How to translate or proofread a leaflet with AI

Proofreading or translating a leaflet with AI is done from the AI menu in Publish by Zaweba. Select the text and choose Proofread, which checks in UK English, or Translate, where you type the language you want. If nothing is selected it works on the text box, and if no box is selected, on the page. It uses your own AI account, and Publish itself is free, offline software.

A second pair of eyes is always useful before something goes to print. AI won't replace a careful human read, but it's quick at spotting the slips you've stopped seeing.

Setting up the AI first

Connect your own AI account first: Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Azure OpenAI, Mistral, Grok, DeepSeek and others are supported, or a model running on your PC through Ollama, LM Studio or llama.cpp, or copy and paste with a chat website. Keys are stored encrypted for your Windows account. Until an account is set up, the AI actions are greyed out.

Proofreading

Select a paragraph, a text box or nothing at all, and choose Proofread. The result comes back with four buttons: Replace text, Insert into text box, New text box and Copy. Replace text swaps your text for the corrected version. New text box puts it alongside so you can compare.

UK English means spellings like colour, organise and centre are treated as right, which matters for leaflets meant for British readers.

Read the corrected version before you accept it. AI sometimes changes things that were deliberate, such as a name with an unusual spelling or a pun in a headline.

Translating

Choose Translate and type the language, for example Polish, Welsh or Urdu. The translated text comes back with the same four buttons.

For a bilingual leaflet, New text box is the useful one. It places the translation in its own box, which you can move beside or below the original. Many community leaflets put the two languages side by side.

Translated text often runs longer than the original. If it overflows, the box shows a red plus. You can enlarge the box, link it to another, or use Rewrite with Shorter to fit, which knows how many characters fit.

Have a fluent speaker check any translation that will be printed in quantity. AI is good, but it can miss local phrasing or the right level of formality.

Undo and privacy

Every AI change is one undo step, so a translation or proofread you don't like is one Undo away from gone.

Nothing is sent until you ask. The Ask AI panel (Ctrl+J) shows what is being sent under Context sent. For confidential material, a local model keeps everything on your PC.

Fitting it into your routine

Proofread last, after the layout is settled, because moving text around often introduces new slips. Then do a final read of the printed proof yourself.

For leaflets you produce regularly, such as a monthly parish sheet in two languages, keep the bilingual layout as a saved .ozp and replace the text each month.

Find and replace is still handy after a proofread, for making a name or a date consistent across every page in one step.

Run a proofread on your next leaflet before printing. Even a short flyer usually has one slip worth catching.