Question:
I am using the Apryse Server SDK (TransPDF) to translate a PDF file using XLIFF. The input PDF contains text within table cells. After translation, some of the translated text is truncated and is not fully displayed within certain table cells.
What causes this behavior, and is there a way to prevent text from being cut off?
Example
Here we see an example of a PDF with a table containing text in English:
The XLIFF shows:
When translation is added to the XLIFF (Spanish) we get:
We see that the Spanish translation of the text “Hero Statement”, “Declaración de héroe” is longer than the original text. The translated text is longer than the original and does not fit withing the table cell boundaries.
Answer:
Tables and table cells in a PDF have fixed dimensions. When the Apryse Server SDK applies the translated text, it attempts to fit the translated content within the original text area while preserving the document layout.
To accommodate longer translated strings, the SDK may reduce character spacing when possible. However, if the translated text is still too large to fit within the available text box, only the portion of the text that fits within the defined area will be inserted into the PDF. As a result, some translated content may appear truncated.
This behavior is expected because the SDK preserves the original PDF layout and does not automatically resize table cells or reflow surrounding content to accommodate larger translations.
Possible solutions include:
Shortening the translated text where appropriate.
Increasing the size of the table cell or text area in the source PDF before translation.
Redesigning the PDF layout to provide additional space for languages that typically require more characters than the source language.
Reviewing the generated XLIFF translations and adjusting wording to fit within the available space.
This limitation is most commonly encountered when translating from shorter languages (such as English) into languages that generally require more text to convey the same meaning.