How to brief a translation company: what to send before you request a quote

Most translation projects that run over budget or miss deadlines share a common starting point: an incomplete brief. The translation company received a file, a language pair, and a deadline (and had to guess the rest). Every assumption the linguist makes to fill that gap is a potential source of error, delay, or cost.

Nine out of ten international users will ignore a product not available in their native language, according to Nimdzi 2025 research. That figure puts the stakes of translation quality in sharp relief. But quality is not only determined by the skill of the linguist, it is shaped by how much relevant context that linguist receives before the first word is translated.

A complete translation brief is not a bureaucratic formality. It is the document that determines whether a project is quoted accurately, assigned to the right specialist, and delivered without costly corrections. This guide covers exactly what to prepare, and why each element matters.

Table of contents

• What is a translation brief and why does it matter?

• What files and formats should you send to a translation company?

• What context does a translation company need before starting?

• How do you communicate tone, style, and terminology requirements?

• What reference materials should you include in a translation brief?

• How should you specify deadlines and priority order?

• What does an incomplete brief actually cost you?

• FAQs

What is a translation brief and why does it matter?

A translation brief is the document (or set of information) a client provides to a translation company before work begins. It describes what needs to be translated, who it is for, how it should be read, and under what constraints it must be delivered.

The brief exists because translation is not a mechanical process. The same source text can be rendered in dozens of legitimate ways depending on the target audience, the purpose of the content, the brand voice requirements, and the jurisdiction in which the document will be used. Without a brief, the linguist makes those choices independently (and independently chosen defaults rarely align with what the client actually needed).

A well-constructed brief also directly affects the accuracy of the quote. Word count is only one pricing variable. Language pair, subject-matter complexity, certification requirements, file format, turnaround time, and the need for second-linguist review all affect cost. Tomedes dedicated project managers use the brief to scope every project and produce a fully itemized quote, no surprises after delivery.

What files and formats should you send to a translation company?

Send the source files in the format they will ultimately be used in, not a copy-pasted summary. The original file format contains formatting information (layout, tables, embedded text, placeholders) that affects both the translation process and the post-delivery usability of the output.

The most common editable formats accepted by professional translation companies include .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, .pdf (with selectable text), .html, .xml, .json, .idml (InDesign), and .xliff. If your document is a scanned image or a non-editable PDF, flag this upfront: it will require additional processing before translation can begin, which affects both cost and timeline.

If your content includes embedded images with text, indicate whether those images require translation as well. Text inside images cannot be extracted automatically and is frequently overlooked in briefs, leading to incomplete localized outputs.

The Tomedes Pre-Translation Toolkit accepts .docx, .txt, and .pdf files and generates a pre-translation report that flags source text issues, identifies key terms, and recommends a translation method before the project begins. Running the toolkit before submitting a brief can identify problems that would otherwise surface mid-project.

What context does a translation company need before starting?

The single most underestimated element of a translation brief is context. A linguist who understands the purpose of the content, its audience, and its intended use will make better decisions at every step (from terminology selection to sentence structure to cultural adaptation).

The minimum context a translation company needs before starting includes:

1. Subject matter and industry. Legal, medical, technical, marketing, financial, and software content each carry distinct terminology conventions and quality expectations. A general translator assigned to a pharmaceutical regulatory submission will not produce the same output as a subject-matter specialist in that field. Specify the industry and, where relevant, the specific domain within it (litigation vs. contract law; clinical trials vs. patient-facing materials; B2B SaaS vs. consumer apps).

2. Purpose of the translation. Is the document being used for internal reference, published to a global audience, submitted to a regulatory authority, filed in court, or used to close a commercial contract? Each use case carries different quality and certification requirements. A document submitted to USCIS requires a certified translation. A contract enforceable in Germany may require a sworn translator. A marketing campaign requires transcreation rather than literal translation. Stating the purpose eliminates the most consequential category of error in translation briefing.

