Frequently Asked Questions

*New Document Translator

Why do I get a "blob does not exist" error when I try to download my file?

We are aware of an issue that occurs when anyone tries to download the same file twice. If your file did not download the first time, try renaming your file and translating it again. If that does not work, please contact our team.

Why does the translator seem to be stuck?

Large documents or documents with many words may take several minutes to translate.

What if I don't know what the input language is?

We recommend you copy a sample of the text into the Translator to detect the language. If you are unable to copy from the document, please reach out to our team directly for assistance.

I got an "Unaccepted File Type" error, but it was a document, excel spread sheet, or powerpoint. Why is it not accepted?

Certain legacy file formats are not supported. If your file is one of the Legacy file types listed below, please convert it to the corresponding Accepted file type. Then, translate the new document.

Legacy	Accepted
.doc, .otf, .rtf	.docx
.xls, .ods	.xlsx
.odp	.pptx

Where do my files go after upload?

Files go to Esri's secure backend and you cannot see other user files that have been uploaded. Uploaded files are deleted after 30 days. See "What is Esri Translate?" below for more information.

General

What is Esri Translate?

Esri Translate is an enterprise translation solution available to Esri staff to support internal translation requirements for business content (as further described below). Esri Translate is behind the Esri firewall and requires VPN connection for privacy and data security.

Why did Esri launch Esri Translate and how is it different to Google Translate and other open translation services?

Esri launched Esri Translate to provide a secure translation services environment to protect Esri’s and our customers, partners, vendors and distributors intellectual property and confidential information.

Esri staff should never use open or publicly available tools for Esri business translations. Any business content that is sensitive, confidential, or restricted, or that contains personally identifiable information should never be uploaded or entered in public sites. Google and licensors of such open translation services automatically receive and are permitted a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute content uploaded and translated through their services.

Use of public translations tools may also violate US and international data privacy policies and regulatory requirements and, potentially, result in Esri’s breach of confidentiality with customers, partners, vendors, distributors, etc.

What type of content or example of use cases should Esri Translate be used for?

Esri Translate may be used for Esri business content such as open data and open source terms of use, content from a website or general understanding of business messages, emails or related documentation to help gauge and provide context or clarification on the subject content. If a response or any formal communication is required in a certain language, please contact the Translation Services team for assistance.

Who can use Esri Translate?

In its initial release, Esri Translate is available for use by Esri staff only. There are plans to make Esri Translate available for use by Esri distributors in the future.

Should Esri Translate be used to localize Esri products or documentation?

No. Esri Translate is intended for internal use only as described in the scenarios above. All current localization efforts of our products and documentation will continue to follow the Esri Centralized Localization Program Policy. Please contact the Translation Services team if you have any questions.

Does Esri Translate replace human translators?

No. Esri Translate should be used where the quality required is not as stringent as where human translation is required.

Esri Translate, and machine translation in general, is helpful in providing the overall meaning of content in different languages. However, the quality does not yet match that of human translation. This is because machine translation often translates word for word, which may lead to inaccurate or even ridiculous translations.

What languages does Esri Translate support?

Esri Translate supports over 90 languages and dialects. If you are interested in translating to or from a language that is not in the drop-down list, please contact the Translation Services team.

In addition, Esri Translate is being trained with GIS terminology databases created and maintained by Esri in over 42 languages. This will increase the accuracy and quality of translations.

What features does Esri Translate currently support?

In its first release, Esri Translate supports the translation of text manually copied and pasted in the source field. It also includes a language auto-detect feature that identifies the language that the user enters and translates it to English.

Future releases will include additional features such as document translation, text to speech, etc.

If you would like to submit ideas for specific features or provide feedback on Esri Translate, please contact the Translation Services team.

Is Esri Translate free?

Esri Translate is available for all Esri team members to use during their business activities. Like any other enterprise tool, there is a cost associated with its use that is currently covered by Esri Inc. For product-specific scenarios requiring the use of machine translation or API integrations, please contact the Globalization or Translation Services team.

Does it keep currency symbols?

No. Currency symbols are preserved, though their placement may be altered. Also, the digit grouping & decimal symbols may be converted.

Spanish	-->	English		English	-->	Spanish
¡Hola! 1.500,00 €, por favor.		Hello! 1.500,00 €, please.		Hello! €1,500.00, please.		¡Hola! 1.500,00 €, por favor.

How do I access Esri Translate?

Esri Translate is available to Esri staff as an Okta chiclet, With VPN required.

Who do I contact if I have questions about Esri Translate?

For any questions about Esri Translate, please contact the Translation Services team.

Esri Translate Mandate

For more information about the Esri Translate mandate, please view the video below: