Languages Manual
BiggSky shows its menus, buttons and tooltips in ten languages. How it offers yours the first time it starts, how to change it on the Settings tab, and what is translated and what deliberately is not.
BiggSky can show its menus, buttons, labels, tabs and tooltips in ten languages:
| Language | Shown in the list as |
|---|---|
| English | English |
| French | Français |
| Spanish | Español |
| German | Deutsch |
| Italian | Italiano |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | Português (Brasil) |
| Japanese | 日本語 |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 简体中文 |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 繁體中文 |
| Korean | 한국어 |
Every edition has every language, including BiggSky Free, on Windows, macOS and Linux. Nothing extra to download.
Choosing your language the first time
When BiggSky starts for the first time on a computer set to one of these languages, it asks — in that language and in English — whether to use it. Choose your language, or English to keep English. BiggSky asks only once; if you later set your computer to a different language that BiggSky has, it asks once about that one.
BiggSky looks at:
- Windows: the display language, then the regional format (an English Windows with German regional settings is offered German);
- macOS: your preferred languages (System Settings › General › Language & Region);
- Linux: the
LANGUAGE,LC_ALL,LC_MESSAGESandLANGsettings.
Changing language
- Open the Settings tab in the middle of the main window.
- Choose a language from Language.
The window changes at once — no restart. BiggSky remembers the choice and starts in that language next time. To go back, choose English.
What is translated
- Menus, buttons, checkboxes, labels, tab and panel titles.
- Tooltips — the help that appears when you hold the pointer over a control.
- The messages you meet first: license and trial messages, the master folder dialogs, update and news notices, and the upload dialogs.
Still in English, for now:
- Most messages that appear while processing, and error messages.
- The manual and this website.
- Log files and error reports — so that support can read them, whatever language you use.
- BiggSkyCLI, the command-line program.
Following English tutorials
Most BiggSky tutorials, videos and forum posts are in English. So that you can follow them, the tooltip of every translated control ends with its English name in brackets — hold the pointer over Empiler and the tooltip ends with (Stack Frames).
When a translation does not fit
The window was laid out for English, and some translations are longer. BiggSky widens a checkbox or label into free space beside it when it can. When there is no room, the control keeps its English name, and the translation appears at the start of its tooltip instead. You may therefore see a few English labels in an otherwise translated window; that is deliberate.
Words that stay in English
Astrophotography has its own vocabulary, and much of it is used in English worldwide. BiggSky keeps the terms imagers in each language actually use: in many languages Darks, Flats and Bias stay as they are, and abbreviations such as PSF, ROI, FFT, RGB, SER and HFR are never translated.
Corrections
The translations are new, and were made with an astrophotography glossary for each language. If a word reads wrongly in your language, please tell us at support@biggsky.com — say which control or message, and what it should say. Corrections are added in the next release.
The translations are new and corrections are welcome — email support@biggsky.com and they go into the next release. See also the full BiggSky manual.