Translate a sales brochure into German

What German does to a brochure

A brochure is a constrained document: every headline and callout box has a fixed space. German upsets that balance in three ways.

• Length. German text is often 20 to 35 % longer than English. A paragraph that fitted its box in the source may spill out in German.
• Compound nouns. A short label can double in width: "Inventory management" becomes Lagerbestandsverwaltung, "Customer satisfaction survey" becomes Kundenzufriedenheitsumfrage. In a large headline or a narrow column, a single word may be wider than the space available.
• Capitalised nouns. Unsere Lösungen für Ihr Unternehmen: every noun takes a capital letter, which changes how sentence-case headings look. Do not let a proofreader "fix" these capitals.

The most exposed areas are buttons and calls to action, icon captions, one-line subheadings and specification tables. "Request a quote" becomes Angebot anfordern or Fordern Sie ein Angebot an; the second, more courteous form is also longer.

Tone, formal address and German conventions

A brochure addresses the reader directly, and in German you have to choose how.

• Sie or du. In business contexts the formal Sie is standard: Kontaktieren Sie uns. Some consumer or start-up brands use the informal du (Schreib uns). If your brand speaks informally in German, check the register on the free sample, then across the whole document.
• Quotation marks. German uses „…“, with the opening mark at the bottom. A highlighted customer quote should follow this convention.
• Numbers and dates. A full stop separates thousands and a comma marks decimals: "1,200 m²" becomes 1.200 m², "12.5%" becomes 12,5 %. Dates are written 15.03.2025.
• Plurals. German has only two forms (one / other): 1 Standort, 3 Standorte. Check the key figures on your brochure, which are often typed separately from the body text.
• ß in capitals. In an all-caps heading, common usage replaces ß with SS: Straße becomes STRASSE.
• Gender-inclusive wording. For "our customers", German may use Kundinnen und Kunden, Kund:innen or the generic masculine. Decide on your position and check it stays consistent from page to page.

What Manuce returns, and what it does not do

Your brochure is translated by Calliope, Manuce's engine specialised in marketing and sales, rather than a general-purpose engine, so taglines, customer benefits and calls to action are handled as sales copy.

• Accepted formats: Word, PDF, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, Markdown, HTML, RTF, CSV.
• The file comes back in its original format, layout included: a PowerPoint stays a PowerPoint, a Word file stays a Word file.
• A free sample (one paragraph of your brochure, translated at the level you choose) lets you judge the German tone before paying.
• For a typical brochure of around 1,200 words, the translation is delivered within minutes and kept in your client area.

What Manuce does not do:

• It cannot read a scanned PDF (an image with no selectable text): you need a file whose text can be selected.
• It does not redesign your artwork: if the longer German text overflows a fixed frame, rebalancing it (font size, leading, splitting a subheading) is up to you or your designer.
• It does not produce sworn or certified translations, rarely needed for a brochure but worth knowing if the document must accompany an official application.

For a brochure going to print or to prospects, the Professional or Premium level suits better than Essential, which is meant for internal use.

Preparing the file and checking before print

Before uploading:

• If you have the Word or PowerPoint source, send it rather than the final PDF: the German text will be easier to adjust there.
• If the brochure was laid out in desktop publishing software, export a PDF with selectable text, not an image.
• Check that your typeface includes ä, ö, ü and ß: some display fonts lack them, and the software then substitutes another font.

After delivery:

1. Go through every page looking for clipped or overflowing text, starting with buttons, boxes and captions.
2. Set your layout's hyphenation to German: compound nouns break well, provided the correct hyphenation dictionary is used.
3. Check product names, slogans and trademarks you want kept as they are, first on the free sample and then on the full document.
4. Review contact details: the +49 dialling code for a German contact, date formats and key figures.
5. Have a German speaker read the final version before it goes to the printer.

In practice

1. Export your brochure as Word, PowerPoint or a PDF with selectable text.
2. Upload the file and choose German and a level: the quote is based on the exact word count.
3. Read the free sample to judge the register (Sie or du) and your brand terms.
4. Pay, then download the German brochure in its original format.
5. Fix any text overflow and get sign-off before printing.