Storyline 360: Translating Courses

Do you need a course in multiple languages? Storyline 360’s translation features can help with that.

1. Export the Original Text
2. Translate the Exported Text
3. Import the Translated Text
4. Localize the Storyline Player

Step 1: Export the Original Text

First, export a copy of the text from your Storyline 360 project. Go to the File tab on the Storyline ribbon, scroll to Translation, and select one of these export options:

Export to XLIFF

XLIFF is a file format commonly used for translation services and computer programs.

1. Give your file a name and click the ellipsis to select the location where you want to save it.
2. Choose the Source Language that you used to create the course.
3. Choose the XLIFF Version required for your translation service or program, either 1.2 or 2.0.
4. Click OK to complete the export process.

Export to Word

Word documents are great for machine translation—and they’re even better for human translation. Exporting to Word (DOCX) provides an easily readable list of text for translating text manually.

1. Give your file a name and click the ellipsis to select the location where you want to save it.
2. If you’d like, choose one of the following options:
   • Include slide thumbnails for reference to add screenshots of each slide and layer to the supporting text for visual context.
   • Export as a single table to create a single table of the entire course for computer-aided translation.
3. Click OK to complete the export process.
   
   

Note: By default, the February 2021 update and later for Storyline 360 use enhanced Word translation. If you prefer the legacy translation workflow, view this guide on how to switch back.

Step 2: Translate the Exported Text

After exporting the text from your course, use the resulting Word document or XLIFF file to translate it into other languages. You can use professional translators, an online translation service, or a computer program.

When translating content, keep these important items in mind:

• As of June 2021, you can apply basic font formatting (e.g., bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, superscript, subscript) to translated text in the Word document, and Storyline 360 will import the changes back into your project file. Visit this article to learn more.
• If you’re using the Export to Word option, only modify text in the column titled Translation in the resulting Word document. Leave all other text unchanged.
• Don’t translate result slide variable references.

• Closed captions can’t be translated using this process. They’ll need to be translated separately and imported back into Storyline 360.
• Trigger conditions can’t be translated using this process. They’ll need to be translated manually in Storyline 360.
• Variable names can’t be translated using this process. (Variable values can be translated, just not their names.) As a result, you shouldn’t translate variable references in the exported file unless you also plan to translate the variable names manually in Storyline. Otherwise, translated variable references won’t match their corresponding variable names.

Step 3: Import the Translated Text

When the translation is ready, import the Word document or XLIFF file back into Storyline 360:

1. Create a copy of your original project file to contain the new language and open it in Storyline 360.
2. Go to the File tab on the Storyline ribbon, scroll to Translation, and select Import.
3. Browse to the Word document or XLIFF file that contains the translated text and click Open.
4. When you see the congratulations message, click OK.
5. Review the imported text to be sure it fits properly in your course and make adjustments as necessary. Some languages use longer words and phrases, so you may need to allow more room for the expanded text or reduce the font size.

Step 4: Localize the Storyline Player

While the translation feature in Storyline 360 lets you modify the slide content, you may also want to customize the player’s text labels. Text labels let you localize buttons, messages, and other player elements for different languages.