# How to Translate QuarkXPress XTG Files for Print | Vitra.ai > XTG is Quark's tagged text format. Every formatting instruction is inline with the words, which is exactly what makes it fragile almost everywhere. **Canonical URL**: https://www.vitra.ai/general/translate-quarkxpress-xtg-files **Source**: This is the Markdown rendering of https://www.vitra.ai/general/translate-quarkxpress-xtg-files, generated at build time from that page. --- 4 min read # How to Translate QuarkXPress XTG Files for Print XTG is Quark's tagged text format. Every formatting instruction is inline with the words, which is exactly what makes it fragile almost everywhere. [Samhitha J Bhatt](https://www.vitra.ai/author/samhitha) Senior Product Manager , Vitra.ai Updated Aug 17, 2026 ![How to Translate QuarkXPress XTG Files for Print](https://www.vitra.ai/static/images/blog/translate-quarkxpress-xtg-files.jpg) Table of contents [Formatting lives inside the text](#formatting-lives-inside-the-text) [Tags must survive and stay meaningful](#tags-must-survive-and-stay-meaningful) [The character encoding preamble](#the-character-encoding-preamble) [Style sheet references](#style-sheet-references) [Print is unforgiving](#print-is-unforgiving) [Expansion in a fixed layout](#expansion-in-a-fixed-layout) [Where it fits now](#where-it-fits-now) [Working with a designer, not around one](#working-with-a-designer-not-around-one) [Special characters and typography](#special-characters-and-typography) [Where to start](#where-to-start) [FAQ](#faq) Contributors [Samhitha J Bhatt](https://www.vitra.ai/author/samhitha) Senior Product Manager Subscribe to our newsletter Subscribe > **Quick answer —** XTG is QuarkXPress's tagged text export, where formatting is expressed as inline codes mixed into the text itself. Translation has to leave every tag intact and in a position that still makes sense once the words around it have changed. ## Formatting lives inside the text An XTG file is text with angle-bracketed codes threaded through it — style sheets, font changes, kerning, colour, special characters. There is no separate formatting layer. That is why it is fragile. A translator working in a plain editor sees codes mixed with words and any of them can be damaged by an ordinary edit. ## Tags must survive and stay meaningful A code applying bold sits immediately before the text it affects and another turns it off. When the sentence is reordered for the target language, the codes have to move with the words they belong to. Leaving them in their original positions produces a file that imports cleanly and emphasises the wrong words, which passes every technical check. ## The character encoding preamble XTG begins with a version and encoding declaration that determines how every byte after it is interpreted. Change or lose it and the entire file misreads, typically as mojibake throughout rather than as a clean failure. Translation into a language needing characters outside the declared set requires the declaration to change with it. ## Style sheet references Codes reference named style sheets defined in the Quark document. The names are identifiers and must not be translated; a renamed style detaches the text from its formatting on import. ## Print is unforgiving This is a print format, and print has no undo. An error found after a run is a reprint rather than an edit. That argues for treating XTG output as the last step in a reviewed process rather than the first. Review the composed page, not the tagged file — nobody can read fluency out of a file full of codes. ## Expansion in a fixed layout Print layouts are fixed. Longer translated text overflows the box, and the options are editing the copy, changing the type size or changing the design. The copy is usually the right answer and it needs a writer rather than a translator, which should be planned for rather than discovered at proofing. ## Where it fits now QuarkXPress remains in use in publishing and packaging, particularly where a long-standing template exists. XTG is how text gets in and out of it, and it is worth handling correctly rather than working around. [document translation](https://www.vitra.ai/features/document-translation) handles the tagged text and [quality control](https://www.vitra.ai/features/quality-control) checks tag integrity before import. Setup notes are on the [XTG translation integration](https://www.vitra.ai/integration/xtg-translation) page. ## Working with a designer, not around one Because print layouts are fixed and copy has to fit, the useful process pairs a translator with whoever owns the layout. The translator proposes, the designer confirms it fits, and the copy is adjusted rather than the type shrunk. Treating XTG as a file to process in isolation is what produces proofs full of overset text and a rushed redesign at the end. ## Special characters and typography Print typography uses characters plain text does not: en and em dashes, non-breaking spaces, discretionary hyphens, proper quotation marks. XTG encodes them as tags. A translation that substitutes a hyphen for an en dash or a straight quote for a curly one is visibly wrong on a printed page in a way it never is on screen. ## Where to start Import one translated file into the actual document and print a proof. The page is the only place the result can honestly be judged. ## FAQ **What is an XTG file?** QuarkXPress's tagged text export, where formatting is expressed as inline codes threaded through the text itself rather than held in a separate layer. **Why is XTG fragile to translate?** Because codes sit inline with words, so an ordinary edit can damage them. Codes also have to move with the words they affect when a sentence is reordered, or the file imports cleanly and emphasises the wrong text. **What does the encoding declaration do?** It determines how every byte after it is interpreted. Losing or changing it wrongly makes the whole file misread as corrupted characters, and translating into a language needing other characters requires updating it. **How should translated XTG be reviewed?** On the composed page, not in the tagged file. Nobody can judge fluency in a file full of codes, and print has no undo, so the proof is where the work is actually checked. 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[Samhitha J Bhatt](https://www.vitra.ai/author/samhitha) Aug 18, 2026 [View all posts](https://www.vitra.ai/blog/page/1) --- ## Structured data ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.vitra.ai/general/translate-quarkxpress-xtg-files" }, "headline": "How to Translate QuarkXPress XTG Files for Print", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.vitra.ai/static/images/blog/translate-quarkxpress-xtg-files.jpg" } ], "datePublished": "2026-08-17T00:00:00.000Z", "dateModified": "2026-08-17T00:00:00.000Z", "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samhitha J Bhatt" } ], "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Vitra.ai", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://www.vitra.ai/static/images/vitra-v-logo.png" } }, "description": "XTG is Quark's tagged text format. 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