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hermes-skills/skills/legal/legal-document-translation/references/contract-translation-docx.md
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name, description, tags
name description tags
contract-translation-docx Translate bilingual contracts in docx format — replace one language with AI-translated target language while preserving formatting, comments, and the other language.
legal
translation
docx
contract

Contract Translation in DOCX

When to Use

  • Translating bilingual contracts (e.g., German-Chinese → English-Chinese)
  • Need to preserve comments/annotations, formatting, and track changes
  • Need AI-quality legal translation (not Google Translate)

Workflow

1. Analyze Document Structure

  • Read docx with python-docx to understand paragraph layout (bilingual alternating pattern)
  • Count paragraphs per language, identify comments count
  • Map which paragraphs are source language vs. target language to keep

2. Extract Source Language Paragraphs

  • Identify source language paragraphs by content/pattern
  • Extract text with paragraph index mapping for replacement later
  • Count total characters to estimate batch sizes

3. AI Translation (delegate_task)

  • Use delegate_task to translate in batches (~100 paragraphs per batch)
  • Specify legal register and terminology requirements
  • For German→English legal: wichtiger Grund = good cause, außerordentliche Kündigung = extraordinary termination / termination for cause, Abrechnung = statements of account
  • Verify all paragraphs translated (count match)

4. Replace in DOCX

  • Use python-docx to replace source language paragraph text with translations
  • Preserve paragraph formatting (alignment, indentation, spacing)
  • Update font properties (e.g., Times New Roman 12pt for English)
  • Do NOT use python-docx save() on workflow-produced files (destroys XML) — only for translation-specific files

5. Verify

  • Count paragraphs by language to confirm zero source language residual
  • Verify all comments preserved (count match)
  • Verify target keep-language paragraphs untouched
  • OnlyOffice screenshot for visual check if possible

Style Calibration

When a reference document exists for style matching:

  • Extract terminology table from reference
  • Compare translation choices (shall→应, represents and warrants→声明和保证, etc.)
  • Unify font, size, and formatting to match reference
  • Re-delegate for corrections if needed

Pitfalls

  • "accountings" is not idiomatic — use "statements of account"
  • "Manipulation" in German legal → "Falsification" in English legal
  • Keep defined terms capitalized (Licensed Know-how, Contracting Parties, this Agreement not this contract)
  • Don't use Google Translate for legal documents — always use AI model translation
  • Comments (annotations) are stored separately in docx XML — paragraph replacement won't affect them