--- title: Document Translation with AI - Translate Large Files description: Translate large files in 80+ formats — full-size decks, docs, spreadsheets and video. Multi-file upload, real size limits stated, priced by words. canonical: https://www.smartcat.com/translate-large-files/ language: en updated: 2026-08-21 --- # Document Translation with AI - Translate Large Files ## Translate Large Files — Big Decks, Long Docs, Full Videos Upload full-size files in 80+ formats — PowerPoint, Word, Excel, XLIFF, audio and video — translate them in one project with shared terminology, and export each one in its original format. Document pricing is by word count, not megabytes. - [Book a demo](https://www.smartcat.com/book-a-demo/?n-upl) - [Sign up free](https://smartcat.com/sign-up?n-upl) ## How do you translate many big files as one job? ### Upload the set You can upload multiple files at once and there is no cap on how many — batch uploads of hundreds of files are supported, on every plan, and everything lands in one project. ZIP works only for packaged content (IDML, DITA, Articulate Rise SCORM, Articulate Storyline), where Smartcat detects the package type automatically; it is not a folder uploader, so send the files themselves. ![Upload your files](https://gqucouwbfxremfdhdosu.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/sc-store/1733694209742Translate_documents_in_five_simple_steps01.webp) ### Set languages once, not sixty times Source and target languages apply across the whole set rather than file by file. ![Choose languages](https://gqucouwbfxremfdhdosu.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/sc-store/1733694222040Translate_documents_in_five_simple_steps02.webp) ### Let shared terminology do the consistency work One translation memory and glossary cover every file, so “warranty claim” in the deck matches “warranty claim” in the spec sheet. ![Click AI translate](https://gqucouwbfxremfdhdosu.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/sc-store/1733694236073Translate_documents_in_five_simple_steps03.webp) ### Review by file or by filter Check the files that carry risk and leave routine ones to the machine draft plus a spot check. ![Review your files](https://gqucouwbfxremfdhdosu.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/sc-store/1733694258982Translate_documents_in_five_simple_steps04.webp) ### Export everything in original formats, in one action Select the projects, click Download, and the whole set arrives as a single ZIP containing every file in its original format, sorted into folders. The deck comes back a deck, the spreadsheet a spreadsheet. ![Download your files](https://gqucouwbfxremfdhdosu.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/sc-store/1733442385341Image_01.webp) Sixty files, one project, every format intact Repetitions between files are discounted, file size never enters the bill, and each file exports the way it came in. - [Translate your files free](https://smartcat.com/sign-up?main-12-translate-document) ## What are the file size limits for translation? The ceilings that are actually published are **global, not per format**: - **6 GB** — document and project files - **4 GB** — reference files - **1 GB** — translation-memory imports - **10 MB** — glossary imports - **100 MB** — non-image PDFs - **30 MB per image** — OCR Over a ceiling — or simply for speed above **1 GB** — split the file into smaller parts, strip unnecessary embedded media, or compress its images. **No maximum duration** is published for audio or video: the constraint is the file's size, not how long it runs, so the question to ask about a three-hour recording is how many gigabytes it is. There is **no cap on how many files** one project can hold. [Adaptive AI agents](https://www.smartcat.com/ai-agents/) apply the same terminology across all **80+ file types**. left ### PDF Translator ### Google Docs Translator ### Google Sheets Translator ### Google Slides Translator ### PowerPoint Translator ### Excel Translator ### XLIFF Translator ### TXT Translator ### HTML Translator ### XML Translator ### Image Translator ### JPG Translator ### PNG Translator ### SRT Translator ### VTT Translator ## Trusted by teams that move whole file sets at once 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. Pricing is metered in Smartwords across the whole project — **one Smartword per source word** — so sixty files cost the same as their words. Two exceptions are worth knowing: - Text inside an image — a flat **1,000 Smartwords per image**. - AI dubbing — **10× Smartwords per word**. ### 9.6/10 for setup ease ### 9.3/10 for ease of use ### 1,000+ enterprise brands ### SOC 2 Type II encrypted in transit and at rest, isolated workspaces, role-based access Big files are often messy files A 200 MB deck stuffed with embedded video and screenshots translates only as well as its parts. Text inside those images is a separate image-translation pass — there is no single workflow that does both. Bring the file set that always breaks and have a specialist scope it with you. - [Schedule Your Personalized Demo](https://www.smartcat.com/book-a-demo/?main-12-translate-document) ## How do different formats behave at size? Each format behaves a little differently once the files get big. **PowerPoint** — decks come back as working decks: slides are rebuilt with layout, images and formatting in place, and speaker notes are translated with the rest. Text inside embedded images is **not** translated by the deck run and needs a separate image-translation pass. - **Word** — heavy files translate whole, with styles, headers and footers preserved. - **XLIFF** — imports accept **1.2 and 2.0** plus SDLXLIFF, MQXLIFF and Articulate/Easygenerator flavours, while exports are **XLIFF 1.2 only**. Units marked translate="no" stay locked in the editor regardless of import options, and you choose whether a re-import overwrites segments changed in Smartcat. - **Video** — metered on the words spoken rather than the megabytes, and the workflow covers audio and subtitles only: on-screen and burned-in text is not translated. - **One huge PDF** — its own case: the ceiling