Most translation problems in print materials are created months earlier, in the InDesign file. This is the checklist we run before any file goes to a vendor.
Structure
- All text in threaded frames, no manual line breaks
- Paragraph and character styles applied everywhere, no local overrides
- Parent pages used for recurring elements
Content
- No text inside images; keep labels as live text
- Numbers and units formatted with styles so locales can change them
- Hyphenation settings per language
Export
- IDML for the vendor, never the INDD
- Fonts checked for the target script
- A reference PDF with page numbers
We will publish a downloadable version of this checklist soon.
