This article explains how files work in Lokalise Vantage: which formats are supported, how files are uploaded, and how to download translated versions.
Vantage is designed for marketing and creative content, such as documents, presentations, marketing materials, and support content. Instead of working with individual keys or strings, you upload complete files and Vantage handles segmentation, translation, and updates automatically.
Supported file formats
Vantage supports document-style formats typically used for marketing and creative content. You can upload:
DOCX
PPTX
HTML
Markdown (MD)
IDML
XLSX
These formats are commonly used for:
documentation
marketing materials
slide decks
knowledge base articles
email templates
If you need to localise key-value files (such as JSON, YAML, Android XML, or iOS strings), you should use Lokalise Expert instead and create a Web and mobile project type. Expert projects are optimized for software localization and structured content workflows.
How to upload files
Initially, files are uploaded when you create a Vantage project. During setup, you will be asked to upload the file you want to translate. At this stage, Vantage:
checks the file type and size
estimates the word count
Once the project is created, Vantage automatically:
reads the document
breaks it into segments
generates translations for the selected target languages
runs the configured workflow
After the project is created, you can upload additional files from the Files tab inside the project.
To upload a new file:
Open your Vantage project.
Navigate to the Files tab.
Upload the documents you want to translate.
The same translation workflow will automatically start for the newly uploaded file.
Update a file without starting over
TL;DR: You cannot edit the source text directly in Vantage. To update it, upload a new version of the file with the same file name from the Files tab.
If your source content changes, you don’t need to create a new project. You can upload a new version of the file with the same file name from the Files tab. Vantage will compare the new file with the previous version and update the project automatically.
During this process, Vantage:
detects what changed in the document
reuses existing translations where possible
translates only new or modified content
applies the project workflow to newly added or updated content
Important
In some cases, a file may be treated as fully changed even if only small edits were made. This can happen if the file was modified by third-party tools that change its internal structure or encoding (for example, converting a DOCX or PPTX file through Google Docs or Slides and exporting it again).
To avoid this, try to keep the same file format and editing tool when updating content.
This allows you to keep translations up to date without restarting the workflow.
How Vantage handles changes
When a file is re-uploaded, Vantage analyzes the document in groups of related content (for example, paragraphs), rather than individual sentences.
Note: Even small edits may cause a larger portion of text (such as a full paragraph) to be reprocessed, since updates are handled at the content level rather than per individual sentence.
Depending on what changed:
Unchanged content keeps its existing translations and approvals.
Removed content is excluded from task progress and removed from task scope.
New or modified content is treated as new and goes through the translation workflow again.
Impact on processed words
When updating a file, Vantage does not reprocess the entire document. Only words that belong to newly added or updated content are counted toward your processed words usage.
This means that:
unchanged content does not increase your usage
only new or modified parts of the document are counted
Impact on translation history
Translation history is tied to the current source segment.
When content remains unchanged during re-import, its existing translations, approvals, and translation history are preserved.
If a source segment is replaced during re-import, its previous translation history is lost because Vantage treats it as new or modified content. This may happen when the text changes, or when the file structure changes enough for Vantage to reprocess that content as a new segment.
This is especially important when files are edited or converted using third-party tools, as they may change the internal structure of the file even if the visible content looks similar.
What happens to review tasks
If the project uses the AI + human review workflow, tasks are updated automatically after a file is re-uploaded. Vantage will:
keep existing tasks for content that is still part of the document
remove outdated content from task progress
create new tasks for newly added or updated content
How to download translated files
Once translation and review are complete, you can download the translated versions of your files from the Files tab.
Download all language versions
To download translated files in all target languages:
Open the Files tab in your Vantage project.
Select the files you want to include in the bundle.
Click Download.
You will receive a ZIP archive containing one file for each target language. The exported documents preserve the original layout and formatting.
Download language-specific versions
To download translated files for specific languages only:
Open the Files tab in your Vantage project.
Select the files you want to include in the bundle.
Click Download by language.
In the dialog that appears:
Select one or more target languages.
Click Confirm.
Technical limitations
File size
Uploaded files must be no larger than 50 MB. This is a per-file limit; if your file is over the limit, the upload won’t go through.
Alternative text for images is not supported
Currently, alternative text (alt text) for images in DOCX and PPTX files is not imported into Lokalise. That means any alternative text added in your original file won’t show up for translation, and it won’t be preserved in the translated output.
Speaker notes in PPTX files are supported
Speaker notes in PPTX files are supported and will be translated along with the rest of the content.