To translate a Storyline 360 course, export its text from File > Localization > XLIFF/Word Translation, have it translated, import the file into a copy of the project, then deal separately with what the export skips: player text labels, trigger conditions and closed captions1. Rise 360 works the same way with an XLIFF 1.2 file, one duplicate course per language and a separate label set23. Both apps also offer built-in AI translation into 80+ languages, according to Articulate's FAQ updated 6 October 20264. Articulate's FAQ says its AI feature does not translate text inside images or videos at this time, and neither manual guide says its export reaches that text4.

The clicks take minutes. Your hours go into the Next button still in English and the screenshot nobody rebuilt.

What does the Storyline translation export include, and what does it leave out?

The Storyline 360 export carries your slide text out to the translator and back; closed captions, trigger conditions, player text labels and variable names stay behind1.

Trigger conditions and player text labels can’t be translated using this process. They’ll need to be translated manually in Storyline 360.

Articulate, "Storyline 360: Translating Courses", updated 10 September 20261

Skip the player text labels and your buttons and messages stay in the source language15. Captions are translated separately and imported back1. Variable names cannot be translated, so leave variable references in the file alone unless you will rename the variables by hand, and never translate result slide variable references1.

Some text sits outside Articulate's AI route, and neither manual guide says its export reaches it. Articulate's Localization FAQ, speaking only of its AI feature, says text within images or videos, media embedded from outside Articulate 360, and attached files such as PDFs "are not translated at this time"4. Count those images before you set a delivery date: each one is a design job, not a translation job.

Should you export to Word or XLIFF?

Export to XLIFF unless your translator works in Word, and use XLIFF whenever the course has bulleted lists, numbered lists or custom paragraph spacing: Articulate recommends it because Word can break formatting and spacing for those6.

Storyline's XLIFF export asks for the source language and a version, 1.2 or 2.0, whichever your translator's tool needs1. XLIFF is an OASIS standard for carrying localizable data "from one step of the localization process to the other", in versions 1.2 (1 February 2008) and 2.0 (5 August 2014)78.

The Word export suits human translators: Articulate describes it as an easily readable list of text for translating manually, and adding slide thumbnails puts a screenshot of each slide and layer with the supporting text1. Your translator edits only the column titled Translation1.

Rise 360 uses XLIFF 1.22. If your translator asks for 2.0, the Rise answer is 1.2.

How is translating a Rise 360 course different?

In Rise 360 you duplicate the course once per language, export XLIFF 1.2 from Settings, Translations, Traditional XLIFF Translation, import the translation into that same duplicate, then translate the labels2. Articulate presents this manual route as best suited to single-language translation into left-to-right languages2.

Keep Include HTML formatting on, since without it your formatting is not retained after import, and tell your translator the extra tags are there to preserve formatting2. The file fits only the duplicate it came from. Anywhere else, Rise shows "Translation file doesn’t match this content"2.

Code blocks and survey blocks can't be translated by the XLIFF export, and questions drawn from question banks display in their original language2. Labels travel as their own XLIFF 1.2 label set, exported from the Labels tab and brought back with Upload from XLIFF3. The labels must carry the same ISO language code as your content so assistive technologies pronounce it correctly2.

The Rise 360 guide notes that manual translation "is available only for Articulate 360 AI courses and microlearning" and does not say what counts as an Articulate 360 AI course2. Other Articulate pages tie features to an Articulate 360 AI subscription or license43, so check your plan, then test the export on a duplicate before you promise a date.

WhatStoryline 360Rise 360Source
Manual export formatXLIFF 1.2 or 2.0, or Word (DOCX)XLIFF 1.2 onlyTranslating Courses1; Manually Translate2
Built-in AI translationFile > Localization > Translate Course; more than 80 languages in one .story fileTranslate; 80+ languages in one course "stack"Multi-language guides910
Right-to-leftPlayer and text settings for one language; both directions in one file since the March 2025 updateManual guide covers left-to-right only; AI route supports right-to-left, except custom blocks119210
Player or label textNot in the export; translated in Player > Text LabelsA separate label set, exported as XLIFF 1.2153
Closed captionsNot in the manual export; translated on the AI routeTranslated on the AI route; the manual guide does not mention them142
Left in the source language, manual routeTrigger conditions, player text labels, captions, variable namesCode blocks, survey blocks, question bank questions12
Not translated by the AI routeText in images or videos, media embedded from outside Articulate 360, attached files such as PDFsSameLocalization FAQ4

If your Rise course embeds a Storyline block, Rise does not translate it. You translate that block in Storyline 360 and embed each language version in the matching Rise language410.

