You can make your Frontify guidelines available in multiple languages, helping users access brand information in their preferred language. Each language has its own translated content while sharing the same underlying guideline structure.
Availability: Multiple languages are available on Enterprise plans.
How multiple languages work
When you add another language to your guidelines, you can create the translated versions of the existing content. The base language (the primary language your team authors in) defines the structure and visibility settings shared across all language versions.
Content and structure
You can translate and localize existing content blocks, but you can’t add, remove, or rearrange blocks within a translated version. To change the guideline structure, make the changes in the base language.
Targets and permissions
Targets and page visibility settings are managed in the base language and automatically apply to all translated versions. You don’t need to configure them separately for each language.
Add and manage languages
You can add languages to your guidelines so people can read the content in their preferred language.
Open your guideline in edit mode.
Select Settings in the bottom-left corner of the powerbar.
Open the Languages tab.
Select Add language, choose a language from the dropdown list, and select Confirm.
Repeat to add more languages.
The first language you add is marked as the default. Additional languages are created as drafts and remain unavailable to viewers until published.
Language settings
Once you’ve added languages, you can manage them from the list using the available actions.
Action | What it does |
Rename | Change the language’s display name. |
Publish | Make a translated language available to viewers. |
Unpublish | Hide a translated language from viewers while keeping its content available for editing. |
Delete | Remove a language from the list. Its translated content is saved and can be restored by adding the language back again. |
Reorder | Change the order in which languages appear in the language selector. |
Note: You can’t delete the default language. To remove it, first assign another language as the default.
Translate guideline content
Once you’ve added another language, you can translate or localize your guideline content directly in that language version. The existing content from your base language is available as a starting point.
Exit Settings and open the language switcher in your guideline navigation. You’ll find it in the top-right corner in Classic/Legacy or the bottom-left corner in Muse.
Select the language you want to translate.
Enter edit mode.
Go into the specific language guideline and translate or localize the existing content:
Text: Double-click a text block to edit its content directly.
Images: Select the option on an image to replace it, then upload a localized image or choose one from your assets.
When your translation is ready, go back to Settings → Languages and publish the language to make it available to viewers.
Once a second language is published, the language switcher allows viewers to move between the available language versions.
Note: Guideline owners, editors, and translators can edit translated content in edit mode by default.
AI translation
If AI translation is enabled for your guideline, you can also use AI translation in the bottom action bar to translate the page, rather than translating each content block manually.
Learn more about how to use AI translations in your guidelines.
Invite a translator
You can invite someone to your guidelines with the translator role to help manage translations.
Translators can edit text and replace images in translated content, but they can’t change the structure of the base language or add, move, or delete content blocks. Learn more about how to invite team members.
Track translation progress
Translation indicators help you identify content that still needs attention.
Untranslated content: A red indicator shows content that hasn’t been translated or that may need updating after changes to the base language.
Completed translations: Indicators disappear from individual content blocks once their translations are complete.
Keep translations up to date
When content changes in the base language, review the corresponding translated versions to make sure they remain accurate and consistent.
Coordinate with your translators to update content where needed.
Troubleshoot the language selector
If you can’t find the language selector in your guidelines, check that you’ve added at least one additional language.
For public viewers, make sure the additional language has been published. Languages in draft mode aren’t available to general viewers.
Duplicating translated guidelines
When duplicating guidelines with translated content, make sure the source and destination guidelines have matching language configurations, including the same default language and additional language(s).
The duplication tool copies content between corresponding language versions. It cannot automatically map a translation to a different default language.