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How translators deliver locale packs and bilingual files in 2026

Translators still mail a bilingual doc, then an invoice, then a third file when the reviewer is new. Locale delivery in 2026 is one URL: a sample they can check, a price if they owe you, the pack they can open in month two.

Linnea Haugen

TrondheimUpdated 4 min read

How translators deliver locale packs is still, in too many threads, a bilingual attachment and a chase for the fee. Each hop is a place a reviewer stalls, or walks away with the full target as the first look. Locale delivery should be one door they already have open.

This is the year of jobs: a sample, a bilingual review, a delivery pack, a new locale. Writers have the draft cousin. Freelancers have the generic year. This page is the pair. Spike can be that URL.

Source on the left. Target waits until they approve or pay.

Why locale packs still split

  • A full target in the first mail is already the delivery.
  • A new reviewer asks in month two. The transfer is gone.
  • A shared drive shows every language next to this job.
  • The remaining fee is unpaid, and the bilingual file already left.

How this looks on a year of pairs

Sample pair

A treated page in the unpaid view. Not the full book. If the job fee is still due, put the price on that URL. Get paid before sending files. A screenshot of the sample should not be enough to ship the product in that language.

Bilingual review

Source and target named for humans: EN source, DE target, not final_v7. A contents note. Replace a revised segment in place. The URL does not change. If the reviewer should not see the client quote, use two doors.

Delivery pack

The files they publish. Leave the link up on Pro or Business. Free shares last three days, which is not a launch clock. Say the file type on the page: docx, xliff, or a clean PDF. People open these packs at midnight.

New locale

A second folder if the price or the files differ. Point at the new URL. You are not stuffing FR into last month's EN zip. How freelancers deliver files is the generic door.

EN, DE, FR. Each locale is a door. They do not download every language by accident.
What you getA split translation hand-offOne locale link
They lookA mailed bilingualA sample pair on the page
They payInvoice in another appCheckout on that URL
They get the targetA Drive of filesUnlock on the same page
A new reviewerRebuild the ZIPPoint at the same link

  1. Put this pair in one folder

    Source, target, bilingual review you mean to issue. Nothing from another locale.

  2. Decide the unpaid view

    A page they can check. Not the full target if money is due.

  3. Price it if they still owe you

    The translator payment link is the folder. When checkout completes, the same URL is the pack.

Spike takes 5% on Free, 1% on Pro, 0% on Business, from the payout. Stripe's card fee still applies. Minimum price is £1. Free shares last three days. A live launch belongs on Pro or Business. How writers deliver manuscripts is the draft sister. Keep the CAT tool for the workbench. The client does not need a seat there to fetch the delivery.

If they can check the source, they should be able to take the locale without joining your translation memory.

Questions

Good to know

Put source, target, and a bilingual review file in one folder. Let them preview a sample. If money is still due, take payment on that page. Unlock the pack on the same URL.

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Try the workflow in the article.

Upload a folder, protect the preview, share or sell from one link.

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