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Multilingual Typesetting
Your translated materials should look as polished as the originals. Eriksen provides multilingual typesetting services, adapting your layouts for each language, proofreading the results, and delivering print- and digital-ready files in more than 100 languages, so you can publish with confidence.
Why Translated Documents Need Expert Typesetting
Most layouts are designed around a single language, so adding translated text often creates problems. Languages such as Spanish and French typically run longer than English, causing text to overflow images, charts, tables, and buttons. Right-to-left languages such as Arabic, Hebrew, and Urdu reverse the direction of the page, while Chinese, Japanese, and Korean require specialized fonts and typographic rules. Without expert typesetting, lists stop flowing, awkward line breaks appear, and accents or labels go missing.
For your team, that can mean hours of troubleshooting in unfamiliar scripts, errors you can’t spot in languages you don’t read, and delays or reprints close to a deadline. When a translated version looks less finished than the original, readers notice. A carefully typeset layout shows the communities you serve that their language receives the same care as the original.
How Eriksen Solves Multilingual Typesetting Challenges
Eriksen’s typesetting specialists resolve text expansion, right-to-left layouts, complex scripts, and other multilingual formatting issues for you. We set your text for readability and cultural fit, delivering files that are ready to use:
- Text that displays correctly: The right fonts are used, and characters, accents, and symbols display properly in your layout files.
- Typography that follows local conventions: Punctuation, spacing, hyphenation, line breaks, and page setup adhere to the rules of each language, so readers aren’t distracted by errors.
- Layouts that fit: We adjust for text expansion and contraction, including text within images, charts, and callouts, so your design holds up in each language.
- Correctly mirrored layouts: For right-to-left languages, page elements are mirrored and aligned to match the direction of the text.
- A unified design: Your materials stay visually uniform across languages and file formats, preserving the integrity of your brand.
Linguist Proofreading Before You Publish
You don’t need to read Arabic or Korean to know your materials are right. Before delivery, Eriksen’s linguistic team proofreads the typeset files to confirm that your translation came through the layout process intact, catching missing characters, incorrect line breaks, and misplaced text before anything reaches your readers. We then collect your graphics files and deliver them in the format you need for print or digital distribution.
Translation and Typesetting, Managed Together
Coordinating translators and designers across multiple languages takes time your team may not have. Eriksen manages translation and typesetting in a single workflow from start to finish, with fewer handoffs and consistent terminology and formatting throughout. That workflow can also include accessibility. For materials that must meet ADA, Section 508, or WCAG standards, our accessibility services team delivers tagged, screen-reader-ready files alongside your typeset layouts.
Your Multilingual Typesetting Partner
Eriksen brings typographical expertise, a linguist’s perspective, and a rigorous focus on quality to each engagement. We work as an extension of your team, helping you communicate clearly in each language.
What is multilingual typesetting?
Multilingual typesetting is the process of laying out translated text in documents, graphics, and other designed materials according to the typographical conventions of each language. A typesetter adjusts fonts, character display, punctuation, spacing, line breaks, text direction, and page setup so translated materials look and read as though they were created in the target language. At Eriksen, linguists review the typeset files before delivery to confirm the translation was preserved.
Is multilingual typesetting the same as desktop publishing (DTP)?
In the language services industry, the terms are often used interchangeably. Desktop publishing (DTP) refers broadly to creating and formatting layouts with design software. Multilingual typesetting, sometimes called multilingual DTP, applies the formatting to translated content, adapting layouts for the scripts, text lengths, and typographic rules of each language.
Why can't translated text be placed directly into the original layout?
Translated text rarely fits the source layout exactly. Many languages run longer than English, some read right to left, and some use character sets that require specific line-breaking rules. A professional typesetter adapts the layout so translated content stays accurate, readable, and true to the original design.
Which languages does Eriksen typeset?
Eriksen typesets materials in more than 100 languages, including right-to-left languages such as Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew, and Urdu, and languages with complex scripts such as Bengali, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, and Korean. We regularly support the 10 designated citywide languages under New York City’s language access law (Local Law 30): Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, French, Haitian Creole, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, and Urdu.
What file formats does Eriksen work with?
Eriksen supports industry-standard desktop publishing file formats, including:
- Design: Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Express; Canva; and Figma
- Office: Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Visio
- E-learning: Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline 360, Articulate Rise 360, and Lectora
- Web and text: HTML, JSON, XML, RTF, and TXT
We deliver final files in the format you require, including print-ready PDFs, with graphics and fonts packaged where needed.
How does Eriksen check quality after typesetting?
After typesetting, Eriksen’s linguistic team proofreads the final layout in each language. This post-typesetting review confirms that the translation was preserved and checks for issues such as missing or incorrect characters, incorrect line breaks, misplaced text, and inconsistent formatting. A dedicated project manager coordinates the process from file intake to final delivery.
How should I prepare my files for multilingual typesetting?
Provide editable native files, such as InDesign packages that include fonts and linked images. A PDF alone limits what a typesetter can adjust. Layouts are easiest to adapt when they leave room for text expansion, use styles consistently, and avoid embedding text in images.
What affects the cost and turnaround of multilingual typesetting?
Cost and turnaround depend on the number of pages, the languages involved, the complexity of the layout (such as the number of graphics and tables), and whether editable source files are available. Eriksen reviews your files at the outset and provides an estimate based on your specific materials and timeline.
Without fail, Eriksen has come through for us for the last 16 years. They come through—on-time, on budget and flawlessly.
Peter Byrnes, Co-Founder & CEO, Fundraise Up