Translate a Word document into Indonesian, layout intact

What changes when a .docx goes into Indonesian

Indonesian uses the Latin alphabet with no accents or special characters, so none of your fonts need replacing, unlike a translation into Chinese or Russian. The real issues lie in word length and in how the language builds meaning.

• Long words. Indonesian stacks prefixes and suffixes onto a root: tanggung jawab (responsibility) becomes mempertanggungjawabkan (to account for). In a narrow table column or a fixed-width text box, one such word can force a line break or overflow.
• Plural by repetition. dokumen-dokumen means "documents". The hyphen belongs to the word, and in a tight cell Word may break the line there, leaving dokumen- stranded. After a number there is no repetition: tiga dokumen (three documents), never tiga dokumen-dokumen.
• One plural form. Grammar does not mark singular versus plural (a single CLDR category, other). Source phrasings such as "the attached document(s)" resolve naturally to dokumen terlampir.
• No gender, no verb conjugation. "He or she signs" needs no workaround; penanda tangan (the signatory) covers both, and tense comes from context or words such as sudah (already).

Register, numbers and Indonesian conventions

A business document follows standard Indonesian (bahasa Indonesia baku) and the official spelling rules (EYD). Points to know before you review:

• Formal address uses Anda, always capitalised. Letters usually address the reader as Bapak (Mr) or Ibu (Mrs/Ms), with Yth. (Yang terhormat) before the name and Dengan hormat, as the opening line.
• Numbers use a decimal comma and a full stop for thousands: 1.250.000,50. If your source is in English (1,250,000.50), check every figure in your tables: swapping comma and full stop changes the value.
• Currency is written Rp before the amount: Rp 1.500.000.
• Dates run day, month, year, with the month spelt out: 17 Agustus 2025.
• Punctuation follows English spacing: no space before colons, semicolons or question marks. A French source with spaces before these signs deserves a quick look.
• Company forms have their own abbreviations (PT, Tbk); a Ltd, GmbH or SARL has no exact equivalent and is usually left as it is. Check these in the translation.

What Manuce returns, and what it does not do

Manuce translates the paragraphs, tables, headers and footers and text boxes of your .docx. A merged cell is translated, and charged, only once. Text is replaced piece by piece: fonts, sizes, colours, bold and italics, styles, numbering and table widths stay as in the original. Because Indonesian uses only Latin letters, your corporate fonts display as they are.

An automatic check then compares the layout of the translated document with the original and flags any difference. You receive the file in its original format, plus a Word version, a PDF and plain text; the original layout is included in the price. Indonesian is a supplement language, with a ×1.25 coefficient on the per-word rate.

What Manuce does not do: recalculate your automatic fields. The table of contents (Daftar Isi) and cross-references keep working, but since Indonesian words are often longer, pagination can shift; updating the fields in Word recalculates the page numbers. Manuce does not produce sworn or certified translations either.

Contracts and official documents for Indonesia

Indonesian Law No. 24 of 2009 requires Indonesian to be used in agreements involving an Indonesian party. In practice, contracts with Indonesian partners are often drawn up side by side or in two versions, Indonesian and foreign.

Manuce is suited to producing the Indonesian working version of a contract, proposal or specification, for your lawyer or partner to review. It does not replace a sworn translator (penerjemah tersumpah): if an Indonesian authority requires a certified translation of a deed, diploma or registry extract, you will need a qualified translator.

If your contract is laid out in two columns of a Word table, expect the Indonesian column to fill up more than the other, and check that each clause still sits opposite its source.

Preparing the file and checking the result

1. Before uploading, accept or reject tracked changes so that the final version is what gets translated.
2. Note any text locked inside images (diagrams, screenshots): it is not among the elements translated.
3. Read the free sample: pick a paragraph containing a product name or in-house acronym, to confirm it stays unchanged before you pay.
4. On delivery, open the .docx and update the fields so the table of contents and cross-references are recalculated.
5. Scan narrow tables: affixed words that overflow, repeated plurals split at the hyphen, figures whose decimal separator needs checking.
6. Check the register of letters: Anda capitalised, Bapak or Ibu to suit the recipient.

In practice

1. Accept tracked changes and upload your .docx file.
2. Choose Indonesian and a level, then read the free one-paragraph sample.
3. Approve the quote based on the exact word count and pay.
4. Download the translated .docx, update the fields and review tables and figures.