Is Articulate's built-in AI translation good enough to use?

Articulate's AI translation is good enough for a first draft that someone fluent then checks. Articulate's FAQ says accuracy "can vary depending on the language pairs involved" and pairs the feature with human validation in Review 3604.

You find Articulate Localization at File > Localization > Translate Course in Storyline 360, or behind the Translate button in Rise 360910. Articulate Localization defaults to DeepL for most languages and uses AWS or Google Cloud where DeepL has no coverage4. A validator needs only an email address, not an Articulate 360 license4.

Credits run at 2 per character of source content, times the number of target languages, which Articulate estimates at "about $0.05 per word, per language"4. If AI is disabled for your subscription, you need a paid, course-based localization plan to publish translated content; the pages read for this guide do not say what that plan costs4.

The limits you will meet:

  • You cannot connect your own translation management system or translation provider4.
  • A multi-language course cannot export or import XLIFF or Word files; you would save a language as a separate file first and lose validation on that copy4.
  • Glossaries, which pin how terms such as your brand name are translated, work on course-based plans; for translation with credits they are "coming soon"49.
  • Storyline needs build 3.125.37980.0 or later to translate with credits4.

Your learners hit the last limit after launch. In an LMS, a learner's saved progress includes the language they chose, so switching language means resetting progress, and Rise 360 currently cannot let learners do that themselves4.

How do you translate into Arabic, Hebrew or another right-to-left language?

Storyline 360 supports right-to-left scripts on both routes12119. In Rise 360, right-to-left support is documented for the AI route; the manual guide covers left-to-right languages and does not say what happens if you import Arabic anyway210.

For a single-language Storyline copy, Articulate lists a right-to-left player font such as Arial Unicode MS, player labels in Arabic or Hebrew (or custom labels for Farsi or Urdu), and "Text is read from" set to Right to Left under Player, Other11. On your slides, the Right-to-Left Text Direction button appears on the Home tab only if a right-to-left keyboard input language is installed on your computer11.

Since the March 2025 update, one Storyline project can hold both text directions. Right-to-left versions get right-to-left text and swapped left and right alignment, while slide layouts stay the same in every language9. Where right-to-left slides need a different layout, a built-in variable, Player.LanguageIsRightToLeft, can show an alternate layout on a slide layer9.

In a multi-language course, Rise 360 shows right-to-left versions in a left-to-right layout while you edit, then flips them in preview, review and the published course10. Judge your Arabic version in preview, never in the editor.

What happens to voiceover, narration and captions?

Recorded voiceover is not translated on the AI route, and neither manual guide mentions audio. The AI route translates text-to-speech narration and closed captions; on the manual Storyline route, captions are translated separately and imported back, and the guide does not mention text-to-speech491.

The AI route also translates customized alternative text, in both apps4. Articulate's text-to-speech page says AI voices cover up to 32 languages depending on the model, and Icelandic, Welsh, Catalan and Irish exist only in classic text-to-speech13. AI text-to-speech has no SSML phoneme tags, so a mispronounced product name is harder to fix13.

A human recording stays the same in every language until you replace it in the target language, which the July 2025 update made possible; the timeline then labels it, for example, "Audio 1(FR)"9. Since the March 2026 update, timing can differ per language, so a longer French narration does not drag the English slide with it9.

Replacing a video in a target language removes its closed captions, so export them as a .VTT file before the swap and import them afterward9. In Rise 360, captions on video and transcripts on audio blocks translate with the course, so add them before you translate10.

