Learn/Every change
How to make a version in another language
The layout stays; the words change and usually grow. How to make a set in a second language that still fits, still reads and still says the same thing.
The short answerTranslate the copy as a list of lines, not as pictures, with the length each line has to fit. Expect most lines to grow, short ones the most, then lay each size out again for the new lengths, giving taller scripts more line height and mirroring the layout for right-to-left languages. Translate the legal line and the price format too, and have a native speaker check every size before approval.
- Translated text is usually longer: W3C cites growth of 200% to 300% for English lines up to 10 characters, and about 130% for lines over 70.1
- Short lines grow the most, and an ad is mostly short lines: the headline, the button, the price tag.
- Some scripts need more height as well as more width; W3C’s Thai example takes about 150% of the vertical space of the English.1
- A disclosure has to be in language the audience understands, so the legal line is translated, not left in English.2
On this page
A version in another language looks like the easiest change: the photo, the layout and the colours stay, and only the words are new. In practice it is a resize in disguise, because every line changes length, and a layout made to fit one language’s line lengths will not fit another’s.
- The master’s copy as text: every line, in the order it appears.
- A translator who knows advertising in that market, and the brand’s approved terms.
- The legal line as the market requires it, from whoever approves legal copy.
Step 1Translate a list of lines, not a picture
Take every line out of the master into a list (the headline, the secondary line, the button, the price tag, the legal line) with the room each one has on the tightest size. Send the translator the list, with the context of each line, not a screenshot. A translator who knows that “Shop the drop” has to fit in a button can choose a shorter phrase; one who sees it buried in a picture cannot.
Step 2Expect the lines to grow
W3C’s article on text size in translation cites figures from IBM for how much text grows when translated from English into European languages, and shows that the shorter the line, the more it grows.1
| English line | Typical length after translation |
|---|---|
| Up to 10 characters1 | 200% to 300% |
| 11 to 20 characters1 | 180% to 200% |
| 21 to 30 characters1 | 160% to 180% |
| 31 to 50 characters1 | 140% to 160% |
| Over 70 characters1 | About 130% |
From W3C’s article, citing IBM, for European languages. Translations from Chinese and English, both compact, tend to grow most.1
Example numbers. “Shop the drop” is 13 characters. At 180% to 200% it becomes 23 to 26 characters, nearly twice as wide. If the button was sized to fit the English, it no longer fits.
Languages that join words into long compounds, such as German, Finnish and Dutch, also wrap badly: one long word cannot break onto two lines the way a phrase can.1 Plan for the longest word, not just the longest line.
Step 3Lay each size out again for the new lengths
With the translated lines in hand, go back to each size and fit them. The order of the parts stays; their sizes change. Give the headline the room it now needs, let it take an extra line where the shape allows, and shorten the secondary line before you make anything smaller.
| When the new language | What changes in the layout |
|---|---|
| Uses a taller script (Thai, Arabic, Devanagari, Chinese, Japanese, Korean)1 | More line height before a smaller size; W3C’s Thai example takes about 150% of the English height1 |
| Reads right to left (Arabic, Hebrew) | The layout mirrors: on a banner the photo moves to the other end, the price and button follow; TikTok publishes a separate safe-zone file for its Arabic region4 |
| Joins words into long compounds (German, Finnish, Dutch)1 | Room for the longest single word, which cannot break onto two lines |
| Makes a headline a line longer | On a Story, the price can drop into the bottom band, where Meta asks for 35% of the height to stay clear3 |
What each kind of language change does to a layout, from W3C, TikTok and Meta.134
Lay out the hardest size first. For most sets that is the smallest banner, where a longer headline has nowhere to go; once it fits there, the larger sizes are a matter of giving the same lines more room. If a line cannot be made to fit the smallest size at a readable size, go back to the translator for a shorter wording rather than shrinking the type.
Step 4Translate the legal line and the numbers
The FTC’s guidance asks whether the language of a disclosure is understandable to the people the ad is for.2 A legal line left in English on an ad in another language fails that, however correct the English is. Translate it, and have whoever approves legal copy approve the translation, not just the original.
| Line | What changes |
|---|---|
| Price | The currency, and how the market writes it: 1.299 € or €1,299 |
| Dates | Day and month order, and the month names |
| Legal line | Translated in full, and approved in that language |
| Button | The market’s usual words for the action, within the button’s room |
What changes beyond the words, line by line. Your market’s rules may add more.
Step 5Have a native speaker check every size
A translation that was right in the list can be wrong on the page: a line broken in the middle of a phrase, a word hyphenated where it should not be, a button that now says something odd because it was shortened to fit. Have someone who reads the language natively look at every size, as a set, before it goes for approval.
Common mistakes
- Sending the translator pictures instead of lines.They cannot see how much room each line has.
- Making the type smaller to fit.Give the line more room or a shorter wording first.
- Leaving the legal line in the original language.The audience has to be able to read it.
- Mirroring nothing for a right-to-left language.The reading order of the ad runs against the layout.
Remake a finished ad in another language. eonik keeps its shots, its cuts and its timing and swaps in the new language, and versions are free: nothing is generated until you say so.
See versions →Questions
Should every size be translated, or only the main ones?
Every size that runs in that market. The small banners and the Story are exactly where a longer line breaks a layout, so they need the most checking, not the least.
Can machine translation be used?
As a first draft, yes. The lines still need someone who knows the market’s advertising to fit them to the room each has and to keep each line’s job, and the legal line needs the approval it would have in that language.
Why did the translated headline need an extra line?
Because short lines grow the most in translation. W3C cites growth of 180% to 200% for English lines of 11 to 20 characters, which is the length of most headlines.1
Sources
- Text size in translation, W3C Internationalization. How much longer text gets when translated from English, and taller scripts.Checked 26 Oct 2026
- .com Disclosures: How to Make Effective Disclosures in Digital Advertising, US Federal Trade Commission, March 2013. Disclosures close to the claim, on every device the ad runs on, including space-constrained ads.Checked 26 Oct 2026
- Image ad specs on Instagram Stories, Meta Ads Guide. 9:16, 1440×2560, and the 14% / 35% / 6% safe zone.Checked 25 Oct 2026
- TikTok Auction In-Feed Ads, TikTok Ads Help Center. Vertical 9:16 at 540×960 or more, square and horizontal sizes, and a safe zone that depends on the caption.Checked 26 Oct 2026