3. Target audience. Who will read this translation? A specialist audience (lawyers, engineers, clinicians) expects technical precision and formal register. A consumer audience expects clarity, natural flow, and culturally resonant language. An internal team may tolerate a different register than a public-facing document. The more the linguist knows about the reader, the more accurately they can calibrate the output.

4. Target country and language variant. Spanish for Mexico is not the same as Spanish for Spain. French for Canada differs from French for France in vocabulary, spelling conventions, and regulatory language. British English and American English carry different conventions in legal and commercial contexts. Specify the language variant alongside the language, and confirm whether the target country has specific regulatory or institutional requirements that affect terminology.

How do you communicate tone, style, and terminology requirements?

Tone and style requirements are the elements buyers most frequently omit from a brief, and the ones that generate the most revision requests after delivery.

Describe the intended register of the translated output. Formal or conversational? Technical or accessible? Brand-specific or neutral? If the content is marketing material, the translator needs to understand whether to prioritize literal fidelity or conceptual adaptation. If the content is a legal contract, every term must be rendered precisely as it would appear in a comparable document in the target legal system.

Specify any terminology the translation must use or avoid. This is particularly important for brands with established product names, proprietary terms, or regulatory language in target markets. If a specific term is used consistently in existing materials, the new translation must match it (inconsistency in terminology across documents has legal and commercial consequences in regulated sectors).

If your organization has a style guide, share it. If you have a brand voice document, include it. These materials are not extras, they are the difference between a translation that reads like it came from your organization and one that reads like it was produced by an outside vendor with no context. For organizations without existing style documentation, Tomedes project managers can work with the client at the outset of the project to define terminology and register preferences before translation begins.

What reference materials should you include in a translation brief?

Reference materials are the fastest path to terminology consistency and the most commonly overlooked section of a translation brief.

• Previously translated documents. If your organization has had content translated before (even by a different provider) share those translations. They establish the terminology baseline your linguist should match. Consistency across documents matters in every context, and in regulated industries it is a compliance requirement.

• Glossaries and term lists. A glossary of preferred translations for key terms eliminates one of the most time-consuming decision points in the translation process and ensures consistency across large or multi-linguist projects. If you do not have a glossary, the Tomedes Pre-Translation Toolkit automatically generates a key terms glossary from the source text (including definitions and suggested translations) which can be reviewed, edited, and shared with the project team before translation begins. (Source: Tomedes, 2025)

• Style guides and brand guidelines. For marketing, communications, and branded content, brand guidelines are as important as the source text. They tell the linguist how the organization speaks, the vocabulary it uses, the sentence length it prefers, the level of formality it maintains.

• Non-translatable items. List product names, brand names, proprietary codes, internal abbreviations, and any strings that should remain in the source language. Failure to specify non-translatables leads to brand names being translated, codes being altered, and placeholder text being rendered in the target language (all of which require correction after delivery).

How should you specify deadlines and priority order?

Deadline communication is more nuanced than stating a final delivery date, and the difference affects both the accuracy of the output and the total cost.

State the final deadline clearly, including time zone. Translation projects frequently involve clients and delivery teams in different time zones, and an ambiguous deadline is a reliable source of friction at the end of a project.

For multi-document or multi-section projects, indicate priority order. If a legal filing requires the contract to be delivered before the supporting exhibits, say so. If a website localization project needs the navigation and homepage copy before the product pages, specify it. Translators and project managers allocate resources based on stated priority: without guidance, they will apply their own judgment, which may not match what the client actually needs first.

If a deadline is urgent, flag it explicitly and early (not at the point of delivery). Rush translation is a legitimate service, but it requires upfront resource allocation. A project submitted at standard rate and then flagged as urgent at the last minute will either miss the deadline or incur an unplanned rush fee. Tomedes offers rush delivery across its full range of professional translation services and confirms turnaround at the quoting stage, not after the project has begun.

