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Translate InDesign from English to Chinese

Entering the Chinese market with InDesign materials? Two things to know upfront: the translation is the easy part (IDML.ai handles that in minutes), but you'll need CJK fonts installed in InDesign or every character shows up as a box. Read the tips below before you start.

From €3 per document · No account required

How It Works

1

Export as IDML

In Adobe InDesign, go to File → Export and choose Adobe InDesign Markup (IDML). This creates the file you'll upload.

2

Upload & Choose Chinese

Drop your IDML file on IDML.ai and select Chinese as the target language. The source language is detected automatically.

3

Download Translated File

Pay per document (from €3), download the translated IDML, and open it in InDesign. Layout fully preserved.

Tips for English → Chinese InDesign Translation

  • Chinese characters are wider — even though text is shorter, visual width may be similar
  • You MUST have CJK fonts installed in InDesign (e.g. Noto Sans SC, Source Han Sans)
  • The AI translates to Simplified Chinese (简体) by default — used in mainland China
  • Chinese doesn't use spaces between words — line-breaking rules differ from English
  • Test your translated file on a machine that has CJK fonts installed — if your colleague opens it without the fonts, they'll see empty boxes and think the translation failed

What to Expect: English to Chinese Text Length

This one's counterintuitive. Chinese text is way shorter by character count — up to 50% fewer characters. But Chinese characters are wider than Latin letters, so the visual space they take up can be surprisingly similar. In practice: your text frames won't overflow, but the typographic rhythm will feel different. That's normal. What will feel very different: Chinese doesn't use word spaces, and line-breaking follows different rules. Expect to do some InDesign hyphenation/justification tuning after import. We strongly recommend doing a test run with a single page before translating your full 60-page catalog to Chinese. Font issues are much easier to catch on one page.

Tip: After translation, check for overset text in InDesign — it appears as a small red + icon on the bottom-right of a text frame. Click the icon to flow the text or resize the frame.

FAQ: Translating InDesign Files from English to Chinese

More questions? Read our complete guide to IDML translation

Ready to translate your InDesign file from English to Chinese?

Upload your IDML file now and get a layout-perfect translation in minutes.

Start Translation — From €3