Indonesian (Indonesia) style guide

Use standard Indonesian for broad-audience product help and interfaces. A campaign may use a more informal register when its audience supports it. Follow the shared voice, mechanics and localization review guidance; this page covers local wording, grammar and typography.

Address and people

Use Anda, with a capital A, when addressing the reader explicitly. An instruction often needs no pronoun: Buka file is direct and concise. Do not switch casually between Anda and kamu within a product flow. Keep a chosen campaign register consistent.

Distinguish kami, which excludes the person addressed, from kita, which includes them. Use kami for a real action by the company or support team, not as decoration in every automatic message. Name the application or component when its identity matters. A missing file does not require a fictional team to say it cannot find it.

Dia does not distinguish he from she. Other words can still specify gender, a role or a relationship. Pegawai can describe an employee without choosing karyawan or karyawati; perawat need not specify a nurse's gender. Keep a person's self-description and a relevant relationship: orang tua does not preserve every distinction carried by ibu or ayah.

Do not treat nationalities, ethnic identities, disability terms or gender identities as interchangeable entries in a replacement list. Name people accurately and mention an attribute when it matters. Use the shared accessible-content guidance and the person's preferred description.

Meaning and terminology

Choose familiar, precise words: perlu, coba, ponsel where they carry the intended meaning. Short roots do not replace every inflected verb. Use the agreed term consistently; pembaruan names an update, while perbarui can instruct someone to update. Pemutakhiran is not inherently wrong simply because another term is preferred for a product.

An instruction rarely needs repeated silakan, mohon or tolong, but these words can express a meaningful request or courtesy. Do not delete them mechanically from a letter. Cara membuat file is a compact topic heading; Bagaimana cara membuat file? is a natural question with a different function.

Preserve the required interaction. Watching gestures and reproducing them are different tasks. Follow interface actions: pilih identifies a selection, while klik can specify a mouse action when needed. Do not make every instruction device-neutral at the cost of accuracy.

Keep actors, conditions, quantities and technical distinctions. In a DNS explanation, resolving a name is not simply “overcoming” an address problem. A feature that helps protect a device does not guarantee protection. Do not import a supplier's campaign claim, automatic-activation promise or availability statement into a new product.

Word formation and prepositions

Write the prepositions di, ke and dari separately: di folder, ke folder, dari folder. The passive prefix di- is attached to its verb: disimpan, dihapus. The sentence File disimpan di folder tujuan shows both constructions. Do not use search-and-replace to join every di or split every word beginning with it.

Use the Indonesian form appropriate to the sentence: ekspor can name an action, mengekspor can describe an actor performing it, and diekspor can describe what happens to an object. A compact label does not justify stripping affixes from explanatory prose. Check a disputed borrowed form against current spelling and terminology references.

Write ordinary compound elements separately unless the word has an established joined form. Keep kata sandi separate and matahari joined. Reduplication uses a hyphen, as in langkah-langkah. Hyphens can disambiguate some compounds, but do not invent English-like chains or add a hyphen to every multiword term.

Choose a preposition for the relationship: ke folder expresses a destination, dari folder an origin, and pada pukul 15.00 a time. Use kepada when the construction directs something to a person. Translate the full construction rather than assigning one Indonesian word to every English preposition.

Number, modifiers and ownership

A noun need not change merely because English makes it plural. 1 file, 2 file and 5 file can use the same form. Context, a number or a quantifier can already make plurality clear; do not mechanically reduplicate every plural noun. Para pengguna refers to people, not to files or every possible kind of object. Avoid adding para to a phrase already counted as dua pengguna.

Modifiers generally follow the noun: file baru, folder tujuan, buku Anda. Tas merah is a noun phrase meaning “red bag”; it is not by itself the full sentence “This is a red bag.” Use yang or a fuller clause when it clarifies the relation. Do not declare adjective order freely interchangeable if moving a modifier changes its scope.

Keep possession clear: file Anda and file mereka have different owners. A suffix such as -nya can depend on context; repeat a noun when a pronoun could refer to several objects or people. Do not add or remove ownership just to match English pronoun frequency.

