartcat.com/cases/iseazy/)). ### 50% ### Higher Content Productivity at expondo expondo, a 400-employee retailer operating in 18 countries, on product content — spec tables, manuals, listings: “We've been able to increase our productivity by 50% while reducing our outsourcing costs by 50%.” — Julia Emge, Director of Content Creation, expondo ([case study](https://www.smartcat.com/cases/expondo/)). ### 80+ ### File Formats Rebuilt in Their Original Layout Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, HTML, InDesign (IDML) and subtitle files are all parsed natively and exported in the format they arrived in. ## Cost, Time & Quality: Get All Three Without Compromise ### Up to 70% ### Lower Translation Cost Stanley Black & Decker moved from $200–$300 per 1,000 words to $1.20 on L&D content, and cut average turnaround by two weeks. - [Read Case Study](https://www.smartcat.com/cases/stanley-black-and-decker/) ### 31 Hours ### Of Monthly Work Time Saved Savings of 31 hours every month for Babbel’s marketing and L&D teams. - [Read Case Study](https://www.smartcat.com/cases/babbel/) ### 2–3 days ### Turnaround, Down From Ten Smith+Nephew brought a translation cycle that used to take ten days down to two or three. - [Read Case Study](https://www.smartcat.com/cases/smith-nephew/) The Same Document, in Another Language — Nothing to Rebuild Upload it, review the translation segment by segment, export it in the format it arrived in and open it to see the rebuilt layout — across more than 80 file types, with fonts, tables and images in place. Free for 15 days with 15,000 Smartwords, no credit card. - [Translate a document free](https://smartcat.com/sign-up?main-f-translate-document) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How do I translate a document without losing the formatting? Upload it to Smartcat, choose your languages, and export it in the original format. The file is parsed natively rather than flattened to text, so tables, fonts, images and columns are rebuilt in place. You review the translation as text in the editor before exporting; the rebuilt layout itself is checked in the exported file, because target-language preview covers subtitle and HTML files rather than documents. ### Which file formats keep their formatting? Over 80, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, HTML, XML, InDesign (IDML) and subtitle files. The cards above link to each format's workflow and set out what is preserved and what is worth a visual check. ### Will tables and images stay where they were? Yes — their positions are recorded during extraction and rebuilt during reconstruction, with cells and boxes reflowed for longer target text. Images are kept in place; text *inside* an image is a separate OCR job for the [image translator](https://www.smartcat.com/image-translator/). ### What happens when the translation is longer than the original? The layout reflows to absorb it — German and Spanish commonly run 15–30% longer than English. For very tight layouts where the source barely fit, export the file and check those pages, since target-language preview does not cover documents, then shorten the translation in the editor if a box is straining. ### Does a scanned PDF keep its formatting? Scanned pages take a different route than digital ones: the AI PDF workflow does not support image-of-text PDFs, so at upload you select **pdfimageonly** as the parsing method and each page runs through the image-translation pipeline. The result follows the scan quality. Clean printed scans do well; for very long scans, see the [large-PDF page](https://www.smartcat.com/translate-large-pdf/) for how quality is managed at page 300, not just page 1. ### Can I fix the layout myself before exporting? It depends what you are editing. - **Images on the OCR pipeline** — real layout control: select a bounding box and use the formatting toolbar to change font type, size, color and alignment, or select an element such as a logo and use **Hide** to keep it out of the translation. - **The generative image pipeline** — no Move, Resize or Font Select tools. - **Documents and presentations** — the editor is for the text: you edit segments there, and layout changes belong in the source application after export. ### Is there a free document translator that keeps formatting? Free tools are usually the ones that flatten your file — that trade-off is often why you are here. Smartcat is free for 15 days with 15,000 Smartwords, full access to translation capabilities and no credit card; after that it is paid, with no permanently free tier. ### Will my fonts be preserved exactly? Close, but not guaranteed identical. Some specialized fonts may be substituted with similar alternatives, and exact font matching is not guaranteed; bold and italic formatting is generally preserved. Script coverage is real where it counts — the supported set includes Noto Sans SC, TC, Japanese, Korean, Hebrew, Arabic and Devanagari — so non-Latin targets have glyphs. Fonts are carried through and substituted where needed; there is no separate embedding step. ### Are numbers, currencies and dates reformatted for the target language? No, and this one catches people out: locale conventions are not converted. A figure written 1,000.00 does not become 1.000,00 for a German file, $ does not become €, and 03/07/2026 is not rewritten as 07.03.2026. Values are translated as text and left as the source had them, so setting local conventions is a reviewer's job — on a price list or a spec table, a job worth assigning explicitly. ### When should I still check the layout by eye? **Three cases.** - **Very tight fixed layouts**, where the source text already filled the box to the edge, can need a manual nudge after expansion — and because target-language preview does not cover documents, you find that by opening the export. - **Text baked into images** is not document text at all; it needs the [image translator](https://www.smartcat.com/image-translator/) and OCR, with OCR's limits. - **Decorative typography** — curved text, stylized headers — is artwork rather than formatting, and will not be recreated. ### Is my document safe in Smartcat? Smartcat is SOC 2 Type II compliant. Files are encrypted in transit and at rest, workspaces are isolated per account, and access is role-based. Details are on the [security page](https://www.smartcat.com/security/). ### How much does it cost to translate a document? Words, not pages or formats. Translation is metered in Smartwords, repetitions are discounted, and every plan starts free for 15 days with 15,000 Smartwords and full access to translation capabilities, no card — see the [pricing page](https://www.smartcat.com/pricing/). Wrestling with one enormous PDF? That is the [large-PDF page](https://www.smartcat.com/translate-large-pdf/). A batch of heavy files in mixed formats? [Translate large files](https://www.smartcat.com/translate-large-files/).