Indicate also whether intermediate review stages are required. Some clients need a draft for internal review before final delivery. Others need a bilingual format (source and target text side by side) rather than a clean translated document. These requirements affect format, workflow, and timeline, and they need to be in the brief.

What does an incomplete brief actually cost you?

The hidden cost of an incomplete brief is not visible in the initial quote: it appears in the revision cycle, the rush fees, and the project delays that follow from misaligned expectations.

The most common costs generated by incomplete briefs fall into four categories.

1. Rework from wrong register or terminology. When a linguist has no style or terminology guidance, they make reasonable choices based on the source text alone. If those choices do not align with the client's brand voice, technical vocabulary, or jurisdictional requirements, the translation requires revision. Revision at the post-delivery stage is significantly more expensive than getting the brief right upfront: it often requires a second linguist review and, in some cases, a full re-translation of affected sections.

2. DTP charges from undisclosed formatting requirements. Desktop publishing and formatting work is billed separately from translation. A client who does not disclose that the final output must match the layout of an InDesign file, or that translated text must fit within a character limit for a software interface, will encounter DTP costs they did not anticipate. These are not padding, they reflect genuine additional work. They are also entirely avoidable with a complete brief.

3. Rush fees from unclear priority order. When a project manager does not know which documents are needed first, they work through the project in the order that makes logistical sense to them. If the client later needs a specific section urgently, expediting it at that stage incurs a rush fee. Specifying priority order in the brief ensures that urgency is built into the original workflow rather than added as a reactive cost.

4. Certification errors from unstated use. Ordering a standard translation for a document that requires certified or sworn translation (or vice versa) means paying for a second translation. The document cannot be upgraded after delivery; it must be produced again from the start, to the correct specification. This is one of the most avoidable and most frequently occurring costs in legal and immigration translation. (Source: Nimdzi 2025)

Tomedes assigned project managers work through a structured intake process on every project: confirming scope, certification requirements, format, terminology, and timeline before a quote is issued. The 1-Year Quality Guarantee covers any corrections required after delivery, but the brief is the first and most effective line of defense against the costs listed above.

FAQs

Q: How long does it take to write a translation brief?
A: For most projects, a complete brief takes 15 to 30 minutes to prepare. That investment is returned many times over in time saved during the translation process, fewer revision rounds, and more accurate quotes. For ongoing translation programs, a brief template prepared once can be reused and updated for each project.

Q: Do I need to provide a brief for a short or simple document?
A: Even for short documents, a brief that states the purpose, the target audience, and any certification requirements can prevent the most common and costly errors. A one-page legal affidavit submitted without use-case information may be translated as a standard document when certified translation is required, a distinction that cannot be corrected without starting again. Brief length can be proportionate to project complexity, but the core elements should always be present.

Q: What if I do not have a glossary or style guide?
A: Submit the brief without them and note their absence. Tomedes project managers will flag where terminology decisions are most consequential and can generate a working key terms glossary from the source text using the Pre-Translation Toolkit before translation begins. For ongoing clients, Tomedes builds and maintains a translation memory and glossary over time, which improves consistency and reduces per-word costs on repeat projects.

Q: Should I send reference materials even if they were translated by a different provider?
A: Yes. Reference materials establish the terminology baseline the new translation must match, regardless of who produced them. Inconsistency in terminology across documents has consequences in legal, medical, and technical contexts in particular. Tomedes linguists will review previous translations for terminology alignment before beginning the new project.

Q: How does Tomedes handle projects where the brief is incomplete?
A: Tomedes project managers contact the client before translation begins to resolve any gaps in the brief. Tomedes does not make assumptions on behalf of the client on consequential decisions (such as certification type, tone, or audience) without confirmation. This intake step is part of the standard workflow for every project, supported by 24/7 human project management across all time zones.

Ready to start a translation project? Get a fully scoped, all-in quote from Tomedes: with a dedicated project manager, ISO 17100:2015 certification, and a 1-Year Quality Guarantee. Get a free quote from Tomedes.