Use TransPDF when translating PDFs since it produces better results and uses industry standard XML called XLIFF. Translated PDF can also be edited with the free version of Infix Pro PDF Editor.


Infix Pro PDF Editor can export the text of a document, automatically tagging each paragraph with its original location. You can export a range of pages, individual stories or specific marked text boxes (see Marking text for translation).

This text can then be translated using any other software (e.g. SDL Trados Studio, MemSource, Déjà Vu, Google) and re-imported back into the document by Infix Pro PDF Editor. As Infix Pro PDF Editor imports the translated text, it uses tags embedded in the PDF during export to determine both the correct location and basic text styles of text being imported.

If translated text is too long to fit into the original text boxes, Infix Pro PDF Editor can adjust its spacing up to a point to make it fit.

It is very important to ensure the current spell-check language matches that of the text being exported. If it does not, soft-hyphens will not be correctly removed during export.

  1. Open the PDF you want to translate.
  2. To improve the quality of the exported text, use the Linked text () to link text blocks together to form stories, prior to beginning the export process.
  3. Choose Translate->Local->CAT Export...
  4. Choose the extent of the text you want to include in the export. You may prefer to work on a few pages or a single story at a time rather than the entire document.
  5. Check Limit to marked content only to export only those text boxes which you have already marked for export. See Marking text for translation.
  6. Current Story is available as an option if you were editing text when you chose to begin the export. If selected, the active text box and any linked to it will be exported as a single story.
  7. Choose the format of the exported text.
  8. Once exported, Infix Pro PDF Editor will remind you to save the document. This is crucial since the export process will have added tags not only to the text output but to the PDF itself. Saving now ensures that you will be able to import the text back into it in future.
    You cannot import text back into the PDF unless this tagging information exists.
  9. After exporting, the tagged paragraphs are highlighted. This will only be visible in Infix Pro PDF Editor and does not affect the PDF. You can hide this highlighting by choosing View->Text->Field Shading...
Notes
  • A few XML tag definition files can be found in the Translation Support folder in the Infix Pro PDF Editor Pro installation folder. These define the XML tags which should be ignored during translation.