is **100 MB** rather than 6 GB, there is no page limit, and scanned pages need the pdfimageonly parsing method selected at upload. left ### 6 GB ### ceiling for document and project files Documentation recommends splitting anything over 1 GB for speed, removing unnecessary embedded media, or compressing images. ### 100 MB ### ceiling for non-image PDFs No page limit — for hundreds of pages, see the dedicated large-PDF workflow. ### 80+ ### file formats in one project Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, XLIFF, subtitle and video files among them, each exported in its original format. ## What results do teams see? “Ever since using Smartcat's translation platform, we have increased our project output by 30% using the same resources,” says Gina Groß, eCommerce Team Lead at Wunderman Thompson Commerce Luxembourg — the mixed-format, big-campaign use case this page describes. Kids2, the family-products manufacturer, cut ecommerce content turnaround by **92%** — from 90 minutes to under 5 minutes per Salsify upload — using the Smartcat–Salsify connector. ### Up to 70% ### lower translation cost for Stanley Black & Decker, achieving significant savings while boosting translation quality. - [Read Their Story](https://www.smartcat.com/cases/stanley-black-and-decker/) ### 31 hours ### saved per month by Babbel’s marketing and L&D teams, streamlining operations significantly. - [Read Their Story](https://www.smartcat.com/cases/babbel/) ### 10 days to 2–3 ### turnaround per course achieved by Smith+Nephew, down from an average of ten days with their previous providers. - [Read Their Story](https://www.smartcat.com/cases/smith-nephew/) Send the whole set through once Upload the whole set, let one glossary keep it consistent, export each file the way it came in. Free for 15 days with 15,000 Smartwords, no credit card. - [Translate your files free](https://smartcat.com/sign-up?main-f-translate-document) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How do I translate a large file? Upload it to Smartcat at full size, pick source and target languages, and export it back in its original format. Formats include Word, PowerPoint, Excel, PDF, XLIFF, subtitles and video. The published size ceilings are global rather than per format, and there is no cap on how many files you send in one go. ### What's the maximum file size I can upload? The published ceilings are **global rather than per format**: - **6 GB** — document and project files - **4 GB** — reference files - **1 GB** — translation-memory imports - **10 MB** — glossary imports - **100 MB** — non-image PDFs - **30 MB per image** — OCR Over a ceiling — or simply for speed above **1 GB** — split the file into smaller parts, strip unnecessary embedded media, or compress its images. Price is unaffected by size either way: **you pay for words**. What a file is made of matters as much as what it weighs: **large pictures, SmartArt and embedded Excel graphs** are documented causes of processing failures, so a media-heavy deck is worth thinning before you upload it. ### Can I upload a ZIP or a whole folder? **Not as a folder** of loose files. ZIP is supported as a **package format** — IDML, DITA, Articulate Rise SCORM, Articulate Storyline and similar packaged content, where Smartcat detects the package type automatically. For everything else, upload the files themselves. You can upload multiple at once, and they run as one project sharing a glossary and **one writable translation memory per language pair**. Exporting is the reverse: one **Download** gives you a ZIP of every file in its original format. ### How is a large video file priced? By the words spoken, not by file size or duration — so a large, mostly-silent video costs less than a small, talkative one. No maximum duration is published; what a long recording has to satisfy is the file-size ceiling. Subtitles are metered at the standard one Smartword per source word, while AI dubbing is metered at 10× Smartwords per word. ### Do PowerPoint slides keep their layout? Yes — slides export as a working PPTX with layout, images and formatting in place, and speaker notes are translated with the rest of the text. The images themselves keep their position but their text is not translated by the deck run: that needs a separate image-translation pass and re-insertion. ### Can I translate an XLIFF export from another TMS? Yes. Imports accept XLIFF 1.2 and 2.0 plus SDLXLIFF, MQXLIFF and Articulate/Easygenerator flavours, and exports are XLIFF 1.2 — the version most tools support, fully spec-compliant with a few Smartcat attributes added. Units marked translate="no" stay locked in the editor regardless of import options, and you choose whether a re-import overwrites segments changed in Smartcat. Large XLIFF files upload whole — no splitting. ### Is there a free large-file translator? Free tools cap file size or page count — that cap is usually why you're here. Smartcat is free for 15 days with 15,000 Smartwords, full access to translation capabilities and no credit card; after that it's paid, with no permanently free tier. ### Are images inside a document translated too? No. Images embedded in a file are not translated as part of document translation — text inside a screenshot or diagram has to go through image translation separately and be re-inserted, and there is no single automated workflow that handles both. If a file's real content is images of text, start from the image translator instead. ### Is there a duration limit for audio or video? No maximum duration is published. The limit that applies is the file-size ceiling for project files, so the question to ask about a three-hour recording is how many gigabytes it is, not how many hours it runs. ### Is a confidential file set safe here? 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. ### What do sixty files cost? The same as their words. Pricing is metered in Smartwords across the whole project, repetitions between files are discounted, and file size never enters the bill. Two exceptions: text inside an image is metered at a flat 1,000 Smartwords per image, and AI dubbing at 10× Smartwords per word.