Connect clauses naturally. Namun, can begin a contrasting sentence. A purpose clause with untuk is useful when it preserves the relationship, but agar and sehingga are not forbidden moods. Indonesian does not need a rule against an English split infinitive. Preserve whether the source states a purpose, a result, a condition or a possibility.

Interface verb forms

A verb changes form with the job of the string. A command, a button and a step use the base form, with the suffix the verb needs and without me-: Simpan, Tampilkan, Lewati, Atur Ulang. A status message and a tooltip that describes a control use the me- verb without a subject: Mengunduh font…, Mengatur ulang semua dialog peringatan… A result uses the passive di- verb, and a lasting state the ter- verb: Font dihapus, sudah terinstal. A title that names an operation uses a noun, often pe-…-an: Penginstalan, Pratinjau Font. Do not put Menyimpan or Penyimpanan on a button.

The passive also keeps a message about the object rather than about the reader or the application: Font ini harus diunduh sebelum digunakan needs neither Anda nor kami. Use mereka for people only; for things, repeat the noun or attach -nya.

Platform vocabulary and Malay forms

Apple, Microsoft and Google all write file and folder in their Indonesian interfaces. Berkas is the form in the official computing glossary of 2001 and remains correct Indonesian, but FontLab follows the platforms. Apple, Microsoft and Adobe write unduh and unggah, while Google keeps download and upload; Apple and Microsoft write Pengaturan, Google Setelan. FontLab uses file, folder, unduh, unggah and pengaturan.

Batalkan is ambiguous between platforms: it labels Cancel on macOS and Undo on Windows. FontLab uses Batal for Cancel, as Microsoft and Google do, and Urungkan for Undo, as Apple and Google do, with Ulangi for Redo.

Malaysian Malay is a separate language. Its computing words are errors in an Indonesian interface: fail, muat turun, muat naik, tetapan, perisian, tampal, padam and lalai against Indonesian file, unduh, unggah, pengaturan, perangkat lunak, tempel, hapus and default. Indonesian padam means switched off.

A corporate catalog is not an authority for a type term. Apple's CoreText strings render the font property Weight as Berat Badan, which means body weight, and Lining Numbers as Nomor Baris, line numbers. Check a type term against the term table named in the Indonesian localization guide.

Capitalization and abbreviations

Use house sentence case for help headings: Cara membuat file, Opsi ekspor. This is an editorial choice for that surface. An interface label mirrors the capitalization of its English source, as the Indonesian macOS and Windows interfaces do and Microsoft's Indonesian style guide prescribes: a command in English title case is Simpan Sebagai or Pilih Semua, with function words such as di, ke, dari, dan, yang, untuk and sebagai in lowercase (Lihat sebagai Daftar); a checkbox in English sentence case is Tampilkan bar filter. The same words inside a sentence take sentence case: Simpan sebagai dokumen Word. Exact existing labels, names and cited publication titles retain their capitalization; do not claim that Indonesian title conventions require every heading to use sentence case.

Capitalize Anda, names of languages and peoples, and names of days and months as required: bahasa Indonesia, Senin, September. A mid-sentence string does not gain a capital merely because its English source had one. Review the complete assembled message instead of capitalizing fragments in isolation.

Use established abbreviations such as dll., dsb., dst. and hlm. Do not remove arbitrary vowels to make a button fit; Microsoft's guide allows Hps for Hapus, but FontLab does not. Initial-letter abbreviations such as PBB use capitals without periods; other acronym types differ. Bappenas has an initial capital, while pemilu is lowercase. Not every acronym is all caps. Explain a technical abbreviation when its expansion helps the reader.

Unit and currency symbols such as mm, kg and Rp take no abbreviation period. Preserve their exact case. An abbreviation such as dll. has no internal space to replace with a nonbreaking one. Keep approved product names and identifiers intact rather than abbreviating them ad hoc.

Messages and variables

Choose the wording for the actual state:

Function	Example
Action label	Simpan file
Instruction	Simpan file.
In progress	Menyimpan file…
Completed	File disimpan.
Failed attempt	Gagal menyimpan file.
Current impossibility	Tidak dapat menyimpan file.