What should you check after importing the translation?

Check text fit, the player, triggers, anything left untranslated, and your LMS. Articulate's own import steps end only with a text-fit review, since some languages need more room or a smaller font1.

CheckWhat goes wrongSource
Text fit on every slide and layerLonger text overflows; multi-language Storyline projects add scrollbars, and the Layout Issue Finder lists them19
Player buttons and messagesPlayer text labels are not in the Storyline export15
Screen reader languageStoryline sets it in story.html from the label language; Rise labels must match the content's ISO code52
Triggers that test textThe manual route leaves conditions untranslated; the AI route translates their text values, so check they match19
Variable referencesTranslated references stop matching the variable names1
Rise code blocks, surveys, question banksThey stay in the original language on the manual route2
Images, video text, PDFsArticulate says its AI translation does not translate them; plan to rebuild them by hand4
Language switching in your LMSNeeds a progress reset; Rise learners cannot reset it themselves4

Preview each language as a learner: take the quiz, fail it once, open every layer. In a multi-language Storyline project, preview builds only the current language, so switch the language dropdown first9. If you publish a multi-language course, launch it twice from your LMS test area; the second launch shows the saved language choice4.

How long does it take to translate a Storyline or Rise course?

The translation run is the fast part: Articulate says its AI route translates a Storyline project into more than 80 languages "in seconds"9. Your time goes into the player Text Labels, the images with English baked in, and the review pass.

As a working estimate, not an Articulate figure, plan one full run-through per language at the course's seat time, plus fixes. What custom compliance training costs lists the number of languages among the 5 drivers that move a custom quote.

How to do it yourself

You need your Storyline 360 or Rise 360 license, a translator or fluent reviewer, and someone who knows the course. The tools: Word for the Storyline export1, Storyline's text label spreadsheet5, an XLIFF tool (Articulate notes many free ones exist)6, and Review 360 for validators4.

  1. List what the export will miss. Images and videos with text, PDFs, external embeds, captions, player labels, triggers that test text, and in Rise, code blocks, survey blocks and question banks124.
  2. Choose the route. Manual for one language you control; Articulate Localization for several, or for both text directions in one file29.
  3. Clean the source if you will use the AI route. No all caps for emphasis, no sentence split across text boxes, no shift+enter line breaks9.
  4. Export. Storyline: XLIFF for lists or custom spacing, Word with thumbnails otherwise61. Rise: XLIFF 1.2 with Include HTML formatting on2.
  5. Brief the translator in writing. In a Word export, edit only the Translation column and leave variable references alone; in the text label spreadsheet, leave %count% and %total% alone; handle captions and labels as separate files15.
  6. Import into a copy of the Storyline project, or into the Rise duplicate the file came from12.
  7. Translate the labels. In Rise, make a new label set, because editing a set changes every course that uses it3.
  8. Rebuild images with text and import the translated captions. Multi-language Storyline projects can swap an image per language since the July 2026 update91.
  9. Set right-to-left where a language needs it119.
  10. Run the QA table for each language, then test in your LMS4.

Expect the first import to look finished and not be. A list-heavy course sent out as a Word file can come back with broken bullets and spacing, the reason Articulate recommends XLIFF for lists6. The slide built on a screenshot of your LMS dashboard still shows English menus, because Articulate says its AI translation does not translate text in an image4.

Both surface at step 10 and send you back to step 4 or step 8.

TaskWho can do itRough time
Steps 1 to 4Course owner with the authorHalf a day
TranslationTranslator, or the AI route plus a validatorDepends on word count and language pair
Import and labelsAuthor1 to 2 hours
ImagesDesigner15 to 45 minutes an image
QA per languageFluent reviewer with the authorSeat time plus fixes

These times are working estimates, not Articulate figures. The AI route shortens the translation row and none of the others.

The 4 mistakes that cost the most

  1. Finding text in images during QA. Articulate says its AI translation does not translate it4, so each late find is a design task at the end.
  2. Leaving the player in English. Player text labels and trigger conditions sit outside the Storyline export1.
  3. Translating variable references. They stop matching the variable names1.
  4. Editing the shared label set in Rise. The change reaches every course on that set3.

