How To Enable Form Translation For My Online PDF Forms and Web Form?

Question: Hi! Most of my PDF form respondents use the Spanish language. Is it possible to give them an option to translate the form from English to Spanish?

Answer: Yes, PlatoForms has Multi-languages Settings where you can enable the Language Switcher, Detect User Language, and even add a new Language to your online PDF forms.

What is “Multi-languages Settings”?

Multi-languages setting is a place where you can enable the Language Switcher and Detect User Language. From here you can also manage your language settings and change the primary language of your online PDF form.

You can access it by clicking the gear icon located at the upper right corner of your online PDF form.

When the dropdown option appears, go to Form Settings and locate the Multi-Languages Tab.

From there you can start to manage the language settings.

How to Add Form Language Translation?

To add and manage your online PDF form’s translation, follow the steps above. Once you reach the Multi-languages window, click on Manage Languages.

After clicking the Manage Languages button, select the language you prefer by clicking on the dropdown menu.

Once the list of available languages appears, search and click on your preferred language.

Once you find your preferred language, click Add New Language. You’ll land on the window where you can put the form fields and system texts translation. You can either put the translations manually or upload an Excel file of the translations.

If you want to put translation for the online form fields, go to Form Text Window and add your translations.

On the other hand, if you also want to translate the system texts like the “submit button” and “cancel”, you can put translations by visiting the System Text tab.

If you’re satisfied with the translations, you can hit Save Translation.

Disclaimer: We used an online translator for Spanish words so the translation in the photo might not be accurate.

If you think everything is fine with your translation, hit Save Translation. At the upper right corner of the Translation Settings, you can export the translations you created in an Excel format.

Pro Tip: You can skip the manual typing of the translations by importing Form Translations in an Excel file format. To do this, click the Import Translation button located at the upper right corner of the translation settings window.

Here are some things to take note of if you prefer importing the Excel file for your translation.

• Excel worksheet name doesn’t matter, and only the first worksheet in Excel is used for import.
• The first row contains the titles, which are ignored when importing.
• Your translation should be in the 3rd column. To see how the format goes, you can try exporting translations you created in the settings.
• If your file has an empty cell, its translation is also reset to blank.
• Any font style will be ignored.
• The import does not support rich text messages. You need to translate rich text directly in our web version - those messages with text formatting toolbars.

Excel File Sample Format

How to Change the Form’s Primary Language?

You also have the option to change and set your online PDF form’s primary language. On the same settings, under the Multi-Languages tab, click on Manage Languages.

Then find your preferred language and click on the Set as Primary button.

After that, your translated form is ready to go.

Got more questions? Visit our FAQ page or ask us here.