Document translation service
Pick a document already in your storage, choose a target language, and get a translated copy filed beside the original. Formatting is preserved, access is permissioned, and each translation is tracked.
Translate stored documents into another language with their layout intact, under role-based permissions, with every run logged.
- Azure AI Translator document translation
- Azure AI Foundry resources
- Azure Blob Storage
- Short-lived scoped access links
- Microsoft Entra ID credentials
- Role-based permissions
The challenge
Enterprises hold contracts, policies, resumes, reports and forms in many languages and formats. Translating them usually means emailing files to an outside agency or pasting text into a public tool, which strips formatting and puts sensitive content outside your control.
Even when a translation comes back, nobody can say who requested it, where the copy went or which version belongs to which source. For regulated teams that gap is a compliance problem, not just an inconvenience.
What it does
Layout-preserving translation
Translates the document itself rather than extracted text, so headings, tables and page structure carry over into the translated copy instead of arriving as a flat block of text.
Many document formats
Handles common business formats including PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, plain text, HTML, RTF and OpenDocument files, so teams do not have to convert files before translating them.
Wide language coverage
Offers a broad language list in the interface, including Arabic, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Hindi, Japanese, Korean, French, German, Spanish and more, selectable per translation run.
Side-by-side review
Shows the original next to a translated version in the same screen, and lets reviewers switch between languages when a document has already been translated more than once.
Organized output
Writes each translation into a dedicated translated-documents folder that mirrors the source folder structure, with the language and a timestamp in the file name, so copies stay traceable.
Permissioned actions
Viewing translations, running a translation and deleting a translation are separate permissions that administrators grant by role, and deleting a translation never touches the original file.
How it works
Choose a document
A user opens the translation page, picks the organization's configured AI resource and selects a supported file from storage using the file browser.
Select a language
The user picks a target language from the list. The original document previews alongside, so the right file is confirmed before anything is sent.
Translate in place
Zapper Edge creates short-lived, scoped access for the job, the translation service processes the file with layout kept, and the result is written back to storage.
Review and manage
The translated copy appears next to the original with its language recorded. Reviewers compare versions, switch languages, or delete a translation they no longer need.
Under the hood
- Translation
- Azure AI Translator document translation
- Azure AI Foundry resources
- Storage
- Azure Blob Storage
- Short-lived scoped access links
- Identity and access
- Microsoft Entra ID credentials
- Role-based permissions
- Interface and API
- Web application with document preview
- REST API
- JSON
Business outcome
Multilingual documents without leaving your storage. Teams get translated copies where they already keep their files, rather than exporting sensitive documents to agencies or public tools.
Documents that still look like the original. Preserved layout means translated contracts, forms and reports are usable as they are, with less manual reformatting before they are shared.
Clear ownership of every translation. Each translated copy is linked to its source, language and date, so reviewers always know which version they are reading and where it came from.
Controlled access to a sensitive task. Separate permissions for view, run and delete keep translation available to the people who need it and out of reach for everyone else.
Where it is used
- HR teams translating resumes, cover letters and policy documents for hiring panels and employees in other regions.
- Legal and compliance teams reading contracts and regulatory notices received in a counterpart's language.
- Operations teams localizing manuals, forms and reports for offices and partners across countries.
- Support and sales teams translating customer-facing documents while keeping the original wording on file.
Frequently asked questions
Does the translated document keep its formatting?
The service translates the document file itself rather than extracted text, so layout is preserved. Complex files should still be reviewed by a person before they are used for anything binding.
Which file types can be translated?
Common business formats are supported, including PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, text, HTML, RTF and OpenDocument files. Files in other formats are not offered for translation in the interface.
Is the original file changed?
No. Each translation is written as a separate file beside a translated-documents folder, with the language and a timestamp in its name. Deleting a translation removes only that copy, never the source.
Can we choose which AI service performs the translation?
Translation runs on the organization's configured Azure AI resource. Zapper Edge is model-agnostic across the harness, and other translation engines can be discussed during a demo.
See it on your own documents and data
Tell us what you want to automate and we will show you how it runs inside the harness.