AI & Automation
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
Here's a story that'll sound familiar if you've ever worked on a multilingual website project. Last month, I was helping a SaaS client expand their French Framer site to support 8 different languages. Everything was going smoothly until we hit the testing phase.
The client asked a simple question: "Can we preview the German version before we publish it?" Seems reasonable, right? But here's where things got interesting. Framer doesn't have a built-in "local preview" feature for translations like you'd expect from traditional web development tools.
Most agencies I know just publish everything to staging subdomains or create duplicate projects for each language. It works, but it's messy, expensive, and creates a maintenance nightmare. After dealing with this problem across multiple platform migration projects, I've developed a workflow that lets you preview translated Framer pages locally without the publishing chaos.
In this playbook, you'll learn:
Why the standard "publish first, test later" approach creates more problems than it solves
My 3-step local preview workflow that works with Framer's component system
How to set up translation testing that saves hours of back-and-forth with clients
The one Framer feature most people miss that makes local testing possible
When this approach works best (and when you should just publish to staging)
Industry Knowledge
What the design community typically recommends
If you search "how to preview Framer translations," you'll find the same advice repeated across design forums and agency blogs. The standard workflow goes something like this:
Create separate projects for each language version
Publish to staging subdomains (fr.staging.yoursite.com, de.staging.yoursite.com, etc.)
Use Framer's built-in localization features for text overrides
Share staging links with clients for approval
Make revisions by publishing new versions to staging
This conventional wisdom exists because it's the most obvious solution. Framer's interface encourages this approach - it's designed around the "design → publish → iterate" workflow that works great for single-language sites.
The problem? This approach treats translations like completely separate products rather than variations of the same site. You end up with:
Multiple project subscriptions eating into your budget
Version control nightmares when the main site changes
Clients getting confused by multiple staging URLs
Slow feedback loops that kill project momentum
The conventional approach works if you're building completely different sites for each market. But most businesses want consistent branding and functionality across languages - they just need the text swapped out efficiently.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
I ran into this exact problem while working on a website revamp project for a B2B SaaS client expanding into European markets. They had a beautiful English Framer site that converted well, and they wanted to adapt it for French, German, Spanish, and Italian audiences.
The project seemed straightforward until we got to the testing phase. The client had internal teams for each language who needed to review everything before launch. But here's the thing - these weren't web-savvy people. They were product managers and regional sales teams who just wanted to see how their language version would look.
My first approach was the standard one: I created separate Framer projects for each language and published them to staging subdomains. Within a week, I had five different URLs to manage, and the client was already confused about which version was which.
Then came the change requests. The English version needed updates to the pricing section, which meant manually updating four other projects. One of the German reviewers wanted to see how a longer headline would look before approving, but making that change meant publishing a new version and sending new links to everyone.
The breaking point came when the client asked: "Can't we just see what the German text looks like on our existing site without making it live?" That's when I realized we were approaching this backwards. Instead of creating separate experiences, I needed to find a way to preview variations of the same experience.
The solution clicked when I remembered how Webflow handles translations - you can preview different content variations without changing the underlying structure. I needed to reverse-engineer that experience in Framer.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Here's the local preview workflow I developed after testing various approaches with multiple client projects. This method lets you preview any language version instantly without publishing or creating duplicate projects.
Step 1: Set Up Translation Variables
Instead of hard-coding text directly into components, I create Framer variables for every text element that needs translation. This includes headlines, body text, button labels, form placeholders, and even alt text for images.
In your Framer project, go to the Assets panel and create a new Variable Collection called "Translations." For each text element, create a variable with a clear naming convention like "hero_headline," "cta_button," or "feature_description_1." Set the default values to your primary language (usually English).
The key insight: treat your text content like you would treat colors or spacing values. Once everything is variable-driven, switching languages becomes as simple as changing a color scheme.
Step 2: Create Language Mode Toggles
Here's where the magic happens. I add a hidden component to the master page that contains radio buttons or a dropdown for each target language. This component is only visible in edit mode - visitors never see it.
Each language option is connected to a different variable mode. When you select "German" from the dropdown, all the translation variables automatically switch to display German text. The layout adapts in real-time, showing you exactly how the longer German headlines affect the design.
This approach leverages Framer's component mode system, which was designed for exactly this kind of content variation. Most people use modes for dark/light themes, but they work perfectly for language switching.
Step 3: Share Interactive Previews
The final step is creating shareable preview links that don't require publishing the actual site. I duplicate the main project and strip out everything except the pages that need review. This "preview project" contains the same components and variables but is published to a temporary domain.
Clients can switch between languages using the toggle component and see real-time changes. When they request modifications, I make changes in the main project and sync them to the preview project. No multiple URLs, no version confusion, just clean previews that everyone can understand.
The workflow scales beautifully. Adding a new language means creating a new variable mode and updating the toggle component. All existing pages automatically support the new language without any additional setup.
Component Setup
Build translation variables for every text element instead of hard-coding content
Live Preview
Use Framer's mode system to switch languages instantly in the editor
Client Sharing
Create lightweight preview projects that sync with your main file
Workflow Scale
Add new languages by creating variable modes, not duplicate projects
This workflow transformed how we handle multilingual Framer projects. The immediate feedback loop means clients can see changes in real-time and make decisions faster. Instead of waiting days for new staging deployments, language switches happen instantly.
The time savings are significant. What used to take 2-3 hours of project duplication and publishing now takes 15 minutes of variable setup. More importantly, the client experience improved dramatically. They can explore different languages themselves instead of waiting for us to generate new preview links.
One unexpected benefit: this approach makes it easier to spot layout issues early. When you can switch between English and German headlines instantly, you immediately see if the longer German text breaks your design. These issues get caught during design rather than after publishing.
The method works especially well for sites with complex animations or interactions. Traditional staging approaches often break these features, but the variable-based approach preserves all your interactive elements across language variations.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
Lesson 1: Treat content as data, not static design elements. The biggest shift was thinking of text as variable content rather than fixed design components. This mindset change unlocks much more flexible workflows.
Lesson 2: Preview complexity is usually a process problem, not a tool limitation. Framer has the capabilities for local preview - most people just approach it incorrectly.
Lesson 3: Client education is crucial for multilingual projects. Spending 10 minutes showing clients how to use the language toggle saves hours of back-and-forth communication later.
Lesson 4: Variable naming conventions matter more than you think. Clear, consistent naming makes it easy to find and update specific content elements.
Lesson 5: This approach works best for content-heavy sites. If your site is mostly visual with minimal text, the traditional duplicate project approach might be simpler.
Lesson 6: Plan for text expansion from day one. German and Finnish text can be 30-40% longer than English. Design with this in mind rather than retrofitting layouts later.
Lesson 7: Not every project needs local preview. Simple sites with minimal text changes don't justify the variable setup overhead.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS companies expanding internationally:
Set up translation variables during initial design, not as an afterthought
Create preview workflows that non-technical team members can use independently
Plan for feature copy and UI text translations, not just marketing content
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce stores launching in new markets:
Include product descriptions and category names in your variable system
Test checkout flows and form validation messages in each target language
Consider currency and date format variations alongside text translations