Generating documents in many languages
3 September 2025 · 7 min read · Nextarp B.V.
Serving customers across regions means generating the same document in many languages - and getting the details right. Localisation is more than translation; numbers, dates and layout all shift with culture.
Per-recipient language
Drive language from the recipient's data, not a global setting, so one batch run can produce a French invoice, a German statement and a Dutch letter in a single pass. The template stays one design; the language switches per document.
Culture-aware formatting
- Numbers - decimal and thousands separators differ (1.234,56 vs 1,234.56).
- Dates - order and month names vary; never hard-code a format.
- Currency - symbol placement and spacing follow the locale.
Let the formatting follow the culture code rather than string-building it in the template.
Translatable content
Keep fixed phrases in a resource set keyed by language, so adding a locale is a data task, not a template rewrite. Missing translations should fall back gracefully rather than showing a blank.
Layout that flexes
Translated text expands and contracts - German runs long, others run short. Design templates that tolerate variable length without breaking tables or overflowing pages, and test with the longest expected translations.
The payoff
One well-built multilingual template replaces a folder of near-duplicate designs - and every recipient gets a document that reads as if it were made for their region.
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