Machine translation of file documents

A file-type controlled document (an uploaded Word or PDF whose original file is the governing record) can be machine-translated into any of your organization's content languages. The translation is produced from the original file, preserving its layout: headings, tables, and images stay where they are, so the translated copy keeps the look of the source document.

Who this is for

Administrators start machine translations. Publishing the result requires a second person with a quality role.

Before you start

Machine translation uses an external translation provider (DeepL today; more providers are planned). An organization administrator configures the provider and its API key once, in the app under Organization → Integrations. See Translation providers. When no provider is configured, the translate action is disabled and points an administrator to that screen; nothing else is affected.

The translate action also shows which provider is active (for example "Translated by DeepL") so you know the copy will go to an external service before you start.

If your administrator set a monthly character limit and it has been reached, the translate action reports it. Raise the limit under Organization → Integrations or wait for the next month.

The target language must be one of your organization's configured content languages. See your Organization settings under Languages.

Translate a document

1. Open the document's detail page and expand the revision you want to translate (normally the current one).
2. In the revision's language row, select a language chip that has no translation yet.
3. Choose Translate file with AI and confirm. There is no change-reason field to fill in.
4. The card shows the translation progress. Jobs usually finish within seconds to a couple of minutes, and the page picks the result up even if you refresh in between.

The result is stored as a language variant of that revision. It does not bump the revision number and it does not replace the current effective copy; the original file remains the governing version.

You are not asked to write a change reason for a translation. A translation makes no substantive change to the content, so the variant inherits the reason recorded on the revision it translates, rendered in the target language. The original reason is always preserved on the source revision.

Publish the translation

A machine translation always arrives as a draft. Readers cannot open it yet.

1. Submit the draft variant for review from the language row.
2. A different person with a quality role reviews it, approves it with an electronic signature, and makes it effective. The person who created the translation cannot approve it, so a translation can never publish itself.
3. Once effective, readers who pick that language get the translated copy; everyone else keeps reading the original.

This is the same review-and-approval path every translation follows, whether it was machine-translated or uploaded by hand. See Versions and history for the full language-variant model.

What to expect from the result

The translation is faithful in style and structure, not pixel-identical. Text length changes between languages, so line breaks and page fill differ slightly from the source. Review the draft the way you would review a human translation, and reject it back to draft if wording needs to change.

If something goes wrong

• "No document translation provider is configured": no provider or key is set. An administrator adds one under Organization → Integrations.
• The monthly translation limit has been reached: your administrator set a monthly character limit and this month's usage reached it. Raise the limit under Organization → Integrations or wait for next month.
• A translation for this language already exists: each revision can hold one live variant per language. Read or manage the existing variant from the language row instead.
• A translation is already in progress: wait for the running job to finish; the language row shows its progress.