Pseudo-localization is a method used to check the software’s readiness to be localized. This method shows how the product’s UI will look after translation. Use this feature to reduce potential rework by checking whether any source strings should be altered before the translation process begins.
With Pseudo-localization, you can quickly check the following:
To run Pseudo-localization, you can use the Pseudo-localization app that could be installed via Crowdin Store.
To set up the Pseudo-localization app, follow these steps:
If you prefer working with API, you can use the following API methods.
Another way to set up and download your pseudo-localized project files is to use Crowdin CLI.
Read more about Downloading Pseudo-localization via CLI.
For design tool (Figma, Adobe XD) users, there’s also an option to test whether the designs are ready to be localized using pseudo-localization. This feature is integrated into Crowdin for Figma and Crowdin for Adobe XD plugins. It allows you to simulate how your content (e.g., the application’s UI) will look with different languages to check whether the source strings should be modified before the project localization starts. You can start pseudo-localizing your content right after sending your texts to Crowdin.
Read more about pseudo-localization via Crowdin for Figma plugin.
Read more about pseudo-localization via Crowdin for Adobe XD plugin.
Change the length of the strings to see how different languages will fit into your application’s UI. For example, Spanish texts are on average 25-30% longer than English ones, while Japanese texts are 30-60% shorter.
Add prefixes and suffixes to see where each string starts and ends in the UI, regardless of the language.
Check how your application works with Asian, Cyrillic, European, or Arabic characters.