The Indonesian macOS and Windows interfaces mark progress with the me- verb alone and a result with the di- verb alone, as in Font Book's Mengesahkan font… and Font Dihapus. Explanatory prose can add sedang or telah when the time relation matters. Microsoft's style guide maps "Cannot" and "Could not" to Tidak dapat and "Failed to" to Gagal. A noun such as Penyimpanan can name an operation, but does not by itself establish that the operation is running. Preserve progress, completion and failure with context or explicit wording. File tidak tersedia reports unavailability; it does not prove that someone deleted the file. Give a cause or recovery action only when it is known.

Keep everyone affected in a warning: Jika Anda memulai ulang komputer sekarang, Anda dan orang lain yang menggunakan komputer ini dapat kehilangan pekerjaan yang belum disimpan. The possibility of loss must not become a certain deletion. Lanjutkan? can be a compact question when the operation is clear; add context when the reader would otherwise have to guess. Follow interface feedback.

Check all placeholder values. Tidak dapat membuka file {name}. is suitable for a filename, not automatically for a person or a list. Preserve tokens, format specifiers, escapes and markup; reorder only when the parser supports it. Test counts in complete messages even when the noun stays unchanged: zero, singular, plural and fractional values can change what the sentence means. Follow messages and variables.

Punctuation, numbers and line breaks

Separate items in a series, including before its last conjunction: file, folder, dan templat. A preceding subordinate clause takes a comma: Jika file terbuka, tutup file itu. Do not insert the same comma mechanically when the main clause comes first. A colon can introduce a complete statement's list, but should not separate a verb from its object or break an unfinished construction.

Use “…” for quotations and ‘…’ for a quotation within one. A question mark belonging to quoted speech stays inside the quotation. Put no spaces just inside parentheses. Follow the shared mechanics for interface labels rather than surrounding every button name with quotation marks.

Use a decimal comma and a period for ordinary digit grouping: 1.526,75. A rupiah amount can be Rp12.500,00, with no period after Rp and no space before the number. Do not apply a generic currency-space rule to this form. Identify a foreign currency clearly and preserve its value; formatting is not currency conversion.

Write a percentage without a space, as EYD V does: 25%. Separate a unit from its value with a nonbreaking space: 12,5 mm, −18 °C. The minus is U+2212, with no space before the digits; it is not a range dash or a raised zero. Keep a section label with its number where helpful: Bab 3. Use nonbreaking spaces where they prevent an unwanted break, not throughout every abbreviation or heading.

Use … for an ellipsis in prose and retain exact punctuation in existing controls. A range such as langkah 3–6 uses a dash. Keep version strings, code and input formats literal, including 1.2.0 when periods are required. Preserve an actual multiplication sign in dimensional prose: 5 × 7,2 inci; do not silently change inches to centimetres.

Keyboard wording and speech

Name the key used by the target product and keyboard: Ctrl, Alt, Panah Kiri, Spasi. Apple and Microsoft leave most key names in English and translate the arrow keys; a key is a tombol. Preserve a platform distinction such as Command versus Ctrl and explain a numeric-keypad distinction when necessary. Access keys and shortcut combinations have different functions. Verify focus order, supported characters and collisions in the running interface; an inherited platform catalog cannot establish them.

For narration, use natural Indonesian pronunciation and an approved reading of names. Spell an unfamiliar abbreviation when useful. Read every character needed to reproduce a URL, version or command, including meaningful dots and slashes. Follow the shared audiovisual guidance for captions, pacing and essential visual information.

FontLab terminology decisions (2026-10-04)

Follow the canonical FontLab glossary, including its approval status and contextual notes. The current choices are:

Concept	Wording
OpenType lookup	prosedur
Fusion, using the fallback Welder	Pengelas
FontAudit, visible name	FontAudit
Pin, a named point in an element	pin

For OpenType lookup, the default is the translation of procedure. Retain a different term only with strong OpenType-specific evidence; the explicit German, French, Polish and Russian decisions take precedence. Ordinary search, dictionary lookup and code keywords are separate senses. Preserve literal lookup, lookupflag, LookupList and identifiers in code. Keep individual rules distinct from the procedures that group them.

