IDML Translation Services

IDML (InDesign Markup Language) is Adobe's own XML-based interchange format for InDesign documents. Unlike native INDD files, which are binary and version-specific, IDML files can be opened in any InDesign version from CS4 onward. As a result, IDML is the professional standard for translation agencies working with InDesign: it eliminates version conflicts and allows translation memory and CAT tools to extract text segments for consistent terminology and recycling of previously translated content. Common document types handled include product catalogs, annual reports, marketing brochures, corporate magazines, and multilingual packaging inserts, all formats where InDesign is the production tool of choice.

We accept both INDD and IDML source files. For INDD files, we request that clients export to IDML first (File > Export > InDesign Markup) to ensure compatibility. For ongoing projects with large publication volumes, using IDML consistently enables significant cost savings through translation memory reuse on repeated strings. DTP correction, including overset text adjustment, font substitution for non-Latin scripts such as CJK and Arabic, and preflight verification, is included as standard on every IDML project, so the delivered file opens in InDesign ready for PDF export.

IDML is an exchange format for layouts, not something you submit. If the finished brochure or report still has to go before a state court or another body, we can add a certified translation of its text, with a signed certificate of accuracy, next to the translated IDML. Publishing partners and print suppliers who meet about the translated layout can be supported by expert interpreting services.