Translate a Product Catalogue in Excel into English

What changes when a catalogue goes into English

A catalogue is not running text: it is hundreds of short, repetitive cells where every word matters. Whatever your source language, a few things shift in English.

• Word order. Many languages put the material after the noun; English puts it first. French chaise en chêne massif, Spanish silla de roble macizo and Italian sedia in rovere massello all become Solid oak chair. Long, stacked product names deserve the closest review.
• Length. Coming from French, English text is typically 10 to 15% shorter, so long descriptions fit their cells more easily.
• British or American. Colour or color, aluminium or aluminum, grey or gray: in a Colour or Material column the difference is obvious at a glance. Decide which market you are targeting and check which variant the free sample uses.
• Plurals have only two forms (one and other), but phrasing changes: a multipack becomes pack of 2 or set of 2, a single unit 1 piece or single item.
• Tax wording. Net and gross price headers come out as excl. VAT and incl. VAT. A US audience does not use VAT, so you will need to adapt those headers yourself.

What Manuce returns, and what it does not do

Catalogues go to Calliope, the engine specialised in marketing and sales copy, so descriptions keep a selling tone rather than reading like a manual.

• Every text cell on every sheet of the workbook is translated.
• Formulas are left alone: a column such as =C2*1.2 keeps calculating. Numbers, dates and amounts stay exactly as they are.
• You receive the original .xlsx with column widths, colours, borders, number formats, filters and merged cells intact, plus a Word version, a PDF and plain text.

What is not done:

• Sheet tab names stay in the source language.
• Cell comments, charts and shapes or text boxes placed on the sheet (a "New" banner, a terms box) are not translated.
• Narrow columns are not widened, so a longer text may be cut off on screen, as in the original.
• No conversion: centimetres stay centimetres, euro prices stay in euros.
• Manuce does not produce certified (sworn) translations; a sales catalogue rarely needs one.

Traps specific to Excel catalogues

• Text built by formulas. Because formulas are not touched, a label assembled by concatenation keeps its source-language fragments: =B2&" – "&C2&" coloris" will still display "coloris". Find these before uploading and paste them as values if the text needs translating.
• Dimensions typed as text. A cell reading "45,5 x 30 cm" is text, not a number, so a decimal comma may survive where English readers expect 45.5 x 30 cm. Check those columns on delivery.
• Range and brand names. A collection name should stay as it is, while a descriptive name like lin lavé may rightly become Washed linen. See how the free sample handles your proper names, then scan the whole column in the translation.
• Codes. SKUs, EANs and part numbers are not words: glance over those columns after delivery, especially mixed codes such as CH-OAK-45.

Preparing the workbook

1. Delete obsolete sheets, hidden ones included: all sheets are translated and the quote is based on the exact word count.
2. Move text out of shapes. If an important line sits in a text box or comment, copy it into a cell so it gets translated.
3. Freeze text-producing formulas (copy, paste as values) where that text must appear in English.
4. Keep one field per column: "Oak chair – 45 cm – 12 kg" in one cell translates less cleanly than three separate columns.

For a catalogue of around 10,000 words, roughly 40 printed pages, the estimate for each level is shown below; Professional suits a document going to customers or distributors.

Checking the English version

• Search for accented characters from your source language (é, ü, ñ, ç): they quickly reveal untranslated leftovers from formulas or missed cells.
• Rename the tabs by hand (Kitchen range, Price list 2025).
• Check spelling consistency: one file should not mix colour and color.
• Test the filters on a translated column: values should be uniform, not Navy in one row and Navy blue in another for the same shade.
• Widen any column where text appears cut off.

In practice

1. Tidy the workbook: remove obsolete sheets and copy text from shapes into cells.
2. Upload the .xlsx and see the quote based on the exact word count.
3. Check the free sample for British or American spelling and your range names.
4. Download the translated .xlsx with its Word, PDF and plain-text versions.
5. Rename the tabs and check the dimension and code columns.