Use the FontAudit name above in visible interface text and prose; preserve FontAudit in code and identifiers. In non-Latin scripts it is a phonetic transliteration, including Chinese. A proposed glossary entry remains proposed; this table does not confer native-team approval.

Keep marked and unmarked menu labels consistent after accounting for Qt mnemonic & and appended shortcuts. In Dimensions and Glyph Window preferences, aim for labels no longer than 120% of the source; preserve meaning when that target is impractical. Omit redundant font or colour wording when context supplies it. TTH options may omit the verb “use” and abbreviate TrueType hinting as TTH. Help may be longer, but quoted interface labels must match the final UI.

FontLab Rapid tool

FontLab names this tool Rapid. The name stays recognizable in the interface and Quick Help; it does not mean an ordinary fast or quick action. Use the canonical TS spelling and translate the surrounding grammar, as in Menggambar dengan Rapid. The contrast classifications containing English rapid use the ordinary adjective instead. See the localization guide for the current terminology and source-version checks.

Metrics, actions and dialog contexts

Use lebar glif for advance width in metrics help; keep geometric and axis width separate. Preserve literal expressions such as width("spec"). The Metrics bar calls automatic spacing Spasi otomatis, while the Glyph panel uses Atur Spasi Otomatis. Both refer to the same operation; quote the label shown by the control being described.

ActionOverlay and Bar_Delta use Offset X/Y. Bar_SingleNode describes node pergeseran; do not replace every occurrence with Ofset from another context. Bar_Transform has Perkecil / Perbesar buttons and Miringkan ke kiri / kanan. Bar_Shape uses Balik horizontal / vertikal. BrushProperties uses Perluas, while other Expand commands have their own labels, including Goresan ke Kontur and Terapkan Transformasi.

Use Obrolan for the Chat panel, Perekat for the Glue filter, Sampel Warna for Swatches and jingga for the orange flag. DlgCreateGlyphs uses Sufiks and Tautkan lebar glif. Preserve glyphtext as the name of the input syntax and Regular when referring to a literal style or instance name.

Dialog titles can differ from commands: Penyesuaian Profil and Perluasan Kontur name dialogs. Duplicate Glyphs confirms with OK; its older help incorrectly names Set. AuditPanel's test selector is Pilih pengujian. Do not import labels from unrelated or removed controls.

Text-shape size is in font units; UPM is the source font's units-per-em setting. The miter limit is a width-relative factor, not an absolute font-unit distance. DlgExpand labels its field Miter. Auto feature definitions are updated before compilation when Perbarui Saat Kompilasi is enabled.

Naming, snapping and runtime values

DlgNameSuffix uses akhiran for the suffix field but names its checkbox Ganti sufiks yang ada. DlgCreateGlyphs uses Sufiks. Preserve these control-specific forms. Use Lekatkan for the Snap menu and Attach tool; Tempel names Paste. Make the object of snapping explicit: the pointer, a node or the selection snaps to a guide, rather than the person using the app.

DlgMissingGlyphs changes its confirmation label to Tambah Glif yang Hilang when selected fonts can receive missing glyphs, and to Tutup otherwise. The Quick Help editor's browser chooses an output path; Kompilasikan Bantuan Cepat writes the JSON file. PPM specifies the pixels representing one em, while Unit Per em specifies the font units representing the same em.

Font information style menus are populated from runtime values. Retain Plain, Italic, Oblique and Regular for those choices, even where the catalog translates a designer default such as Plain as Polos. A style-linked italic is the italic partner of another font; do not describe arbitrary fonts as italic. Keep Nilai Lain in Font Info navigation paths.

Fonts-panel naming commands change the selected fonts' naming metadata. Keluarga dari grup penataan gaya copies styling-group and linked-style names into typographic family/style names. Penataan gaya miring restricts style linking to Regular or Italic; Pisahkan penataan gaya assigns Regular and uses each full font name as its styling-group name. Avoid the older help's claims about all open fonts, purely visual regrouping or CSS compatibility guarantees. Several legacy Fonts-panel filter actions still need the coordinated source audit; their catalog labels alone do not prove that the described handlers run.

