What is Document Translation?

Document Translation is a cloud-based feature of the Azure Translator service and is part of the Azure Cognitive Service family of REST APIs. The Document Translation API can be used to translate multiple and complex documents across all supported languages and dialects, while preserving original document structure and data format.

Key features

Feature	Description
Translate large files	Translate whole documents asynchronously.
Translate numerous files	Translate multiple files across all supported languages and dialects while preserving document structure and data format.
Preserve source file presentation	Translate files while preserving the original layout and format.
Apply custom translation	Translate documents using general and custom translation models.
Apply custom glossaries	Translate documents using custom glossaries.
Automatically detect document language	Let the Document Translation service determine the language of the document.
Translate documents with content in multiple languages	Use the autodetect feature to translate documents with content in multiple languages into your target language.

Note

When translating documents with content in multiple languages, the feature is intended for complete sentences in a single language. If sentences are composed of more than one language, the content may not all translate into the target language. For more information on input requirements, see Document Transaltion request limits

Development options

You can add Document Translation to your applications using the REST API or a client-library SDK:

• The REST API. is a language agnostic interface that enables you to create HTTP requests and authorization headers to translate documents.

• The client-library SDKs are language-specific classes, objects, methods, and code that you can quickly use by adding a reference in your project. Currently Document Translation has programming language support for C#/.NET and Python.

Get started

In our quickstart, you learn how to rapidly get started using Document Translation. To begin, you need an active Azure account. If you don't have one, you can create a free account.

Start here

Supported document formats

Document Translation supports the following document file types:

File type	File extension	Description
Adobe PDF	pdf	Portable document file format. Document Translation uses optical character recognition (OCR) technology to extract and translate text in scanned PDF document while retaining the original layout.
Comma-Separated Values	csv	A comma-delimited raw-data file used by spreadsheet programs.
HTML	html, htm	Hyper Text Markup Language.
Localization Interchange File Format	xlf	A parallel document format, export of Translation Memory systems. The languages used are defined inside the file.
Markdown	markdown, mdown, mkdn, md, mkd, mdwn, mdtxt, mdtext, rmd	A lightweight markup language for creating formatted text.
M​HTML	mthml, mht	A web page archive format used to combine HTML code and its companion resources.
Microsoft Excel	xls, xlsx	A spreadsheet file for data analysis and documentation.
Microsoft Outlook	msg	An email message created or saved within Microsoft Outlook.
Microsoft PowerPoint	ppt, pptx	A presentation file used to display content in a slideshow format.
Microsoft Word	doc, docx	A text document file.
OpenDocument Text	odt	An open-source text document file.
OpenDocument Presentation	odp	An open-source presentation file.
OpenDocument Spreadsheet	ods	An open-source spreadsheet file.
Rich Text Format	rtf	A text document containing formatting.
Tab Separated Values/TAB	tsv/tab	A tab-delimited raw-data file used by spreadsheet programs.
Text	txt	An unformatted text document.

Request limits

For detailed information regarding Azure Translator Service request limits, see Document Translation request limits.

Legacy file types

Source file types are preserved during the document translation with the following exceptions:

Source file extension	Translated file extension
.doc, .odt, .rtf,	.docx
.xls, .ods	.xlsx
.ppt, .odp	.pptx

Supported glossary formats

Document Translation supports the following glossary file types:

File type	File extension	Description
Comma-Separated Values	csv	A comma-delimited raw-data file used by spreadsheet programs.
Localization Interchange File Format	xlf , xliff	A parallel document format, export of Translation Memory systems The languages used are defined inside the file.
Tab-Separated Values/TAB	tsv, tab	A tab-delimited raw-data file used by spreadsheet programs.

Data residency

Document Translation data residency depends on the Azure region where your Translator resource was created:

• Translator resources created in any region in Europe are processed at data center in West Europe and North Europe.
• Translator resources created in any region in Asia or Australia are processed at data center in Southeast Asia and Australia East.
• Translator resource created in all other regions including Global, North America and South America are processed at data center in East US and West US 2.

Text Translation data residency

✔️ Feature: Translator Text
✔️ Region where resource created: Any

Service endpoint	Request processing data center
Global (recommended): api.cognitive.microsofttranslator.com	Closest available data center.
Americas: api-nam.cognitive.microsofttranslator.com	East US • South Central US • West Central US • West US 2
Europe: api-eur.cognitive.microsofttranslator.com	North Europe • West Europe
Asia Pacific: api-apc.cognitive.microsofttranslator.com	Korea South • Japan East • Southeast Asia • Australia East

Document Translation data residency

✔️ Feature: Document Translation
✔️ Service endpoint: Custom:     <name-of-your-resource.cognitiveservices.azure.com/translator/text/batch/v1.0

Resource region	Request processing data center
Global and any region in the Americas	East US • West US 2
Any region in Europe	North Europe • West Europe
Any region in Asia Pacific	Southeast Asia • Australia East

Document Translation data residency

Next steps

Get Started with Document Translation