Questions people also ask

What is a Storyline translation file? The XLIFF file (version 1.2 or 2.0) or Word document that Storyline 360 exports from File > Localization > XLIFF/Word Translation, holding the course text for a translator1.

Does Storyline 360 have AI translation? Yes. Articulate Localization translates a project from File > Localization > Translate Course into more than 80 languages and keeps them in one project file; translating with credits needs build 3.125.37980.0 or later94.

Can one Storyline file hold several languages? Yes, on the AI route. All languages are stored in the same project file, and a slide edit in one language applies to every language except the text itself9.

Can learners switch languages in an LMS? Only after their progress is reset. In Storyline 360 you can set the player to Prompt to resume, so learners choose Restart and another language; Rise 360 learners cannot reset it themselves, so your LMS administrator has to4.

  1. Articulate, "Storyline 360: Translating Courses", article last updated 10 September 2026, read 9 October 2026. https://www.articulatesupport.com/article/Storyline-360-Translating-Courses ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. Articulate, "Rise 360: Manually Translate Your Content", article last updated 24 September 2026, read 9 October 2026. https://www.articulatesupport.com/article/Rise-360-Manually-Translate-Your-Content ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. Articulate, "Rise 360: Manually Edit Text Labels", article last updated 8 June 2026, read 9 October 2026. https://www.articulatesupport.com/article/Rise-360-Edit-Text-Labels ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  4. Articulate, "Articulate 360 AI FAQs: Articulate Localization", article last updated 6 October 2026, read 9 October 2026. https://www.articulatesupport.com/article/Articulate-360-FAQs-Articulate-Localization ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. Articulate, "Storyline 360: Customizing the Text Labels", article last updated 4 March 2026, read 9 October 2026. https://www.articulatesupport.com/article/Storyline-360-Customizing-the-Text-Labels ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. Articulate, "Storyline and Studio: Use XLIFF Translation If Your Project Has Lists or Custom Paragraph Spacing", article last updated 16 January 2026, read 9 October 2026. https://www.articulatesupport.com/article/Storyline-and-Studio-Use-XLIFF-Translation-If-Your-Project-Has-Lists-or-Custom-Paragraph-Spacing ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  7. OASIS, "XLIFF Version 1.2", OASIS Standard, 1 February 2008, read 9 October 2026. https://docs.oasis-open.org/xliff/v1.2/os/xliff-core.html ↩︎

  8. OASIS, "XLIFF Version 2.0", OASIS Standard, 5 August 2014, read 9 October 2026. https://docs.oasis-open.org/xliff/xliff-core/v2.0/os/xliff-core-v2.0-os.html ↩︎

  9. Articulate, "Articulate Localization: Creating Multi-Language Storyline 360 Projects", article last updated 10 September 2026, read 9 October 2026. https://www.articulatesupport.com/article/Articulate-Localization-Create-Multi-Language-Storyline-360-Projects ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  10. Articulate, "Articulate Localization: Creating Multi-Language Rise 360 Content", article last updated 24 September 2026, read 9 October 2026. https://www.articulatesupport.com/article/Articulate-Localization-Create-Multi-Language-Rise-360-Courses ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  11. Articulate, "Storyline 360: Enabling Right-to-Left Language Support", article last updated 16 January 2026, read 9 October 2026. https://www.articulatesupport.com/article/Storyline-360-Enabling-Right-to-Left-Language-Support ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  12. Articulate, "Storyline Supports All Languages and Scripts in Published Output", article last updated 24 January 2024, read 9 October 2026. https://www.articulatesupport.com/article/supported-languages-in-storyline ↩︎

  13. Articulate, "Storyline 360: Enrich Audio Narrations with Classic or AI-Generated Text-to-Speech", article last updated 16 January 2026, read 9 October 2026. https://www.articulatesupport.com/article/Storyline-360-Enrich-Audio-Narrations-with-Classic-or-AI-Generated-Text-to-Speech ↩︎ ↩︎