Glyph controls and font dimensions

Use Simulasikan jarak antarbaris, Pilih teks pradefinisi, and String sebelum / setelah glif for Glyph window controls. GW_Text uses Ubah ke huruf kecil / kapital and Ubah ke Kapitalisasi Judul. GW_Delta and GW_Shape use Ofset X/Y, while Info_FontDimensions uses Offset caret. Preserve those context differences.

Info_Dimensions uses Atas aman, Bawah aman, Atas BBox and Bawah BBox. Its buttons are Perbarui kotak pembatas font and Deteksi descender, rather than the older help's Auto labels. Info_Names uses Kelompok gaya; Instances retains Grup gaya. Runtime style-link choices remain Regular, Italic, Bold and Bold Italic.

InspectorGlyph's Selektor Unicode switches the editing mode. Urutan variasi default uses the base character's default glyph; it does not make the current glyph the default rendering. OT class choices are translated: Ligatur, Tanda and Sederhana. Use Kerangka Kawat for wireframe layers and Lapisan nonaktif: kerangka kawat for the preference.

Keep the literal export format name FontLab JSON. Do not borrow flag labels from other panels or replace ordinary widget-pinning prose with glyph-pin terminology. Where both Advance width and Width translate to Lebar glif, state the term once. Keep formula identifiers such as width("spec") literal.

Commands, history and preferences

KerningPanel uses Buat, Batas, Menghapus pasangan and Menghapus semua pasangan. The last command opens a dialog with master and class-removal options; the removal supports undo. Do not repeat the old help's claim that reverting the file is the only way to restore the pairs.

The Lookups panel is Aturan, while an individual OpenType lookup is a prosedur. Its actual add/remove buttons are Tambah prosedur and Hapus prosedur, despite the older help's feature headings. Use koreksi ukuran for device corrections and keep feature tags literal.

MainWindow uses Sejajarkan for several same-size alignment commands, but PanelTransform uses Ratakan kiri / kanan / atas. Mundurkan and Majukan move an element one step; Kirim ke Belakang and Bawa ke Depan move it past all others. Keep Terapkan Hint Otomatis in the main menu, Isi for the Fill tool, and Lekatkan for Attach and snapping.

Rewind and Fast Forward adjust interpolation by ten toward the recorded or current contours; they do not navigate a list of snapshots. Generic zoom prose uses zum, while named controls retain their canonical Zoom or Zum spelling. Minimal satu jendela Font opens Font windows when fonts load and closes a font when its last Font window closes. It is a window lifecycle choice, rather than a visibility toggle.

Preferences and legacy tool controls

Pref_Open uses Mudah dibaca, Pref_Texts uses teks siap pakai, and PreviewPanel uses Teks khusus and Ukuran font khusus. Keep those context-specific choices instead of replacing every occurrence with kustom. Quoted kerning-dialog actions stay Tinjau and Tambah pengecualian; write the surrounding sentence so the exact command label remains intact.

Use Batang when the older Stroke help refers to the Thickness tool. Expansion turns the stroke into contours. Legacy stroke-cap controls use Ujung persegi; the custom dash control enables a Pola putus-putus kustom. Their help must not inherit an unrelated copied cap description.

The Suggest controls distinguish Sarankan jarak, Sarankan batas elemen and Sarankan posisi simpul. Their section heading is Sarankan; these controls do not toggle guide visibility. In the TTH alignment dialog, using a zone selects that named top or bottom zone; it does not find the nearest zone boundary. Preserve Sejajarkan in TTHPanel and WidgetTTHAlign.

Menu and panel names use Jangkar dan Elemen, Jangkar dan Pin, Lapisan dan Glif, Lapisan dan Master, and Panjang dan sudut. Keep Kompilasikan Bantuan Cepat when referring to the YAML compiler button. Do not translate hidden designer instance examples as if they were runtime choices: the Tables selector is hidden and its initialized style names are literal English values.