t9n — translation
Converting text from one language to another. The core of it all — but only the core.
A product cannot go global without going local. Translation carries the words across; localization makes the whole experience — tone, images, formats, even the law it complies with — feel as if it was made for the reader. This guide explains the essentials in plain terms.
Translation converts text from one language to another. Localization adapts everything around the text too: idioms and humor, colors and imagery, dates and currencies, units and regulations.
Research across markets keeps finding the same thing: people prefer to research and buy in their own language. A translated page is understandable; a localized page feels native — and native is what sells.
The industry abbreviates its long words by keeping the first and last letter and counting the letters in between. Four of them come up constantly.
Converting text from one language to another. The core of it all — but only the core.
Adapting the full product for one target market — language, culture, formats, and law.
Engineering a product in advance so it can be localized — space for longer text, any script, any text direction.
The business strategy above it all: taking the product to the world, one localized market at a time.
Idioms, humor, color meanings, tone. Red warns of danger in one culture and celebrates fortune in another — the localized version must know which reader it faces.
Dates, currencies, units, number separators — 1,000.50 in one market is 1.000,50 in another. Small details, big confusion when missed.
Room for text that grows 30%, mirrored layouts for right-to-left scripts, and alignment with local privacy and labeling law.
CAT (computer-assisted translation) tools store every approved sentence in a translation memory. The next manual reuses what is already approved: terminology stays consistent, repeated content costs less, delivery gets faster. And it assists human translators — it is not machine translation.
The larger the memory, the better it gets — every finished job makes the next one cheaper, faster, and more consistent.
Every translator is a native speaker with proven skill; every job is scored, and the scores feed the next job. This is Crestec's ISO 9001 quality loop.
↻ — and the improvements flow back into the next job.
Strongest where production lives today — in Southeast Asia. Native translators, CAT tools, and your data kept secure.
Global reach, local voice.
CMYK, bleed, and binding — the language of print, in plain terms.
Read the guide → Topic 02Page layout, typography, and the craft of multilingual documents.
Read the guide → Topic 04Manuals people can actually follow — with zero confusion.
Read the guide → Topic 05Layers, dielines, and finishes — three jobs in one box.
Read the guide → Topic 06Design thinking, the Double Diamond, and how projects run.
Read the guide → Topic 07Warehouse, assembly, and delivery — from press to doorstep.
Read the guide →