Translate a product catalogue into German
Manuce translates your product catalogue into German from a Word, PDF, PowerPoint or Excel file and returns it in its original format, layout included. At Professional level the text goes to Calliope, the engine specialised in marketing and sales copy. What you still need to check is what German does to your columns: longer words, capitalised nouns and numbers written differently.
What it costs
For a product catalogue of about 10,000 words, into German:
To understand, internal use.
Ready to send, by the marketing and sales specialist.
Cross-checked. For documents that commit you.
Price for one language, original layout included. VAT not applicable — article 293 B of the French General Tax Code (CGI). The exact quote, based on your file's word count, is shown before you pay.
What German changes in a catalogue
A catalogue is mostly short text in fixed spaces: captions, taglines, badges and table cells. That is where German shows most.
- Compound nouns. "Stainless steel kettle" becomes Edelstahl-Wasserkocher. "What's in the box" becomes Lieferumfang. A short label can double in width, so a one-line caption under a thumbnail may wrap onto two.
- Hyphenation. Long compounds break between their parts (Edelstahl-|Wasserkocher), not at random. If you flow the text back into your layout software, set hyphenation to German.
- Every noun is capitalised. der Rucksack, die Farbe, das Zubehör. A German sentence carries many more capitals than an English one. That is correct, not a typo.
- Sie or du. Trade and B2B catalogues use the formal Sie. Many consumer brands address customers as du. Check which form appears in the free sample and whether it suits your brand voice.
Numbers, units, plurals and punctuation
Product pages are full of values, and German writes them its own way.
- Decimals and thousands. The comma is the decimal separator (
12,5 cm) and the full stop groups thousands (1.200 W). Misread, "1.200" looks like one point two. - Dates. The usual form is
01.03.2025, with full stops. - Dimensions. Write
30 × 40 cm, with a space between number and unit. - Plurals. German has two forms, singular and plural: 1 Farbe, 3 Farben. Some words do not change: ab 10 Stück. Check any phrases your catalogue tool generates automatically, such as "1 colour available".
- Quotation marks. German uses „this style“: low opening mark, high closing mark.
Price columns and the wording around them (for example inkl. MwSt.) depend on your pricing policy for the German market. Manuce translates the text. It does not recalculate prices or convert currencies.
What Manuce returns, and what it does not do
You upload a Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown, HTML, RTF or CSV file. You get the same format back in German, layout included. A typical catalogue of around 40 pages and 10,000 words is delivered within minutes. The file then stays available in your client area.
- Essential: to understand the catalogue or share it internally.
- Professional: translated by Calliope, the marketing and sales specialist, ready to send to German-speaking customers or distributors.
- Premium: the most advanced engine, followed by a cross-review.
What Manuce does not do:
- It cannot read a scanned PDF, meaning an image with no selectable text.
- It does not take glossaries or lists of required terms.
- It does not produce sworn or certified translations. A catalogue rarely needs one, but an attached document meant for an authority may.
- It does not check your marketing claims against German law.
Preparing the file before you upload
- Export from your layout software. Native layout files are not among the accepted formats. Export a PDF with selectable text, or a Word file if you plan to reimport the German text.
- Test the PDF. Try selecting a product description with your mouse. If nothing highlights, the page is an image and will not be read.
- Find text baked into images. A "New" badge or a "Made in Italy" banner drawn into a photo is not text. Plan to recreate these visuals as Neu or Hergestellt in Italien.
- Keep price grids separate. If prices and SKUs live in a spreadsheet, upload the Excel or CSV file on its own. Columns and formulas stay where they are.
- Leave room. If you are rebuilding the layout, use text frames that can stretch to fit German compounds.
Checking the German version before print
- Overflow. Go through the densest pages: thumbnail captions, comparison tables, and buttons or calls to action such as Jetzt bestellen. Clipped or cut-off text is easy to spot by eye.
- SKUs and range names. A code like
REF-2041-BLmust stay identical. If a product name should stay as it is, check it first in the free sample, then in the delivered catalogue. - Consistency over 40 pages. The same idea should keep the same word throughout, for example Lieferumfang on every page rather than Packungsinhalt on some. The same applies to Sie or du.
- Strong claims. "Lifetime guarantee" becomes lebenslange Garantie, and it commits you in Germany too. Have such wording approved by your local contact.
- Figures. Spot-check commas and full stops in the specifications of your best-selling products.
In practice
- Export the catalogue as a PDF with selectable text, or as a Word or Excel file.
- Upload the file: an instant quote appears, based on the exact word count.
- Read the free German sample to check the form of address (Sie or du) and your product names.
- Pay, then download the translated catalogue in its original format.
- Check overflow, figures and any text baked into images before printing.
Frequently asked questions
Can I upload my native layout file directly?
No, native layout files are not an accepted format. Export a PDF with selectable text, or a Word file if you want to reimport the German text into your layout. Manuce returns the file in the format you uploaded.
Will the layout survive longer German words?
The file comes back with its layout. However, a compound such as Edelstahl-Wasserkocher takes up more space than the English or French original. Check captions, table cells and badges, where text may wrap onto a second line.
Will the catalogue address readers as Sie or du?
The formal Sie is the norm in professional contexts. The free sample shows you the form used before you pay. Make sure it suits your brand voice, especially for a consumer audience.
Our old catalogue only exists as a scan. Can you translate it?
No. A scanned PDF is an image with no selectable text, and Manuce does not read it. You will need a source file or an export that contains real text.
Is there a discount if I also need French and Spanish versions?
Yes. From two languages upwards, a discount applies to the whole order: −20% for two languages and −30% for three. German is charged at the base rate, with no extra language coefficient.
The specialist in charge
This subject goes to Calliope, the marketing and sales specialist. See how it works.
The same file, into another language
Into German, other files
See also
Try it on your own file, free
A sample of your file translated at the level you choose, before any payment. You judge, then you decide.